Video

  Saturday night I had Silvia and Steve over for dinner (Silvia did just about everything) and afterwards we fired up the XBox Kinnect to try the newest thing in video games. It is basically a camera that watches you and then transfers your body motions into the game itself on the TV screen. It takes a little time to set it up but overall it's quite easy to do and worth the time spent. Once the set up was done either Silvia or Steve could simply stand in front of the camera and they would be recognized by the game and be able to play with their settings in the memory. Amazing. This game differs from the other games such as Wii because there is nothing to be held in your hand while playing which appeals to me.  Games  include soccer, football, equestrian jumping, boxing, hang gliding and skiing. We tried them all and had a lot of fun. Silvia even ended up on the floor while playing football. She also kicked my ass when we were boxing which is neat because you can box against the computer or against the person standing beside you. Steve also knocked me out boxing. Very humbling. The ski game can also be played by two people standing side by side in the ski cross mode. My personal favourite is the hang gliding game which requires you to go through targets and find hot air risers to stay in the air for longer periods of time. Very cool. I think it is a real leap forward for video games and although the system isn't perfect it was tons of fun, tiring and will only get better in the future. I remember when I was 16 years old and received Pong for Christmas and we all thought it was amazing. Then came Donkey Kong,  Pacman, Galaga and the many other great video games which I spent more than a few dollars on playing. So that makes me a 55 year old who still enjoys playing kids game. Guilty as charged. They're fun, they keep my mind occupied for hours on end and I suspect I will be playing them for a long time to come. I may never grow up and I'm fine with that.