For my brothers 18th birthday I decided that the best gift for him would be xbox's answer to the wii the kinect. This product is particularly good as it involves no controllers and therefore helps you to stay healthy whilst having fun. It is the excellent product for my brother who spends all his free time on the xbox result in him becoming very unhealthy over the past few years.

Once I decided to buy the product I went to Game where the product cost £119.99 which I thought was a very good price which included kinect adventures. However due to the fact that this was a gift and I am very short on money due to the fact that I am student I decided to buy the product pre owned for £74.99 which included all the same products and looked practically brand new when we received the product. My only advice would be to any person who chooses to buy a pre owned kinect would be that if you do not own the newest xbox 360 the slim version then you will need to purchase a wire for which they charge £5. If you do not already own an xbox you can get the 4GB xbox for approx £199 with a Kinect or up to £299 if you want the 250GB xbox which is essential for serious gamers.

Before I bought it I knew very little about this product but wanted it to be all set up for my brother as a surprise for when he got home from college so I decided to try myself to set it up in the living room. I must say the kinect is pretty easy to set up. To start with I had to find the right place to put it I decided below the TV but it can also go above the TV if you wish. Once it is all plugged in and you have turned on the xbox you need to go through a string of tests to check on the background noise and the microphone set up with the kinect. The kinect will then tilt itself in order to get the best view.

For anybody who does not have a lot of room the kinect would be pointless as it requires a minimum of 6 foot to use the kinect however 8 feet are needed if you want to play well or have more than one player. In my house we have just enough space to play with 2 people with a squeeze.

We really enjoyed playing the initial game Kinect Adventures which comes with the kinect however it soon got repetitive and boring as there are not many games which can be played on this. However due to the fact that games are around £40 it is good to play when you first get the Kinect. After I gave it to my brother he downloaded some demos such as sonic free riders and zumba fitness. After trying the demos he decided to buy himself Sonic free riders for £10 pre owned. This game is very good as it lets you either compete with your friends or work together which is fun and difficult as it involves a lot of working together. Sonic free riders involves racing against your favourite Sonic characters by moving your body forward and backwards. I really enjoyed Zumba fitness but currently do not have enough money to buy it for myself. There are currently mainly sport and fitness games out however there are new games coming out over the next year for example Star Wars which is available end of December to the beginning of January (I have read two different dates).

Even though the product is slightly expensive compared to other products as you will also need to buy the xbox however it is a great way to include the family into the xbox. This product is great for our family as my brother never wants to play with us and generally locks himself away on the xbox this way he can still play on the xbox but can involve everybody. This product is great especially for families with both young children and older children. The wii does not have a great selection of games for older children. Now with the Kinect the xbox is a product for the whole family. I think that with the introduction of the kinect xbox now have the widest variety of games compared to the wii and the playstaion. Include the ability to not use a controller also makes this product the best on the market for fitness games without having to fiddle with the controllers on the wii.