Wii, Xbox, Kinect...

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I'm totally out of the loop when it comes to these things and I was looking for something to do workouts with. What is the difference between them and which do you prefer? Keep in mind I don't have cable or dish so if this is a necessary component to have one of these systems that would eliminate it from the list.

Thanks for the help!

Replies

  • tay_913
    tay_913 Posts: 71 Member
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    I have the kinect. I love it, works really well with one person, two people and it doesn't like to pick up the second person. I bought the EA Sports Active 2 and lost 25 pounds doing the 16 week program. Wii is a workout too, but the kinect is nice because you don't need controllers.
  • jlmoore05
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    im thinking about the kinect too. Im glad to hear you found it helpful with 25lbs! congrats...im going to look into that. what other games do you know of that works well?
  • purplebabe2025
    purplebabe2025 Posts: 383 Member
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    My Xbox broke, so this is a sore subject for me
    Non lol
    :explode:
  • jayliospecky
    jayliospecky Posts: 25,022 Member
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    We have the wii and our whole family really enjoys it. I just heard a review the other day and they pointed out that a system like Kinect works better if you have a fairly large space, because of the way the camera needs to see your whole body. The wii works better if you have a smaller space because it just needs to see the controller. That was good to know, because we don't have a very big rec room where we have ours. We'll definitely be sticking with the wii!
  • Breckgirl
    Breckgirl Posts: 606 Member
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    We have the wii and our whole family really enjoys it. I just heard a review the other day and they pointed out that a system like Kinect works better if you have a fairly large space, because of the way the camera needs to see your whole body. The wii works better if you have a smaller space because it just needs to see the controller. That was good to know, because we don't have a very big rec room where we have ours. We'll definitely be sticking with the wii!

    Wow, thanks that's good to know. I have about a 10 x 6 space to do this in.
  • DiamondRubyMom
    DiamondRubyMom Posts: 147 Member
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    Love my Wii. The Wii is cheaper than the Kinect if that's a factor for you. Honestly I got a good workout with EA Sports and Gold's Gym Dance when I first started. Now about 1 yr later, I'm in much better shape and it take a Gillian Michael's DVD to really kick my butt.
  • KindleBlossom
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    My husband works on video games, so we have all the consoles in the house and whatnot, so maybe I can help! Hooray for useless knowledge becoming useful. :) The main difference between Kinect and the other similar technologies is that with the others you need a controller, and the technology is a bit older, meaning it's not as smooth at recognizing your movements. The Kinect reads where your body is in space, meaning you can do yoga or any other sort of complex movements without having to worry whether or not your controller is facing the sensor. I picked up Your Shape :Fitness Evolved 2012 for Kinect last week, and it has been awesome, but they also have UFC Trainer and Biggest Loser games, along with Dance Central, which has a workout mode I fell in love with. :) I tend to prefer the Kinect, because you don't have to buy controllers or accessories. Good luck and happy exercising!
  • Breckgirl
    Breckgirl Posts: 606 Member
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    Love my Wii. The Wii is cheaper than the Kinect if that's a factor for you. Honestly I got a good workout with EA Sports and Gold's Gym Dance when I first started. Now about 1 yr later, I'm in much better shape and it take a Gillian Michael's DVD to really kick my butt.

    Well, that's one of my questions...

    Should I just stick to dvds? Or is this better? Or is it just different?
  • Breckgirl
    Breckgirl Posts: 606 Member
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    My husband works on video games, so we have all the consoles in the house and whatnot, so maybe I can help! Hooray for useless knowledge becoming useful. :) The main difference between Kinect and the other similar technologies is that with the others you need a controller, and the technology is a bit older, meaning it's not as smooth at recognizing your movements. The Kinect reads where your body is in space, meaning you can do yoga or any other sort of complex movements without having to worry whether or not your controller is facing the sensor. I picked up Your Shape :Fitness Evolved 2012 for Kinect last week, and it has been awesome, but they also have UFC Trainer and Biggest Loser games, along with Dance Central, which has a workout mode I fell in love with. :) I tend to prefer the Kinect, because you don't have to buy controllers or accessories. Good luck and happy exercising!

    Thanks! What kind of space do you use yours in? Now I'm concerned that I may not have big enough space!
  • gdr1976
    gdr1976 Posts: 460 Member
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    I have the kinect. I love it, works really well with one person, two people and it doesn't like to pick up the second person. I bought the EA Sports Active 2 and lost 25 pounds doing the 16 week program. Wii is a workout too, but the kinect is nice because you don't need controllers.

    was that with the Wii?
  • KindleBlossom
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    My husband works on video games, so we have all the consoles in the house and whatnot, so maybe I can help! Hooray for useless knowledge becoming useful. :) The main difference between Kinect and the other similar technologies is that with the others you need a controller, and the technology is a bit older, meaning it's not as smooth at recognizing your movements. The Kinect reads where your body is in space, meaning you can do yoga or any other sort of complex movements without having to worry whether or not your controller is facing the sensor. I picked up Your Shape :Fitness Evolved 2012 for Kinect last week, and it has been awesome, but they also have UFC Trainer and Biggest Loser games, along with Dance Central, which has a workout mode I fell in love with. :) I tend to prefer the Kinect, because you don't have to buy controllers or accessories. Good luck and happy exercising!

    Thanks! What kind of space do you use yours in? Now I'm concerned that I may not have big enough space!

    We have a pretty small apartment, with a play space of about 10' by 10', including distance from TV to couch (when we 'tuned' it, as part of the installation process, the machine said that we had a 'Deluxe!' amount of space, as contrasted with the 'Basic' necessary to play- we got a good laugh out of that one!). I hope you find what's right for you. :)
  • Breckgirl
    Breckgirl Posts: 606 Member
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    Thanks for all the input, it has really helped!
  • TrishaLeighNelson
    TrishaLeighNelson Posts: 258 Member
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    xbox kinect is completely awesome. Any game you play will help keep you active, and it's fun, not a boring rough workout, but something that does get your heart rate up without killing you. I'd invest in to Kinect Sports, they have track and field games, volleyball, soccer, and lots of others. I also have Your Shape:Fitness Evolved. I completely LOVE it. It is an awesome workout that will kick your butt! There are tons of cardio workouts, you start off simple and they get harder as you go. There is a great boxing cardio workout, it's personally my favorite. The game tells you how many calories you burn as you are doing the exercices. It's usually only about 10 or so calories off from my HRM so if you don't have a HRM, you can always go by that. There are dance workouts, strength, tummy, ones that are personally for for moms who recently had babies, all sorts of different ones. There are also some fun ones like Loop a hoop, light speed and others. Definitely get this! Yes, an xbox can be spendy, along with games, but it's worth your money.
  • TrishaLeighNelson
    TrishaLeighNelson Posts: 258 Member
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    Love my Wii. The Wii is cheaper than the Kinect if that's a factor for you. Honestly I got a good workout with EA Sports and Gold's Gym Dance when I first started. Now about 1 yr later, I'm in much better shape and it take a Gillian Michael's DVD to really kick my butt.

    Well, that's one of my questions...

    Should I just stick to dvds? Or is this better? Or is it just different?

    I think the kinect is better. It's a fun way of exercising and it does get the job done. If you decided to mix it up a little, you could always buy a dvd, theyre about 10 bucks. We bought fitness evolved and Jilllian Michaels 30 DS the same day, and I use the kinect more often than the dvd
  • Breckgirl
    Breckgirl Posts: 606 Member
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    xbox kinect is completely awesome. Any game you play will help keep you active, and it's fun, not a boring rough workout, but something that does get your heart rate up without killing you. I'd invest in to Kinect Sports, they have track and field games, volleyball, soccer, and lots of others. I also have Your Shape:Fitness Evolved. I completely LOVE it. It is an awesome workout that will kick your butt! There are tons of cardio workouts, you start off simple and they get harder as you go. There is a great boxing cardio workout, it's personally my favorite. The game tells you how many calories you burn as you are doing the exercices. It's usually only about 10 or so calories off from my HRM so if you don't have a HRM, you can always go by that. There are dance workouts, strength, tummy, ones that are personally for for moms who recently had babies, all sorts of different ones. There are also some fun ones like Loop a hoop, light speed and others. Definitely get this! Yes, an xbox can be spendy, along with games, but it's worth your money.

    Do these things ever go on sale? Are there package deals that make it cheaper? Online coupons?
  • michaelocampo
    michaelocampo Posts: 108 Member
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    i have both... and I TOTALLY SUGGEST THE KINECT! first of all (depending on the fitness game you buy), the technology is so advanced that it can actually detect your form. the game can help correct any mistakes! also, since it is a full body detection, dance games are so much more of a workout than the Wii counterparts. so if you now consider dance games as fitness games (because some dances/songs include a pretty decent level of activity) you just doubled the variety of games you can buy/try. i want to say the motion detection alone is the best selling point. its very easy to get lazy on the wii and still go throughout he motions of the game (with arms only) and the Wii will allow it. The Kinect on the other hand requires full body movement to play, which is way more fun and beneficial anyway!

    FOR THOSE WORRIED ABOUT SPACE... FEAR NOT! the Wii requires requires you to be a certain away from the sensor to detect the controller AND requires arm swing space for safety... guess what... the Kinect play area is relatively the same distance/size! in my small house, starting from the TV i can only walk four paces before i hit the sofa. For some games I am right by the sofa during play, but there hasn't been anything i haven't been able to do so far... hope this helps!
  • ninjapixie87
    ninjapixie87 Posts: 124 Member
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    Do these things ever go on sale? Are there package deals that make it cheaper? Online coupons?

    Yes. They are often bundled in a package with a couple of games. And I know there are some black friday deals coming up. You can check the ads on www.blackfriday.info.
  • Gunff
    Gunff Posts: 47
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    I have the kinect. I love it, works really well with one person, two people and it doesn't like to pick up the second person. I bought the EA Sports Active 2 and lost 25 pounds doing the 16 week program. Wii is a workout too, but the kinect is nice because you don't need controllers.

    was that with the Wii?

    Kinect is Xbox -360.

    However, EA SPorts Active 2 is available on Wii, PS3 and Kinect. I would highly highly highly recommend EA Sports Active 2. The PS3 and I believe wii (maybe Kinect too?) comes with a heart rate monitor. I've been running about 8ish miles a week and elliptical 5 days a week, and even still I'm still so tired and feel great after an EA Active workout.

    It has pre-built programs, Calorie tracking, and exercise diaries to help you along the way.
  • Breckgirl
    Breckgirl Posts: 606 Member
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    I have the kinect. I love it, works really well with one person, two people and it doesn't like to pick up the second person. I bought the EA Sports Active 2 and lost 25 pounds doing the 16 week program. Wii is a workout too, but the kinect is nice because you don't need controllers.

    was that with the Wii?

    Kinect is Xbox -360.

    However, EA SPorts Active 2 is available on Wii, PS3 and Kinect. I would highly highly highly recommend EA Sports Active 2. The PS3 and I believe wii (maybe Kinect too?) comes with a heart rate monitor. I've been running about 8ish miles a week and elliptical 5 days a week, and even still I'm still so tired and feel great after an EA Active workout.

    It has pre-built programs, Calorie tracking, and exercise diaries to help you along the way.

    WOW good to know! thanks!