Kinect Xbox 360 Review

Our family are huge gamers - The newest addition to our list is the Xbox Kinect!!

It took me a while to create this review of the Xbox 360 Kinect because, well, we all know technology is constantly changing. Whenever any new technology comes out, whether it was flat screen TV's, mini notebooks, iphones and more, my husband and I have agreed to give the product some time before buying it. Because we do really enjoy and benefit from technology, we like to keep up to date with what's new and it has carried over into our everyday family living.

Just two weeks before the E3 Expo, June 7-9 2011 (we're going to make it there one of these years soon!) we decided to upgrade our family to the "new" Kinect XBox 360. In case you want to do the same, I'm going to share with you exactly how we did this and only paid $25 for the Kinect!

If you happen to be looking for XBox games for toddlers, we have a list of favorites that most toddlers enjoy and find simple enough to navigate.

We decided we wanted to upgrade our current family game system when our 6 year old graduated from Kindergarten the end of May, since we would all be home together for the summer. We do other outdoor activities, but we also spend a lot of time indoors and wanted something we could play together as a family.

After the system had been out a few years, and after testing it out at different Game Stops, we decided why not?! Especially when we figured out we could save HUGE! I don't know if you're interested in buying a brand new Kinect - if you are, I say go for it, you won't regret it! If you're looking at the Xbox 360 Kinect for the first (or tenth) time trying to decide if you should get it, I say why not?

I've been playing video and PC games since I was about 4 and I have to say I am a HUGE fan of classics (like Apple and Nintendo) - but for a while now I honestly have been very impressed with what Microsoft has been producing with the XBox. If you don't happen to like the Kinect, there are ways to get your money back (which I will share shortly). Overall, I feel the Kinect system and the Kinect Games are great for family or fun with friends, to help get you in shape with the exercises or whatever reason you may be wanting to try one out for.

There are two ways you can get the XBox Kinect

1. Buy the Kinect Sensor and XBox 360 unit as a whole. The system is sold in different size GB (depending on how much storage space you want - I suggest a lot since there's the XBox Marketplace and downloads available, like Zune). You can alternatively buy a system with less Gigs and, if it's the newer XBox 360, you can buy an external drive to plug in and upgrade your memory later on.
2. Your other option to get the Kinect for XBox is if you have an XBox 360 already and you buy the Kinect Sensor (for most XBox's you'll also need to buy the Kinect adapter).

Now, on to the savings part... To get a brand new Kinect for XBox 360, I usually see the best deals online. I never paid attention to Black Friday deals (I will be this year for our other XBox 360), but Amazon usually has some of the best prices I've seen.

The other way you can get a Kinect and save is if you already have a 360 and you're willing to let it go. This may take some work and investment (like a data transfer cable) but i'm pretty sure you won't regret it (especially if you already own an XBox 360). The way we did it was we searched our local Craigslist for a used XBox 360 Kinect. We found one at a GREAT deal and we brought it home and tested it out. Once we decided we liked it and wanted to keep it, we began purchasing other 360 kinect games (and tried some from Gamefly) and then sold our existing XBox 360. When we did it this way we got the a 4gb XBox 360 system, the XBox Kinect sensor, one wireless 360 remote, all accompanying wires and XBox Kinect Adventures - and we ended up only paying a difference of $25 after selling ours!!

After we bought more Kinect Games we also started getting a few accessories. We have a 46" flat screen TV in our living room so we decided to get the Kinect wall mount. They have a few other accessories if you need to run a wire or similar like the Kinect Extension Cable. Next on our list is the Kinect Storage Case, since we plan on traveling with ours.