Random Tips to Get Your kinect Started

I’m not going to go into detail about getting started with your Xbox 360 with Kinect; I assume the majority of you already have an Xbox 360 or have played with one prior to this purchase. If you haven’t played with one before, bring someone who owns one to help you set it up and explain the cool things it can do.

Instead, I’d like to leave you with a few random tips and pieces of advice when you’re setting up a Kinect-enabled Xbox:

• Xbox Live is well worth a subscription price. It’s how you get the downloadable content and, more importantly, it’s necessary for multi-player. The nice thing about the new Xbox 360 is that it is Wi-Fi enabled; I have to stick an Ethernet cable into my older model to get an Internet connection.

• Netflix streaming is a must. It changes the entire Xbox 360 experience for the better.

• The Xbox 360 is an entertainment station just as much as it is a gaming console. Link it up with your computers to play the music and movies you have stored. I personally have a 1TB wireless external hard drive where I store most of my movies, TV shows and music. Since both the Xbox 360 and the drive are linked to the same router, I’m able to play that multimedia on my television without any hassle. Definitely set up something similar if you have a digital collection.

• The Xbox 360 comes with iPod support via an optional support update. Download it from the marketplace if you’d like to enhance your TV’s entertainment potential.

• It’s really, really important to have the right space for the Kinect. You need the space not just for the sensors to pick you up, but for your friends to sit on the sidelines to cheer you on. Having couches to the side or well behind the range of the Kinect is ideal. Microsoft recommends having eight feet of space from the sensor to the player for any two-player game, but you can get away with an extra foot if it’s necessary. The key is not to let the space feel cramped.