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963 of 1026 people found the following review helpful.
Best Motion Controller & Improved Xbox at a Great Price!
By FTP
The xbox 360 slim with 4 GB is what the original arcade version should have been.10 new features of this model are:1. New Valhalla chip - hopefully improved design to prevent RRoD issue, but tech. reviews noted that the Jasper chip in the older Elite model runs cooler2. WiFi N - this is the newest wifi standard that is 12X faster (up to 600 Mbits/ sec) than wifi G; you'll need a Wifi N router to get the max. speed3. digital optical audio port (IF your sound system is separate from your TV, then you'll need this to get full 5.1 surround sound)4. 4 GB of flash memory (although 1.1 GB is used by the game system, but 0.3 GB can be reclaimed by deleting 4 game demos)5. 5 USB ports (2 in front & 3 in back)6. slimmer design with side vents (to prevent overheating)7. dedicated Kinect port (just a convenience feature)8. only 1 year of warranty (the only negative; older Elite models had 3 yrs.)9. USB flash drive support (this was a xbox software update released in April 2010)10. ESPN video streaming (will be included if you are a Gold member, $50/ yr)Slim 4 GB memory vs. 250 GB hard drive:I bought the 4 GB system over the model with 250 GB hard drive because the xbox now supports game saves/ installs/ downloads and pic/ audio/ video downloads to USB flash drives. It supports 1-2 USB flash drives with 1-16 GB memory (using a 16 GB drive, 1.6 GB is used for formatting). 2 advantages of USB drives: loading games and media is 3x faster with USB drives than disc reading and more reliable (flash memory rarely fails, while discs can get scratched). 2 disadvantages of USB drives: you can not install old xbox games on USB drives and certain games, like Halo Reach and Halo ODST, will not support online coop without a hard drive (having a USB drive will not help). If you have a big appetite for video downloads and game demos that 32 GB can not accommodate, then you can always upgrade later with a 360 GB hard drive. The original model's hard drive is not compatible with the slim model without modification - you would need to remove the original hard drive and insert it into a slim hard-drive case (non-Microsoft, sold separately). You can find a non-Microsoft 120 GB drive for 1/2 the price of the Microsoft drives, but you would need to manually install the "partition 2" xbox emulator (search google) to play old xbox games.XBOX vs. PS3:I am originally a PS3 and Wii gamer, but finally bought the xbox when the slim 4 GB model was released. To be competitive with the PS3, the xbox had to have the built-in wifi, optical audio port, and USB flash drive support. I was deciding whether to buy another PS3 since many games require 2 consoles for coop and multiplayer gaming, regardless of what system you choose. With this xbox priced at $200, I decided to choose the xbox since it has better coop games and more online gaming. However, Netflix on xbox requires gold membership and starting a movie is a lot slower than the PS3 even though the xbox has faster wifi. Xbox music and music videos library needs to expand to the size of their TV and movies selection to be comparable with iTunes. The PS3 has better graphics though not significantly better (expected since PS3 has a better processor), but the xbox has better coop and multiplayer games. The PS3 controller is better designed, better constructed, and has a rechargeable battery; the D-pad on the included xbox controller creaked without even playing a single game. Also the PS3 has a Blu-Ray player, which accounts for the small cost difference. The button to open the disc tray on the xbox is too sensitive and not recessed, so slightly brushing it with your clothes will activate it.Speed Comparison Update:The Witcher 2 game, which is highly recommended, inspired me to write this update. For the Slim 4 GB model, most game discs can not be installed to the internal memory due to insufficient space. The internal memory is 3x faster than hard drives, which is 3x faster than USB drives, which is 3x faster than disc reading. The approximate speeds are: 270 MB/s internal memory > 90 MB/s hard drive > 30 MB/s USB drives > 10 MB/s disc reading. NOTE: USB drives vary a lot in speed; check the speed and cost before buying - you get what you pay for. So loading a game installed on a USB drive is faster than loading it from the disc, but can be potentially 9x faster if installed to internal memory. The Slim model should be updated with at least 16 GB memory since a game DVD holds up to 8.5 GB of data, 1.5 GB is needed for system files, and 6 GB should be reserved for game saves and updates. With flash memory so cheap these days, Microsoft has no excuse to not increase the internal memory to at least 16 GB. I originally gave the Slim model 5 stars, but docked it 1 star for this issue since it's been more than 2 years since this model was released.Online Gaming & Media Sharing Update:I originally didn't mind paying for xbox gold membership since it included Last FM music and ESPN video streaming, but now there are better music streaming service (Sony's definitely better) and the videos within each sports category are disorganized and poorly label so it's hard to find specific clips. So when I discontinued my xbox gold memberships, I found out that you can not play online coop games, even privately hosted ones, without at least one person having gold membership. Microsoft should at least allow privately hosted, online coop games to account for the lack of LAN support by most games. Also, the xbox's support of DLNA media streaming from your computer is poor; you can not save your media, only stream it. DLNA media streaming and sharing is flawless with the PS3. Microsoft's greed is evident in these 2 issues so I docked the xbox another star to give it only 3 stars.While the concept of natural body movements translating into character's actions sounds intuitive, the implementation of this idea in games has eluded many game developers. Too much motion will tire out the gamer, repetitive motion will bore the gamer, and complicated motions can not be successfully detected by the controllers. I'll compare motion controllers for all 3 systems below.Usage Comparison:The Wii was wildly popular when it was released due to its novelty, however 4 years later, few Wii game innovations have appeared causing Nintendo to lose market share in the past year. The PS3 Move is more accurate than the Wii since the Move tracks motion in 3-D space while the Wii tracks motion in 2-D space (2 dimensional, like paper) and analyzes that data to interpret 3-D movements. The light globe on the PS3 Move looks cool initially, but the bright light becomes glaringly annoying soon, especially in a dark room. Both the Wii and PS3 motion controllers are less integrated to the console's navigations and functions than the Xbox Kinect. The Kinect allows users to say commands and motion gestures to navigate menus, browse online, interact with avatars, and play media content. Winner: Xbox Kinect.Price Comparison:The Wii system ($200) includes the 3 controllers (Wiimote, nunchuk, & motionPlus) needed for 1 player, but costs another $40-80 per player, depending on the accessories that you buy. The PS3 Move retails for $100 for 1 player and the XBOX Kinect retails for $150 for 2 players, but both are accessories so they require the original game system. Also, the PS3 Move requires $50-100 more per player, depending on the accessories that you buy, while the XBOX initially supports 2 players but is capable of tracking 6 players for future games. All 3 motion systems include a game to showcase the controller's features. For 2 players, the Wii is the cheapest system and the PS3 is the most expensive; but when the Xbox supports 4 players (probably via a software update in 1 year), it will be cheaper than getting a Wii. Winner: Xbox Kinect (assuming 4+ players).Technical Comparison:Motion detection differs in all 3 game systems. The Wii uses micromechanical components, such as an accelerometer and gyroscope, and an infrared sensor. The PS3 Move uses an accelerometer, angular-rate sensor, and visual tracking of a LED-lit globe. While the Wii & PS3 Move use similar components, the PS3 has the advantage since its components have 3-axis of motion detection compared to 2-axis sensors in the Wii; also the PS3 has a stronger processor to calculate position and distance. Instead of relying on micromechanical components, the XBOX Kinect uses a video camera, an infrared camera, and a 4-microphones array, which together is capable of gesture, facial, and voice recognition for tracking up to 6 players. The PS3's disadvantage is that micromechanical components may wear & tear and cause inaccurate motion detection, while the Xbox's disadvantage is that more processing overhead is needed when analyzing video and sound to interpret the players' motion. While the PS3 is the obvious winner over the Wii, the success of the PS3 Move vs. the Xbox Kinect will depend on the game developers' ability to translate motion into actions. Overall, the Xbox Kinect has a slight advantage because the motion software can always be improved by Microsoft, whereas the PS3 controllers will most likely remain unchanged since hardware redesigns are always expensive to both the company and its users. Winner: Xbox Kinect.
188 of 210 people found the following review helpful.
Kinect better then Wii and old 360
By mom to 3 boys
We have all the systems, Xbox, Xbox 360, playstation 2, playstation 3, PSP, DSL, Wii, Itouch and now new Xbox 360 Kinect (video games are my addiction)Positives about the new 360 with Kinect:-Supper easy to install (even if you never own an xbox before)-Has built in memory (old 360 didn't)-You can add flash drives for even More memory (not xbox 360 memory card that cost $60, normal flash drive you can pick up for $20)-Has built in Wi-Fi nothing to install to connect xbox live (old 360 you had buy an antenna)-You can control the xbox main menu with your VOICE, say xbox, say game, voice command soo Neat and Easy, so if your controller battiers die no biggy just tell it what to do!! No controller needed.-Kinect games are way More Fun then Wii, my 65 yr old mother (grandma) was playing with the kids everyone was laughing, jumping and enjoyed it!!-Kinect games are easier then Wii for little kids but Fun for adults too.With Wii you have to hold the controllers just right for them to work, if you don't flip your writs a certain way you'll lose. My littlies one Never held the controller right on the Wii and had hard time scoring in games and would always lose. With Kinect there is NO controller, you use your body & voice to play, my littlies one had no problems and score more then his older brothers!!And my kids LOVE how Kinect takes pictures (Wii can't) of them jumping during the game and then shows them the pictures, they were rolling on the floor laughing at themselves, mine never laughed that much playing Wii!!Negatives about 360 with KinectYou can NOT connect your old hard drive (not memory card) hard drive to the new 360 so you can't carry your old stuff over to the new oneI can't think of any other negatives, we really enjoy it and can't wait to buy more kentic games to play with Grandma and I plan on selling our Wii.
336 of 383 people found the following review helpful.
Works, but ...
By William Carroll
I'll leave the Xbox part out, because we all know that works fine. The Kinect device is an impressive piece of technology that works as advertised, tracking you and putting you "in the game." Jump and your character jumps. The only problem I had with it was a dealbreaker though. It requires significantly more space than the minimum. While Microsoft says it will work with 6 feet of space, I had very little luck with 8 feet. If you have a big, open space, this is a great option for you. If you're like most of us, we'll have to wait for another solution.SUMMARY: Do not buy unless you have 10 feet or more of space. Take width and height of your play area into account as well.
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