And the answer is . . . (drum roll, please) . . . any Xbox 360 console will work with Kinect, according to Microsoft. And that’s great news for anyone who already has an Xbox 360.

The only Xbox console my family owns is the one we picked up on Ebay a few months ago, which was released in January 2003. (See post photo–that’s my Xbox!) Although our Xbox has been running with no problems, my son has been dying to get in on the Kinect action–which I have to admit looks pretty cool.

The Xbox 360 Slim and the Kinect are on Everyone’s List this Holiday Season

The Kinect sold over one million units within the first 10 days of its release. And now, close on the heals of Black Friday, the 250 GB console is almost impossible to find. The console bundle in shortest supply seems to be the Xbox 360 250GB Console with Kinect–guess that’s no big surprise–which includes the Kinect, the Xbox 360 250 Gig console, and the game Kinect Adventures. I’ve checked all over online and called a bunch of local stores, and NO DICE.

In the absence of the 250GB version, I considered getting the Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect, then adding on the Xbox 360 250GB Hard Drive. That would end up costing about $50 more that buying the 250 GB Kinect Bundle, and I’d get the black matte console instead of the glossy–but it still seemed like a good alternative.

But then, I was able to find a Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Bundle, which included a 250GB Xbox 360 console, plus 2 games: Forza Motorsport 3
and Alan Wake. I had to buy the Kinect sensor bar separately. All told, I ended up spending $50 more that I would have for the 250 GB bundle I originally wanted, but got 2 extra games out of the deal. So overall, I’m OK with the deal.

Whew! What a relief! It’s not a good feeling to have your child’s main Christmas gift floating out there in the ether, un-purchased and un-obtained, mocking you….

Seriously, I think the Kinect is going to be a ton of fun for both me and my son. I can’t wait to try it. And it also seems like a pretty cool feature to incorporate physical activity into video games, which have historically been couch potato activities. Maybe the Kinect won’t be as good as joining a local soccer team–but then, there will be a lot less injuries and no games to play in the rain. : )

I’m planning to post videos of the Kinect in action, after the holidays (when Santa will bring it). So if you’re a person who’s interested, but wants to see more before taking the plunge, stay tuned for what is certain to be some awesome video action!