Xbox 360 with Kinect: Includes Kinect Adventures

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Both the 360S and Kinect work extremely well. I did have a number of patches to install before everything was hunky dory and the recover gamertag in particular took an age.

Patches and more Patches - Before you can use all the functionality you will have to download them and before you can use the Xbox itself you will need to wait for it to update itself. I did mine through an ethernet connection so do not have any experience on what dramas may befall somebody who needs to have a valid Wifi connected. Last FM, Sky, Zune, Kinect, Video Kinect and so on all need to be updated but not necessarily at the same time but you will certainly spend some time watching the progress bar.

Kinect - This was very impressive and the first time you see yourselves on screen is a bizarre but very enjoyable moment and a bit like a chewing a fruit pastille I defy anyone not to start jigging about at this point and chuckling to oneself.

Kinect Adventures included in the box. Lots of fun but nothing groundbreaking but definately eases you into the idea of Kinect very well. I think it would of been better to have Kinect Sports in the box.

Also on the Kinect adventures disk are demos of Joyride, Dance Central and Fitness evolved. The fitness evolved demo is very limited but the Dance Central and Joyride demos are both good.

One interesting point is how you interact with the games. With the Microsoft stuff it is hover wait for the ring to select, Dance Central uses the swipe mechanism. This is definately faster but also prone to accidental selection. On balance though I think I prefer the swipe method even with the potential accidental selection. Fitness evovled used a shorter selection time with a move to another button this also worked better then the long wait for the ring to select the function.

Video Kinect is another application which you get with Kinect and it is actually rather good. I used it to call my daughter via her MSN account. The audio quality is excellent and the video quality is good but smears with the slightest movement. The Kinect sensor tracks you and auto zooms which is actualy pretty cool as well. We like Kinect Video and will use this over Skype.

Lastly floor space. To play two player games you will need to have a good 7 to 8 foot between you and the Kinect sensor. For anything other than 2 player 6 foot will be fine. You mitigate this I suspect by positioning the sensor higher up maybe on a wall mount above and behind the telly if you have that type of set up. Space is a concern though and you should spend a little time ensuring you can rearrange the room to accomodate it. I suspect most people will be OK but with some of the funny shaped living rooms in the UK this will definately be a show stopper for some.

All in all I am very happy with my purchase and only dock it the star due to space constraints and the odd niggle navigating.

As an existing owner of an older xbox 360 I wanted the new slim one anyway since it's meant to be "whisper quiet" instead of the hoover like properties of the old one that negated ever using it as any kind of media centre as MS would like you to believe.

Review of Xbox Slim (250GB):
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Overall, I really like the new version - it's definitely quieter but NOT whisper quiet - especially when turning a disc. Install the game to the Hard drive (hence why I got the 250gb one) and it's a lot lot better. You can still hear it though when playing you don't notice. When playing a DVD and there is a quiet moment I do notice it - though barely - more than my old Sony DVD player this xbox is also replacing!

I like the new front panel touch sensitive areas though when messing around with the cables at the back I have turned it on and open the tray by accident - it's that sensitive.

Since my old DVD player what an cheap upscaling one with a HDMI connection and because I already had an Apple TV using the other HDMI I have always used the XBOX with component outputs - good enough but not quite as good as HDMI I am led to believe. So, with getting rid of the DVD player and using the xbox instead (as it's just about quiet enough now) I can use the HDMI and that is better. OVerall, it's a lot better connected at the back and also includes an internal wireless N network adaptor which is better than spending £50 on the peripheral for the old one - though I had it wired to the router anyway myself

Overall 8/10 for the new XBOX though

Kinect Sensor:
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Firstly should you believe the hype and the TV adverts aimed at mums etc? Well, kind of is the best answer I can give:

The Yes's:

1 - yes, your body is the controller
2 - yes, voice commands work in the hub - quite cool actually
3 - yes, you can swipe through menus in a futuristic manner though I hope they adopt the Dance Central "swipe" method rather than hold you hand until the timer completes option employed in the console right now
4 - yes - it DOES work
5 - yes, it is great fun and, in my opinion, better than the Wii already - the Sports one is great
6 - yes we had a great laugh and the buzz was BETTER than the Wii when we first got that
7 - irrespective of room size requirements it is quite forgiving in that even if you "only" have 6 feet we still managed to have 2 players compete in Sports without a problem though my 10 year old kept moving totally out of the space through being a dufus!

I don't think you can under estimate how great not requiring a controller at all really is until you've tried it.

The No's:

1 - No, you can't use the Kinect in a small room - you really do need the 6 feet it suggests - we even used 9 feet by pushing furniture back and it still asked for more in the Kinect Sports (it said we were "good" but if we could make more room it would be "better")
2 - No, it's not as easy as they make out at first - it takes some getting used to - especially the Kinect Wave to get it's attention - we all struggled to get that right and still can't half the time! Once we have it's attention though it's fairly easy to use
3 - Launch titles are weak on the whole. Dance Central is good but it does NOT have side-by-side 2 player competitions which is a shame - you take turns. Kinectimals my kids love but I just wanted to throw up it was so Disney/cutesy - there again - the Kinect is aimed at "family fun" - within 2 hours I was yearning to get back to a controller with Fable III and COD though! The Sports title is my favourite so far though.

As for longevity - who knows? THe Wii gathered dust for weeks at a time before being "let out" - will the Kinect be the same? I don't think so - firstly I play Xbox several times a week for Battlefield/COD/Fable (ie proper gaming) so it's more in view so to speak. Secondly I think the games out now and being developed will have more longevity than the standard party play Wii ones - the graphics are a world apart, as is the sound - I just think the overall look and feel is much more polished.

However, since we have a wall mounted TV and I don't want the Kinect cable trailing down the wall we store the Kinect next to the xbox and then pull it out to play games - out of sight out of mind etc - will this reduce the amount of time we use it? Maybe.

Overally, I do think that the Kinect will get used once or twice a week at most - and for drunken fun with friends of course!

Value For Money - if you have an XBOX already then yes, it's value for money. If you don't? Ask yourself this - will you be playing OTHER games or do you just want family fun? If it's the latter then I would personally go for a 2nd hand Wii off the usual auction site! It's a lot cheaper.
If you intend to play proper games (ie controller ones) then yes, get yourself and Xbox, Kinect and away you go.

Finally - as for using the whole thing as a media centre - hmmm - not impressed primarily because there is no easy off the shelf solution to iTunes. Many people have music and films etc on itunes and the XBOX requires a Windows Media Centre set up - still - if you have that then this is great too.

Zune downloads for films is about the same as itunes - stupidly expensive - grab your DVD's off Amazon and copy them to your PC and then stream them - far better solution and cheaper!

Kinect Score - 7.5/10 - should do better if they bring out more immersive, grown up games - some are supposedly coming out in 2011

Final Note On Amazon
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Over the course of the last 12 months I have become decidedly concerned about the Amazon's policy to small businesses. Both those that sell on their Amazon Market Place and those that try and compete with them. Amazon have become the new Walmart in my opinion and show very little respect for small businesses in this country. They constantly sell products at a loss to compete - as soon as the competition is gone (usual bankrupt) they put their prices up. I have also seen them expand into so many different markets you have to ask yourself when will they actually stop, if ever?
In regards to the "market place" they actively encourage businesses to sell on their site, charge upwards of 18% commissions, and then, amazingly, Amazon themselves start to sell these businesses best selling products - usually a lot cheaper (read at a loss!) than the business they invited into their marketplace in the first place.
Finally, I now understand that Amazon are actually not registered in the UK as a UK business so avoid paying the usual corporation taxes that all UK businesses must pay on their profits. They are registered in Luxembourg where taxes are a lot lower. Don't get me wrong, they are not alone in this tax avoidance scheme - you can add Apple and Google into that little mix too. I believe the G paid only around £1m in corp taxes last year - if they were "based" in the UK properly they would have paid 100 times more than that based on their profits.
So - why am I using my review to state these opinions? Simple - I suggest you support your LOCAL store more - visit stores like Game**ation, Blockbusters or others that have stuck to the market they excel in - rather than support what was ONCE an amazing book store that has now become, in my opinion, way too big for it's boots!

Well. Amazon delivered about midday, got it all set up, including the nice shiney new 360 250gb.

First impressions, it works, not just okay, but really well.

The two grandkids (ages 5 and 3) loved it, i was a bit worried at first as some reports said it wouldn't recognise the little ones, but it was fine. They do have a tendancy to drift towards the screen, at which point it loses them, but they soon worked out that when their character turned white they had to move back.
Stepson and daughter so impressed they ordered one there and then on our pc!

And yes you do need to have a fair amount of uncluttered space to use it, the dogs wandered into the play space, but it didn't complain.

It works quite well from the dashboard, but it doesn't yet have the full integration that it needs. For example, you have to go "into" Kinect from the Dashboard, and then from there it all works fine with the hand gestures, but once back on the dashboard you need the controller again. But i think that with a couple of software updates that should all come together.
The voice controls are really good and worked fine for all six of us.

I only have the game that comes with it (Kinect Adventures) and the Fitness Evolved one, and this is the only problem, you are going to really need to buy some other games with it, and they ain't cheap. The other whinge (for me personally) is that with Kinect Adventures, most of the games involved jumping, and for someone of 45 with a dodgy back, i don't think i'll be playing it too much.

It's already good, wonder how much better can get with a few updates.

But the thing that will make or break Kinect is the games, unlike the Wii, the technology is there, game developers just have to use it with the right type of games.

Oh, and in addition the 360 250gb Slim is a revelation, so quite and beautiful.