finders1477

The xbox kinect was revealed to the world in june of 2009. That month at the E3 conference Microsoft revealed project natal to the world. For those of you that don’t know or have been hiding under a rock for the last year, project natal was the code name for the xbox kinect.
Since then the buzz surrounding Microsoft’s secret project has been growing and growing. Millions of gamers around the world held steady waiting for the release of this amazing console. It was finally released to us on November 4, 2010. The weeks leading up to its release we saw a large amount of reviews pouring in from magazines and celebrities alike. Of course they got the first peek at the kinect before its release. Microsoft has always been good at marketing and this was no different.
As a gamer myself I have ignored most of these reviews over the years. Magazines and celebrities know nothing about real gaming. They don’t know what it’s like to have to save up for several months just to be able to buy one game. They don’t have to play these games in small apartments with small tvs. They get huge areas with the top of the line flat screen tv. Sorry but that to me is not a “real” review.
I was able to buy the kinect on November 5 and took it straight home to begin playing and testing all weekend. I don’t think I left my apartment all weekend to be honest with you. If the pizza man didn’t know me by name before he sure would have after that weekend. It was amazing. I felt like a kid again. It was like playing the Nintendo for the first time. Yeah we look back on it now and mock its cheesy graphics and simple controllers but I played that gaming system for hours upon hours and days upon days.
I don’t want to go on about how great the system is. Im here to tell you some of things to keep in mind before you purchase the console.
First off is the space required to be able to play the games properly. You need to have at least six feet between you and the console. When I say six feet I really do mean it, I don’t mean six feet to the couch I mean a full six feet to you with room to spare.
Next is the placement of the kinect. If you have a flat screen tv that mounts to your wall than you need some type of shelf to be able to put this on. Putting the kinect on the floor will not do the trick. Ideally you want it around 48 inches off the ground.
Third are your children. Many of you are going to be buying this for your kids. Your child needs to be at least 36 inches tall for the kinect to be able to track them. If they are shorter than this but not by much you can make it work but don’t go much shorter than that.
Fourth, sometimes there is a delay between you and the tv. At first I thought this was just because the technology wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. Then I made some adjustments. I moved the kinect a little higher and I also changed where I was standing. Now it works perfectly.
Lastly but possibly the most important of all is be careful where you purchase the kinect. I know a lot of you think that buying them from auction sites is going to save you money. This is generally true with products that aren’t in demand. For products that are in demand it’s a whole other story. I have seen the xbox kinect going for 2 – 3x the price on auction sites just because they are in demand. As Christmas draws nearer this will only get worse.