The Kinect is really cool

For Christmas, I bought our family a Kinect.  It was tough having to wait to play it, but I didn’t want to just buy it so close to Christmas and miss the opportunity to have it be a cool present instead.  Previously I wrote about a funny aspect of this device but didn’t reveal when I would get a Kinect so that it would be a surprise to my family.  Anyhow, it is really cool as many people are finding.  Although it’s not perfect, it works pretty well for the most part and is a lot of fun.  You do want to give yourself some room to play it to avoid injury to yourself and others, but the game actually does a pretty good job of trying to make sure you know this and tries to ensure you are unimpeded.  It actually will pause when it detects someone else where you are supposed to be.  Not bad. 

Kinect

I love the concept behind Microsoft’s new Kinect device for the XBOX 360.  It really is the obvious evolution to now have a person’s actions be detected for use in a game instead of having to use a handheld device.  Being an XBOX owner, I will likely buy this device soon as it has so much potential.  Of course the more interesting aspect that I have been following lately is the device’s potential for causing injury to yourself and your family or friends.  Not that you couldn’t get almost as carried away using the Wii’s handheld controller, but it seems XBOX has really brought us to a new level of possibilites with which to accidentally cause injury.  It should almost be called the “Connect” with its increased opportunity to allow for a lot of physical connecting with those you game with.  Anyhow, it does sound like fun and should add a new dimension to gaming.  Of course I look forward to when they figure out how to make this work for most of the action games that I play, but I’m sure they will figure it out soon enough.  Be safe out there kids – give yourself lots of room when using the Kinect!  Watch the videos already on YouTube to get some tips about what to avoid.