XBOX 360 with Kinect or Wii?

[Renegade]

Well, I'm thinking about getting an XBOX 360 with Kinect or a Nintendo Wii. I really don't care about games, but hopefully it will help me get some exercise. So, that's my #1 and only goal - EXERCISE.

Which would you recommend?

The last gaming console I had was an Atari 2600... It's been a while...

I am NOT interested in any online gaming accounts. I do not want one. For the primary reason that I am not interested in giving my personal details and credit card information to a bunch of criminals or LulzSec.

Sony has been hacked umpteen times. SEGA just got hacked. Wii? Nintendo is just another gaming company like Sony and Sega. It's only a matter of time until they get hacked. While Microsoft takes security pretty seriously, and has improved tremendously in the last number of years, I'm still skittish about things there. I think they're less likely to get hacked, but... Where there's a will, there's some prick looking to destroy stuff and ruin the fun for everyone.

So, the less information I need to use the console, the better. I'm really only interested in playing/exercising -- not in any kind of online interaction or accounts or whatever.

Edit: I'm not worried about price. I'm worried about it being fun. If it's fun, I'll stick with it and I'll lose my gut.

[Deozaan]

You know, Nintendo has often been ridiculed by the way it handles its online matchmaking stuff with the Wii and DS, but in the case of losing your privacy due to hacking, it's the best of the three. Why? Because there's no central online account. No personal information tied to a login.

They use friend codes, which are unique for each game and basically anonymous.

Or am I missing something?

As for the topic of exercise, I'm not sure which is the best, but you may not want to forget that the PS3 also has Move, which is kind of like a combination between Wii and Kinect, since it has both motion controllers and the camera.

On the other hand, you can get a Wii for $150 these days. It cost me more than that for my mobile phone with a 2-year contract!

[Renegade]

I thought about the Sony thing for the entire 2 seconds it took me to think "rootkit douchebags get rooted regularly". I then moved on.

What I was thinking

With the way Sony behaves, I figured I'd rather support another company. I don't think they really have anything that is so good that it overshadows their despicable behavior.

Still, looking at the PlayStation(R)Move, they seem to have ripped off both Nintendo and Microsoft in a spectacular way. Get the best of the Wii and the XBOX 360? Tempting... Very tempting...

I added it as an option.

At $200 for the Wii here, it's tempting just for that. Not sure. I just need to lose weight...

[wraith808]

Well, I'm thinking about getting an XBOX 360 with Kinect or a Nintendo Wii. I really don't care about games, but hopefully it will help me get some exercise. So, that's my #1 and only goal - EXERCISE.

Which would you recommend?

360 with Kinect.  That's what I have, and I got it because it can actually sense your body.  The Wii can't.  It only senses the location of the wiimote (I feel like I lost a few brain cells just typing that).  So it can't see if you're using the correct movements.

Software-wise, I have the EA Sports Active, and it's very good!  I've heard (after the fact) that the Biggest Loser is better, but I've been satisfied with Sports Active.  And the other games give you a fair amount of exercise too- it's just that they have larger rest times between events (whether that's a dance or an activity) so you get into this startup/cooldown every few minutes that isn't as conducive to weight loss IME.  EA Sports Active also has a heart rate monitor that apparently doesn't come with the Wii version, and it has resistance bands included; it also has an accessory pack with weights and such, though I haven't splurged on that yet (for me- it's more than the game; it's $40, where I only paid $20 for the game itself).

Also, to use online features, you don't have to give CC info.  I buy my subscriptions on cards in the store or online, and buy points in the same way.  CC is easier, but you can be totally protected and still use online features.

[Renegade]

I could be barking up the wrong tree:

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=90064&page=3

Bryant agrees, although he is quick to praise Nintendo for its ability to use technology in a positive manner. He just doesn't want people to use Wii Fit as an alternative to actual fitness activities.

But compared to now, anything is an improvement.

[mouser]

What wraith says.

I have used both for exercise (i have a friend who does video game research work and was able to borrow them for long periods), and the xbox with kinect seems to be the superior exercise tool.

The kinect exercise games can be frustrating to use, but it is real -- it really can figure out where your body is.  the wii is much more of a gimmick, pretending to know what you are doing but it's largely an illusion.

There are 3 main exercise games for kinnect currently, EA Sports Active, The Biggest Loser, and Your Shape Fitness Evolved.

EA Sports Active is the one i use the most -- it has a very annoying initial user interface, but it has the most running in it, which i like the best.  It also has a very cool feature that lets you create your own custom workouts which I like.

The biggest loser is good and gets good reviews.  Has more varied activities and tries to be more engagin.

Your Shape Fitness Evolved should be sent to every other kinect developer as a lesson in how to create a user interface for navigating and selection that doesn't make you want to smash something into your tv screen -- i don't know why the rest of the kinect games have such poorly designed user interfaces.

Since you are a coder, you have the extra incentive for the xbox kinect in that you can get the windows sdk for the kinect now should you want to code stuff for it.

Anyway, easy decision for exercise use: xbox360 with kinect.

[esvin]

From my own experience, I will not recommend for kinect exercise game. The Wii is much more for the purpose of gimmick.  But I don’t know how you want to utilize it. It is your own personal choice. But I have seen that most people love to use the second one. That is the reason for me to recommend it. Along with exercising if you want to do some coding, as you are a coder, then xbox360 with kinect.

[CWuestefeld]

I can't offer an actual comparison, because my experience with Wii is very limited. But I can tell you that my 360 with Kinect leaves me sweating, so it would seem that I'm getting some aerobic exercise.

Before getting a Kinect, ensure that you've got sufficient space to use it. They want you to be (iirc) 6-10 feet back from the sensor, and have about the same amount of width to work in. My family room itself is OK for this, but the geography of furniture, and where I need to put the furniture due to doors, windows, and fireplace, really compromises the available Kinect space.

[wraith808]

I can't offer an actual comparison, because my experience with Wii is very limited. But I can tell you that my 360 with Kinect leaves me sweating, so it would seem that I'm getting some aerobic exercise.

Before getting a Kinect, ensure that you've got sufficient space to use it. They want you to be (iirc) 6-10 feet back from the sensor, and have about the same amount of width to work in. My family room itself is OK for this, but the geography of furniture, and where I need to put the furniture due to doors, windows, and fireplace, really compromises the available Kinect space.

Agreed on all of the above.

[Renegade]

Still haven't got one... It sort of hit the back burner... I think it's about time to browse the games available again.

[Darwin]

+1 for the Xbox 360 and Kinect.

It's a BLAST... Games are pricey, though.

[wraith808]

+1 for the Xbox 360 and Kinect.

It's a BLAST... Games are pricey, though.

I look for deals- I've not paid over $30 for any games (other than Kinectimals because my wife got it spur of the moment at Wal-Mart).  Gamefly is good also, especially to see if you want to keep them (and then the keep price is a whole lot less than the buy price in most cases).

[allen]

My wife tried to use our Wii for exercise and found it to be incredibly underwhelming, the Wiimote just isn't all that accurate and annoying to have to hold. (If you are so inclined, it's also quite easy to do entire workouts merely flicking your rest and faking it) Meanwhile, Kinect is just plain creepy it's so perceptive. . . and you don't have to hold (or risk throwing) anything.  I don't think there's really any question which system is superior for this singular purpose.

360 is great for lazy couch gaming, too. (as is the PS3, but I prefer Xbox Live by far over PSN -- and Microsoft has never been on its knees for months, bleeding data ). Deozaan's privacy argument, then, has some merit -- but I'll take the risk, in exchange for an incredibly well put together community.

Between used games and gamefly, you can do a great deal of gaming on a relatively tight budget (except the "investment" in the console), so long as you don't need new releases on release day. You pay for that. . .

[steeladept]

I will add my support for the Kinect between the two.  I don't have the Kinect, but I do have a Wii and it does have some good points.  That said, camera tracking it going to help a lot more.

As everyone here has said or eluded to, the Wii only tracks the remote (unless you buy and use the balance board, but that is more money and still not 100% there).  I have a Wii and a many of "fitness" games which are trivially easy to "cheat".  If you are serious, you won't do that though.  Where the Wii really comes up short is in the fact that it can't track actual movement, so it can't tell you when you are doing a movement wrong by accident.  (And sometimes you will do it right and it says you aren't because it can't track it).

Now with that said, the balance board does add quite a bit to the experience for a lot less overall cost.  In particular, it is useful in the balance and other "yoga"-type exercises.  The key to remember is, unless you are a teenage girl who is thin but otherwise strong for your age, then it is going to say you are fat and not very healthy overall (it doesn't track well with age, gender, build, etc.).  That is, of course, based on most of the current exercise programs for it (we have most of them that my wife bought at one time or another).  You can ignore that part and just use it to track your progress, but you do need to know about that caveat.

So in summary, the Wii is okay and it is far cheaper, even with the balance board; but for a better experience, the Kinect system is the way to go (don't know anything about the Playstation system to go on however).