Christmas gifts for kids -XBox 360 Knect?

[MomofEEL]

Has anyone seen the new commercial for XBox 360 Knect? I have 3 girls: Ages 7, 9 and 13 and was wondering if I should purchase that for Christmas or continue to buy some WII Games. Any new Wii games that you would recommend? I am looking at Wii Wipeout, Wii Dance Sensation 2, Wii Zumba or Wii Party.

Thanks,

[sneezles]

I pre-ordered the Knect at amazon.com for my 23 year old son as his Christmas present...on his advice!

I think it's going to be one of those "hard to find in real life" gifts this year

[BJennif]

You definitely can preorder the Kinect all over right now. I think it "hits the streets" this Tuesday. I work part-time in an electronics department and we have a countdown promo board for it. There are not too many games in the store for it right now, but there does seem to be a bunch online and so I'm sure they will be coming in. I think the advantage to the Kinect is that you don't have to hold a controller or stand on a pad like with the Wii. This seems like it would be a big advantage, especially for the exercise and/or dance games. It is pricey though and as far as I can tell, you still need an Xbox 360 to make it work, so that can significantly increase your initial outlay of cash. The Kinect looks to be between $200 and $300 and an Xbox 360 is anywhere from $200 - 400 and then there are games (Kinect games are $50) and controllers for non Kinect games. I also observed that the standard non-Kinect games for the Xbox 360 are all very violent and most are mature or teen rated. There does seem to be more "family" games available for the Kinect than there are for the Xbox 360 alone though. If you want one I would recommend hitting the stores Tuesday morning when they open or even at midnight if you have a 24 hour store in your area. Of course, you can always pre-order too to avoid the hassle.

[BJennif]

Got this item in the store this morning for the Tuesday street date. It is bundled with an Xbox 360 250GB system for about $400. It also comes with a game and the usual accessories for the system. If you buy the Kinect alone it comes with a game for about $200. The 360 250GB is $300, so by buying the bundle you are saving $100.

Also surprising in this morning's shipment was the Nook - considering that I do not work at B&N! I saw the Kindle for sale on Friday at Staples and was surprised b/c I thought it was only available at Amazon.

Holiday shopping season is kicking off soon - here's hoping it's busy b/c I hate being bored at work!