I got the same reply, and had some 360 fanboys tell me I was just being paranoid, that they wouldn't hire people just to spy on people. That's all in there for legal reasons. There's a such thing as bot spotting. They really don't need to hire people to collect that information. Video and audio gathering is where I draw the line as far as info sharing. Especially with my nephews playing games. I sold my console and games.

I am truely disgusted,I had bought my kids the xbox 360 along with the Kinect for christmas, then upon reading Microsofts terms and conditions. I found that they have reserved the right to spy on my children durring their game play if I were to agree to their terms. This is disgusting and intrusive in my opinion. They advertise as a family friendly product,how dare they! Most miss the important parts because they are excited to let their children play or to play them selfs. They miss the hidden part of the agreement you gives them right to spy on anyone useing the Kinect. I wrote them conserning the issue to get simply an automated reply that said we are sorry you are dissatisfied with our product. Let me tell you that is the understatement of the year! This is not something a big company should be doing, to be perfectly honest this sounds like something a pedophile,or a pervert would do,. to allow them selfs the right to turn a camera on and record at any given time it is to say at the very least intrusive. I will be selling my console along with the Kinect. I thought all of you who have bought or were thinking of buying this product should be fully aware of their terms of use being that they" reserve the right to watch record and use peoples in home footage for personal and marketing purposes" Now that it is in to plain view I truly hope you all truely think this over and also write the company. This is absolutly appalling and unacceptable!

Complete disappointment When they first came out with a bundled package of the Xbox 360 & Kinect, I purchased it for my children. I went out & got all of the kinect games that were currently available at the time, thinking that this new technology would be awesome. Boy was I wrong. The device didn't like to register a lot of the moves, & any kind of interference in the same area disrupted the game that was being played. After about 2 or 3 times of use, my kids pushed it to the side & refused to play with it anymore. I was extremely disappointed in this product.

XBox Kinect is a very nice product with lots of fun for the whole family. We have it connected to internet and I am indeed not worried about the spying, that goes a little far. Pro: Fun, big choice of games Con: You have to sign up for XBox Gold to play games with other gamers or even to watch Netflix even if you already have a Netflix subscription. 50 Dollars a year. You are better of with the Wii if you want to have both advantages for a good price the games and Netflix/Hulu. I suspect a class action is on its way because whenever Microsoft has his fingers on something they want to milk it to an extend that feels like being robbed.

I have been gaming for a long time with many different devices (Xbox, PS3/4/2, DS, Emulators, Computers, you name it). The kinect is not a very good device. It's good if you're playing with another friend in person. But if you're going to use it with Xbox live and communicate with others, then this is not good, and I recommend Turtle Beach Headsets. The Kinect sometimes has trouble finding where you are, but it has a fairly good ability to calibrate. If you're looking for a gaming device where you move around, the I recommend Ocular Rift, however, I don't believe they're on sale yet.

I thought that our whole family would love the Kinect, but it's only been a couple of weeks (we got it for Christmas) and the kids have only played with it a couple of times. I think the games are for the younger kids doesn't really hold the attention of a 9 and 14 year old. I don't know if we need different games or what but if I had to do it over again I think I would pass.

Pros: Kinect is an active video game system. You cannot sit in one place and play Kinect games. You must be up moving around. It's a fun and different way to enjoy fitness on even the coldest of days., There are several sports and fitness related games to keep you moving. Cons: The Kinect will not work correctly unless lighting is ideal. Otherwise, your avatar will not move in the way that you expect. I have had to resort to hanging heavy blankets on sunny days because blinds did not block enough light. Kinect requires a large playing space in order to take advantage of multiplayer features. Bought this product at: Microsoft Store in Mall of America (but it's widely available elsewhere) Kinect is a great way to stay active while still enjoying your game console or TV. You are the controller, unlike other motion consoles that require you to hold a controller in your hand to operate it. Additionally, the Kinect can be voice operated ? and provides a completely interactive environment for the XBox360 ? even outside of gaming. Kinect works with Netflix and Hulu on the Xbox, the dashboard and other Xbox add-ons. You can also use it as a video chat console with other people who have a Kinect. It is a bit light sensitive, meaning too much light or not enough light will cause your Kinect to not work as expected. With a little experimenting, however (turning on and off lights in the path of the Kinect sensor) will usually render acceptable results. There are a TON of Kinect games. The Kinect games are fun, but most of them are sports or fitness related. I would really like to see some games developed to appeal to more hard-core gamers (like myself). I am thinking Left4Dead for the Kinect would be an awesome addition ? so I could get in shape and bash in Zombies!

I love it. I think the Microsoft team has better things to do than spy on the people who bought their product. I love the fact that there is no controller and the camera auto adjusts between me and my 6'5" husband. I have been using the Kinect fit and I love the ability to exercise in my own home with no gym fees. It is also nice to be active while still playing a video game.

Fun for the family! My boys loved the Kinect. Its easy to set up and get playing. We bought a game that we could play a few sports (tennis, skiing) and it was alot of fun. the lighting has to be great in order to have it work just right. other than that, i would recommend it.

Fun for the family! My boys loved the Kinect. Its easy to set up and get playing. We bought a game that we could play a few sports (tennis, skiing) and it was alot of fun. the lighting has to be great in order to have it work just right. other than that, i would recommend it.

We love the Kinect!!! We do not have it connected to the internet so we are not concerned about the "spying". The kids have been much more active with the kinect than with their other games. It isn't the answer to our nations fitness issues and obesity issues, but it is a way to start. We like that some of the games include the whole family. We are a family of 6 and not many products do that most consider a family to be 4. The only problem we have had is that sometimes the kinect will not "see" where we are. Some of the games are hard to play because the kinect loses sight for a bit. We love the rafting and games that came with it. We are planning to buy the fitness disc next. We have recommended this to several friends and family. One family member purchased the WII for Christmas and upon seeing our Kinect returned the Wii for a Kinect!! They have small children and they were able to play the kinect games! They love it too.

We bought this for Christmas and my kids ask to play it almost everyday! I love that it keeps them active and moving around. They are young so they only play the basic games, but it gets them moving their body around in ways they wouldn't normally so they have a blast and so do we watching them!

As for the spying I can't say what is really true. My husband is a little paranoid and disconnects the Kinect when not in use. Now the product itself is great. My boys love it (ages 14, 12, and 5) and get a great workout when they play games. We love the YooStar game, and Dance Central is our favorite. Sometimes the game play is a little funky when recording our movements but we get a kick out of the little glitches. We love playing back our recordings, especially the ones where we go a little crazy. It's fun to see our silly expressions when we play the sports games and we get into them. It gets the party started. We love our little dance competitions when we have guests over. The best part almost everyone can play. As for the ability to use voice commands. That feature is a little wonky and sometimes does not do what you ask it too, but it's no biggie here, we just use the controller. I recommend the product. Anna (Mom to three boys)

Awesome gaming system! Gives me a great workout! :

I bought one last summer and my husband and I play it all the time. We just keep the network cable unplugged most of the time (unless I want to download a demo or other DLC). So Microsoft snooping is thwarted. More and more kinect games are coming out. I tried a demo for a game that puts you in an animated scene as a Ninja. It's a great work out and fun too. I'll buy that one soon. The grandkids like the dance games too. I agree that buying Xbox gold is a waste of money. I keep the free subscription so I can download and try out the demos before I buy a game. I think Microsoft is smart enough to realize that providing the demos free results in more game purchases.