Released on November 4 in North America, Kinect is an addon for Microsoft's Xbox360 gaming console. Before the official announcement, Kinect was referred to by its codename, “Project Natal.” With the use of a mounted camera and nothing else, Kinect is able to pick up the movements of players, representing their images as characters on the screen. This allows for a whole new range of movement-based games. Though the most obvious genre is sports, fitness and workout games, there are also driving and fighting games, along with more wellknown names like Sonic the Hedgehog. In addition to the 19 games already launched, 22 games have been announced as in the development stage.

Kinect destroys its closest competition, Nintendo Wii, in the simplicity of controls. While Wii requires a Wiimote and other pieces like the Nunchuck and Classic Controller for each player, differing by game, Kinect often requires that nothing be held by the player. This allows a much greater range of movement to be detected — rather than just a single spot (the Wiimote) as the point of movement, the whole body can be detected and used to control the game.

Sony also launched a similar console add-on in September, and though it received positive reviews, it sold just one million units in the first month of availability; a number matched by Xbox in only 10 days. Sony's version, called PlayStation Move, uses a style similar to the Wii with a motion controller and PlayStation Eye camera, though in Microsoft's style released the product as an add-on rather than an entire new console. Sony is currently working on the creation of a new console based on the Move which shows some potential, as many critics claim that Sony has the best motion detection console on the market.

Despite Sony's quality, it's clear the Kinect is the talk of the town this holiday season. Critics gave the add-on an average rating of 7.7 out of 10 — respectable, but not spectacular. One of the major complaints was price; with a range of Xbox consoles available starting at just $199.99, Kinect almost meets this price selling for $149.99, a cost that includes one game. Purchase an Xbox and Kinect bundle and you're looking at upwards of $400 when you buy an extra game. Other complaints included slow response times after making a gesture, the large space requirement, and the lack of expandability into more typical Xbox games like the Grand Theft Auto and Fallout series. More recent and localized complaints include reports by dark-skinned players who claim the console had issues with its facial recognition feature and certain movements could not be picked up by the camera. Videos have also surfaced to show the ease at which players can “cheat” the console — while making no movements at all, the characters on the screen will sometimes react as though a movement has been made. In the case of racing games, this can mean placing third in a race while remaining perfectly still.

So as Nintendo Wii loses its appeal as “the next big thing” this holiday season, and PlayStation Move lacks strength in sales, there is a good chance you might just find a Kinect Bundle under the Christmas tree this year with your name on it.