Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First off, I have a hard and fast rule - never buy first generation equipment, especially from Microsoft, and especially when it's brand new technology. However, rules are made to be broken, right? :) My boyfriend's birthday is today, and he really wanted the Kinect for his birthday - it was a sign that it was released the day before his birthday, right? :) So, like a good girlfriend (and fellow gadget addict), I ordered it from Amazon for him and it was waiting for us yesterday when we got home from work. Props to Amazon for flawless release date delivery! He had it set up before I got home and reported that the setup was very simple. What took the most time was re-configuring the furniture and figuring out the best place to put the sensor. We have the 360S, so the device was plug and play. We tried the Kinect Sports and Your Shape games, we also have the Adventures game that came with, and I plan on getting the Dance Central game as well. So far we're very pleased with how the unit works. It definitely takes a little bit of getting used to, but that's the case for any new technology. I know there were reviews about how this isn't good for hardcore gaming - and for us that's fine. He's a gamer (MW2, excited for BlackOps), but if he's going to play those games he's going to use the controller. I am not a big fan of the controller gaming, I am a Rock Band fan - much happier with a mic :) We bought the Kinect so we could burn some energy and not be such couch potatoes. The shape-up program is really great so far, but I suppose I should take my review for that over to the game. The acid test for the unit will be tomorrow - birthday party for the boyfriend and we're going to have a bunch of friends over to play games with the Kinect. Kinect Sports has a party setting that should be perfect, but with that many people in the room and players of varying sizes and shapes, I will be very curious to see how it goes. To sum up - Pros: Easy setup, recognition is cool, actually burning calories while playing games, chance to get in better shape with a video game (the personal trainer feedback so far is really cool), fun party toy, voice navigation of the Xbox unit Cons: Had to re-arrange the living room, and in a small apartment it's kind of difficult to do that. Only two players at once. Interface takes some getting used to. So, all in all, I'm delighted with the purchase and can't wait to see what other cool things this can do. I'm really looking forward to the video chat aspect. I'm also looking forward to the future of video gaming. Using the unit last night I really couldn't help but to think that this is really going to change the video game playing landscape. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A post-Kinect party update: The unit worked flawlessly. Space was a little tight, but that's a function of the small house and tall friends. Everyone had a blast either watching or playing the games. Most popular were the games where you could challenge someone else there. The sports game and Dance Central (Yeah! Dance Battle!) were the most popular for that. The unit worked perfectly as far as working great with different people trying the games - 17 of us tried different games at various times and it worked without a hitch. Everyone at the party was jealous of our toy and several people left trying to figure out how they're rearrange their house so they could get one too! Oh, and we tested out the Xbox Live feature with the ping-pong and boxing parts of Kinect Sports and were pleasantly surprised at just how well it worked. Very little lag and very responsive. Them I spent an hour or so yesterday on the workout mode of Dance Central and boy I tell you what, I definitely got a good workout. Boyfriend has been doing workouts with the Your Shape game and is also quite pleased. Love it love it love it love it....