Despite not liking MS, I still think that Kinect will be good for some kind of games, even almost perfect for a few ones, but it won't be very good or suitable at all for others. What I don't like about MS' attitude on it is trying to make as many people as possible think (<- edit: oops I forgot this verb before ) for as long as possible that Kinect is good or excellent for more things than it actually is.

@Alby da Wolf  couldnt agree more, I still dont see why they dont have advance reviews, Move had it, Wii had it(I think). IF your scared MS just say your scared!

FYI. The Ipad makes a great sketchpad if you get a touch pen and the right app like ArtStudio. Just another way to use it to get your moneys worth.

As for Kinect, I agree. It will be fun for many though not for everyone. But what does satisfy everyone across the board when it comes to consumer electronics?

We all understand if your too sared to go try it yourself. What would you do if you liked it. Like has been said before, MS has kinect set up all over the place fopr people to ry, i really doubt they 're scared of people using it. Ihaven't really read a bad hands on from a regulkar person who has tried it.

Regardless of whether he tries it or not, MS, just like Sony and Nintendo before them, should be willing to let their product be tested by those in the gaming media.  To me that does sound like fear.  Something tells me if things were reversed, you wouldn't be so quick to defend Sony.

I probably wouldn't be in the sony thread until i get my ps3 and my move, but thats besides the point. Kinect is not meant for gamers just yet, so why let the gaming media ruin the positive vibe it has going for it on the casual front? I wouldn't. They are playing it smart, no need for the gaming media, as they are not the ones they are trying to get to buy kinect. MS has Oprah, justin bieber and others to sell this product. They dont need gamer reviews. How is letting your potential customers use your product as is a sign of being scared to show it? I think it speaks for itself. Would you rather drive the car you will purchase yourself, or read a review of it? What gives you the better impression on how you will like someting or how it works.

This apparent but false MS self confidence about letting people try has already been debunked contless times, both in this thread and in others: people tries Kinect in MS' booths for a limited time in a standard environment, while at home they'd use it for more time in environments varying from home to home. Reviewers would be able to test Kinect for a longer time and find possible real world glitches or short games longevity. When you buy a car, trying it jourself is important, but a review made by a competent motoring journalist is important too, as he will be able to try the car longer and also in limit conditions, to tell you, for example, how safe it is in emergency manoeuvres. And "casuals" aren't a new alien race, they are common people, plain and simple, even if they don't usually read car magazines, for example, they most often ask friends and even buy mags just for the occasion when they have to buy a car. Here, I was the n-th person to write this arguments, I'm sure many did it better than me before, but each time there will be somebody that tries again to make people believe that not having reviews is better, and also pretending that nobody ever debunked it.

At least this time you wrote the right thing: not allowing reviews is good and smart for MS. Not for users. BTW, would you buy a Yugo if Oprah said it's a good car?   

Standard environments?  We tried Kinect at Macy's in Downtown Chicago.  It was a high traffic area and Kinect was facing elevators not more than 15-20 feet from it.  Elevator doors opened and closed constantly with people getting on and off.  Kinect performed with no problems.  We have seen Kinect tried out in totally open space like at a Mall.  We have seen Kinect tried out on stages and with bright lights and flashes going off.  Go watch some of the hands on tries on YouTube.  If anything I expect Kinect to perform better at peoples homes. Certainly Kinect is tuned for the living room not the mall or on stage.

No, i read no reviews for just about anyhting. To much bad info out there for everything. I get hands on with the items i want to buy. Bought a wii after someone brought theirs over to my house and I could play for an hour. Bought my tv because we use them in my resturaunt and I could see them in action. Bought my car because my mom had the previous model and it was great for her. The idea that a hands on is not a true experience is just false. It either worked in that 10-15 minutes for you or it didn't. You either had fun and wanted more or you didn't. its not magically going to change in a few minutes. It either detected your voice and movements or it didn't. Casuals are far more likely to trust the word of Oprah and Beiber than a game journalist they do not know. You dont have to be an expert in a feild to have trust in what you pitch, You just have to have the trust of your fans, which I am sure Oprah and beiber do. Who will average joe know more about, Oprah or someguy from IGN?

And read the post above for the different conditions its been demoed under, not all perfect and rosy. If you really do not think it works, why not go try it it out and tell us what you think? You have that option.

I don't say that a hands-on test isn't useful, actually it is, also for cars, as it can tell you many things about visibility (in vehicles case) and ergonomics (for most products) that can be very subjective and about which the opinion of other people wouldn't be enough (for example here in EU many drivers like VW Golf, I hate it due to its huge C-pillars that are a pain in the arse while going back). But a review done by a reliable and trustable journalist is important as well for many things a short test isn't enough for. For cars, BTW, a serious review is important to know not only how the car behaves in extreme situations, but also to know how much fuel it burns in real world conditions, that can be quite different from standard measuring cycles. Obviously the difficult part is finding serious magazines and journalists, this is a issue I won't try to deny. For games, though, a biased journalist, but that you learned has tastes similar to yours, can be almost as useful as a neutral one, but a hater can be useful too, as he will find every possible flaw, you'll just have to decide whether those flaws could spoil the game too much for you or not. Back to Kinect, about the different conditions demos, the issue still remaining is about small rooms with furniture, malls demos, even not controlled, can tell you that it works with no problems in most wide spaces (for people living in places where having big rooms isn't a problem even for average or medium-low income families, obviously this will be enough to rule out this kind of problems, and I won't deny this). And again about Oprah (or any other famous anchorwoman or man in other countries) I know that people like her can be very good for marketing , but "casual" people will ask also "expert" friends and will most probably trust them more than Oprah. These friends will most probably back their opinions both with personal experience and reviews they consider reliable. It's also true, though, that with Oprah on board a gust of wind wouldn't have been enough to topple a Yugo down from a bridge, getting over a 36" guard-rail.