Xbox360 with Kinect questions. I know nothing about gaming consoles.

[ghostman]

To give you some background, my last gaming console was the original Nintendo NES. I haven't been keeping up with gaming at all, but I'm considering buying an xbox 360 for a friend. My friend expressed interest in using the Kinect feature to get her family to exercise more.

I know this info is on the internet and I can google it, but there is so much info about xbox hacking and whatnot that it's hard to figure out what I can do with the vanilla xbox/kinect unit.

So, here are my basic questions:

1. Can xbox360 be used as a web browser? A quick search online shows it can be... but you must have something installed on a computer or whatnot. Can you view sites like youtube or other flash-based technologies? Does it have multilanguage support (Chinese characters)?

2. Can it play back xvid/divx/mp3/jpg slide shows/etc.? Does it play DVD? It doesn't support blu-ray, but can it handle 720/1080p output via HDMI? This is meant more as an entertainment system that has gaming abilities rather that the other way around.

3. Is a subscription required for anything? I know xbox live is a multiplayer thing that requires a subscription, but if the players play Kinect Sports or some dance thing for exercise purposes (rather than CoD), is xbox live required?

4. Is the Kinect system worthwhile for exercising? I know it doesn't replace REAL exercising, but what are people's experience with it? The Wii was entertaining for a few hours, but you soon realize a flick of the wrist is all that's necessary to play most games. Hardly a workout.

Sorry folks for the basic questions.

 

[AstroManLuca]

1. Can xbox360 be used as a web browser? A quick search online shows it can be... but you must have something installed on a computer or whatnot. Can you view sites like youtube or other flash-based technologies? Does it have multilanguage support (Chinese characters)?

It can't be used as a web browser at all. You only have access to whatever channels are available in the console's menu system. So basically Netflix, Hulu Plus, ESPN3, and I think a few others. It also has the ability to stream most video files from your computer through Windows Media Center.

2. Can it play back xvid/divx/mp3/jpg slide shows/etc.? Does it play DVD? It doesn't support blu-ray, but can it handle 720/1080p output via HDMI? This is meant more as an entertainment system that has gaming abilities rather that the other way around.

Yes, using Windows Media Center you can stream most movies, music, and photos from shared folders on the same network. Doesn't appear to play MKV files but most media centers can't. It does indeed play DVDs and I know it supports HD output - I've played a handful of HD video files streamed from my computer as well as some HD-DVDs using the external HD-DVD drive.

3. Is a subscription required for anything? I know xbox live is a multiplayer thing that requires a subscription, but if the players play Kinect Sports or some dance thing for exercise purposes (rather than CoD), is xbox live required?

Xbox Live is required for online features in most games. Not for local stuff though. However, Live is also required if you want to stream Netflix or Hulu Plus. That is in addition to requiring existing subscriptions to those services.

4. Is the Kinect system worthwhile for exercising? I know it doesn't replace REAL exercising, but what are people's experience with it? The Wii was entertaining for a few hours, but you soon realize a flick of the wrist is all that's necessary to play most games. Hardly a workout.

Sorry folks for the basic questions.

Absolutely no idea on Kinect. It's never interested me.

If you want a home theater device, the PS3 is better than the Xbox 360 in every way. It has a Blu-ray player instead of just a DVD player, its streaming functions are more powerful, and you don't have to pay extra to access Netflix or Hulu - you only need to have subscriptions to those services and you don't have to pay extra to Microsoft just for the privilege of accessing them. The PS3 also has a web browser, I think.

On the other hand, Kinect is unlike anything available for the other platforms, so I guess that's a factor.

 

[Queasy]

1. Can xbox360 be used as a web browser? No

2. Can it play back xvid/divx/mp3/jpg slide shows/etc.? Does it play DVD? Yes and Yes

3. Is a subscription required for anything? Yes. You need LIVE Gold to play online, use Netflix, Hulu, ESPN 3, and the other upcoming TV channels. You can get an individual year's sub for as low as $40 or you can get a family subscription (4 people) for $100.

4. Is the Kinect system worthwhile for exercising? Yep. Your Shape Fitness Evolved is the best workout game for Kinect and Dance Central and Dance Central 2 are fun ways to burn some calories.

 

[ghostman]

Thanks for the responses. Although Kinect seems more advanced than anything out there, the xbox360 seems to be weak as an entertainment device. I can't imagine why it would need to have a subscription service to access other subscription services or why it can't play back local multimedia files and requires WMC/shared network.

I know my friend (who is not a gamer or a techy) will not bother with this layer of complexity, so ultimately, this is probably not the right device for him. Oh well.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Thanks for the responses. Although Kinect seems more advanced than anything out there, the xbox360 seems to be weak as an entertainment device. I can't imagine why it would need to have a subscription service to access other subscription services or why it can't play back local multimedia files and requires WMC/shared network.

I know my friend (who is not a gamer or a techy) will not bother with this layer of complexity, so ultimately, this is probably not the right device for him. Oh well.

It can play back local multimedia files, it's just not the ideal device for it. Formats might be more limited that with the streaming, I'm not sure though because I haven't really used the local storage for videos. The main problem is the limited hard drive space and the difficulty of getting data onto it. With the PS3 you can just take any laptop hard drive and install it and format it for use in the console. With the 360 you must buy an overpriced official hard drive module if you need more space than what is provided with the console. Of course the Elite comes with a large enough hard drive that you probably won't need to upgrade.

It might actually be better to go for a cheap 360 Arcade (only 4 GB of internal storage, but that's plenty for game saves and the occasional DLC) so you can get Kinect and then skip the Xbox Live subscription and get a separate media center device like a Roku or WDTV. The WDTV is nice because you can just plug in any external hard drive and it'll pick up all the video files on it and let you play them - and it also has Netflix and stuff at no extra cost above the Netflix subscription. Roku probably has a slicker interface but relies more on streaming and doesn't support external hard drives - I have a WDTV and it's a bit slow to respond sometimes but it works.

 

[Raduque]

An Xbox360 CAN play back local files on a USB stick in divx format, as long as you have the appropriate updates installed (it will prompt you to install the codecs and such when you try to play the files), but it operates as a media playback device best when you have a pre-existing Windows Media Center environment set up, as the Xbox360 works a Media Center Extender. It also naturally supports all native Microsoft video formats (WMV, WMV-HD, etc).

I second AstroManLuca's suggestion of an Xbox360 for gaming and a stand-alone STB like the Roku or WD TV he mentioned.