subject: Why Should'nt You Buy The Xbox Kinect? [print this page] Why Should'nt You Buy The Xbox Kinect? Why Should'nt You Buy The Xbox Kinect?
Is there any reason that you shouldn't be getting the new Xbox Kinect? This is a question that we have all asked ourselves about a thousand times since the release of the kinect. We have asked it but very few of us have been able to answer it.
I don't want to tell you why you should buy it because with all the marketing that Microsoft has been doing; none of us need another reason for that. You can't turn on the TV without seeing commercials on the Xbox kinect, or hearing how you can get free ones every 15 minutes at the nearest fast food chain. We see kids and adults alike, jumping around like crazy and having the time of their lives.
They would be stupid not to depict it as the most amazing experience anyone has ever had. Now that I have tried it I can honestly say it is exactly what I was looking for. I haven't played video games for this long since the original Nintendo came out.
But I'm not here to tell you how great the Xbox kinect is, enough people are doing that. I'm here to tell you a few of the draw backs that come along with the Xbox kinect. I wouldn't say that these are reasons to not buy it, but they are something to think about before you do.
So let's get to the most important and biggest drawback that I have ran into. The area needed to play, and be detected by the Xbox Kinect. I have a small two bedroom apartment; it's around 900 sq ft. in total. When I first set the kinect up I had quite a few problems with the sensor being able to track my movements. The area that I had setup in my living room was just too small. The instructions clearly say that you must be 6 feet from the TV in order for the kinect to be able to scan your full body. This was a real downer for me since my living room was simply not big enough.
The only way to fix this was to set up the kinect at my girlfriend's place. Her living room was much larger and allowed the kinect to be able to scan me while giving me enough room to play. The next issue I ran into was the placement of the kinect. My girlfriend has a very nice flat screen tv that is mounted to her wall. I tried setting it on the floor at first. The problem was I am six feet tall. It wasn't able to scan up that high. I had to go out and buy a nice shelf for the kinect to sit up about 48 inches from the floor. This allowed it to track me with ease.
I have a little boy who is 3 years old and about 30 inches tall. This is too short for the Xbox kinect to track him. Half the reason I bought this was because I knew he would love it. Unfortunately he won't be able to. This more than any other reason upset me the most. The system is designed with kids in mind. But that was also an error of mine. It does say the ideal height for proper use is 36 inches and taller. So make sure your kids are at least 36 inches tall.
When I first got the kinect setup I had a little bit of a delay between my movements and what was happening on the screen. I blew it off just thinking that this was part of the system. I did a little research and found that if you are having this problem, the best thing to do was adjust the height of your kinect. It may be too high or too low. I made a small adjustment of about 2 inches and now it tracks me in real time.
The last thing you need to watch out for is scams. The xbox is one of the most sought after toys of the Christmas season. With high demand products, come high demand prices. I know most of us are used to scouring our favorite auction sites for great deals on merchandise. Generally the products we get great deals on are products that aren't selling very well in the first place. If you're paying more than 150 for the kinect than you are getting ripped off. Now there are some packages that include a game or two and those prices will be higher. Just make sure you shop around and if something sounds too good to be true it usually is.
