X-Box 360 "Slim" and Kinect

If you haven't heard already, Microsoft has released a new, slimmer version of the X-Box 360.

The new version has built in Wi-Fi, is Kinect ready, and was supposed to get rid of the RRoD problem that the older systems had. (RRoD: Red Rings of Death. A problem that occured when an X-Box 360 would overheat and crash.) Turns out, though, that the Slim version is already having overheating problems and it's only been around for a short while. Sad to hear, but no real surprise.

I think it's cool that Microsoft has slimmed down their system (the slimmer version does have a rather sleek, sexy quality to it.), and it's definitely about time that they added built in Wi-Fi. (The fact that you had to spend extra money to get Wi-Fi connectivity always seemed like Microsoft money grubbing.) But, you'd think they'd spend a bit more time trying to make the system less likely to crash. It's great and all that they're so good about replacing the systems that crash, but wouldn't it be a better use of their time to make a system that didn't need to be replaced so often? I think so.

In other X-Box news; Kinect has made an even bigger step into the spotlight. Formerly known as "Project Natal", Kinect is supposed to revolutionize the way we play games. Kinect is a type of motion controller that, instead of using a remote and motion sensor like the Wii, uses cameras to capture the player's movements and have the game react accordingly. The demo videos I've seen of it make it look pretty dang awesome. If it performs as well as it does in the videos, it might just succeed at it's goal.

I've heard tell that Kinect is going to need a pretty large room to operate in, which might be bad news for people like me. I live in a typical bachelor pad apartment and my front room isn't as big as it might need to be for Kinect to work. But, who knows?

All in all, I'm excited to see if Kinect can live up to the hype. It definitely has the potential to be very awesome. As far as the new, slimmer 360; I really wish we could get to the point that we can play our X-Box anywhere without worrying about overheating and the RRoD.