Should Santa Bring Xbox 360 Kinect This Year?

One of the latest and greatest gadgets for whole family entertainment is without doubt Microsoft's Kinect controller for their Xbox 360 gaming console. Maybe you haven't heard about it yet, so here's short description what it is: previously you've always needed some gaming controller (gaming bad, keyboard, mouse etc.) for playing games - Kinect is the thing that changes all this. With Kinect all you need to do is to stand on front of your TV and use your own body for all the movements needed in the game.  Kinect requires a small sensor that you should be placed near your TV. With this sensor it can see your body, hand, head, leg and other movements and transfer them into the game you're playing.

Kinect Sensor

Kinect sells currently at about $150 (i.e. at amazon.com) and you usually get some game with the sensor package too.

So what kind of games are there available for Kinect? It probably isn't a surprise that many of the games try to get you moving as much possible. You can try for example doing some fitness practices or maybe dancing? The cool part is that instead of passively sitting on front of TV, you are actually standing up and moving. Many of these games are also great fun to play with your friends. Little bit lengthier video review of Kinect sports probably shows best the little flaws that the system still has, but also the huge fun factor that playing with your friends can bring :).

The part that I like the most is that Kinect brings back some of the old school fun to the games. Many of the Kinect games are quick to start and you don't need to play countless hours to "finish" them. Instead you can just start, play for and half an hour and be done with it. Multiplayer games are also more like they used to be before Internet. Instead of playing online with other anonymous people, you can ask your friends to come by and have for example short Kinect sports session with them. And seeing your friends or kids swinging their hands in air like crazy when trying to complete some movement is definitely much more fun than any online game!

Kinect Dance

 

 

 

-K-