kinect or wii??

[malphy]

I am thinking of getting one of these game systems so that dd and dh can have more play options. He is pretty tired of princess and dragon dress up and due to health reasons he cannor run around alot(which is her favorite thing to do).

The kinect sounds great but I have read that you need a lot of room to play it. It is also expensive and has minimal game choices, which I am sure will change as time goes on.

Wii is a known entity. Everyone I know that has one loves it. The kids love it and there are many titles to choose from.

I do not know anybody that has a kinect but I think it looks cool and I like that there are no controllers.

If anyone here has a kinect can you tell me how you feel about it. Ftr, dd is 4.5 yrs old.

tia

[BayGirl2]

We got the Kinect camera for Xmas. Soooooo cool. The technology works really well and the interface is easy to learn. There aren't a ton of kids games yet, like with the Wii, but those that are out work well. Our friends with kids were in town and had just gotten a Wii for xmas, after a night of playing they wished they had gotten an xBox with Kinect instead. More natural, easier to learn, more active.

So far there are Kinectimals, the Adventures that comes with it, and a few others for kids that get good ratings. The Kinect Sports game would totally work for kids too. I check Amazon for reviews, there have been a few games that aren't great, but most are excellent. Our blockbuster has games for Kinect, so we sometimes will rent games to try out or play when we have guests. Of course you can use regular xBox games too, which are a lot of fun.

You need about 8 feet of space in front of it to have enough space to play. That works for us, but if you have a coffee table that always needs to be moved it could be a PITA. Best Buy usually has a trial set up, so you could try it out there to see if the space range works. (Their area is huge, but walk around to see where the edges of the range are.) There is a minimum height for kids, but IME our 2 YO shows up on the screen when sitting on the floor, and a 3.5 YO was old enough to figure out how to play along.

[hillview]

We have Kinect and our babysitter has the Wii. The Wii wins for DS1 HANDS DOWN. I prefer Kinect.
/hillary

[mamamir]

We have both the Kinect & Wii but our DS is an infant and is too young to play either. But we've had kids over that played games with both consoles.

With the Kinect, you are forced to use your whole body, which may include jumping, running in place, using your arms (as a tennis racket, to play volleyball, etc). Kids seem to really like the Sports, Adventure and Dance Central (although this may be a better game for an older child or for adults). You do need about 6 feet of space in front of you and there is a learning curve with learning how to navigate using your hands.

The Wii is great and your family will enjoy it. But you really don't get a chance to use your whole body so if you are looking for an energy release, Kinect is the better option.

[lhafer]

We sold our wii after we got the kinect. Dd just turned 5. She likes the sports games and the kinectanimals games.

[Melaine]

We bought the Kinect and sold the wii. I so much prefer the control-free format and the whole body exercising. I really like Dance Central for me, the girls like Kinectimals. I'm hoping they come out with more games soon. I can see older kids liking the wii better maybe, but for little kids the Kinect is so much easier.