Kinect was one of my main reasons as I said in the op, I know it doesnt have hardcore games but just the casual party/dance/exercise games for friends and the gf. If I were to buy one it would be the 199 4gb kinect version. At that price it isnt setting me back anything.

Here's what's better worse in a nutshell then from a tripe console owner:

Console itself - Very good.  Quiet and doesn't get too hot.  Good USB placement, better than PS3.  Negatives are power brick is still big and bulky and the disk tray feels fragile.  Also more prone to scratching disks than PS3 if bumped during use, etc.  Overall very good and looks nice (IMHO)

Controller - Very good.  Nice size and responsive to use.  Negatives are use of batteries (more ongoing cost) and placement of battery case on underside which gets in way of fingers sometimes.  Overall very good.

General Games Library - Very good.  Cons for a PS3 owner - 90% the same with minimal advantages.  While most multiplatform titles are slightly better on 360 unless you know what to look for you're not going to spot them.  27fps on a PS3 feels identical to 29fps on a 360 to the average gamer.

Online - Very good.  Service is slightly better with features (cross game chat, etc) and has slightly better interface.  Actual online play is identical to PSN.  Cons for a PS3 owner - you're paying for something you already have free.  Be sure (as I was) that you will use online and the extra features enough for it to be worth the cost.  A lot of additional features are nice but require fee as well when - IMHO - they shouldn't, such as Facebook access and the like.

Exclusives - Good.  Less genre breadth than PS3 and smaller number of true exclusives (i.e. available nowhere else at all including PC) but it does have two of the biggest franchises as exclusives this gen (Halo and Gears) outside of that you're looking at good, more niche exclusives like Alan Wake and Forza - which is very good.  Negatives for PS3 owner - at this point the number of true exclusives on 360 is pretty small, with Mass Effect, etc. on PS3 now and Valve games now coming to PS3.  360 has a habit of losing exclusives as well over time.  The bulk of its exclusives are good examples of their genre though and worth playing.

Kinect - Great tech.  Voice, etc. is good and it works.  Negatives - only really a few decent games.  Most are weaker copies of Wii titles.  Limited hybrid use so far.  Comes down to whether you want to use it for the sake of it.  Clearly a lot of people like using it just for the fun of it.  If that's you then you'll like it.  If you think you'll wonder why you're using an inferior interface for a game just because its futuristic (which is my issue, probably down to an engineering/scince background) then you'll simply see the flaws.  Kids love it though and wives/girlfriends seem to like it too.  Technically, Wii and Move are better for most games I've played, but again it's about the experience - some people like me want the best interface, which is fine, others don't care and find playing tennis by waving hands in the air a hoot.  You know yourself better than I so you'll know how you might feel about the experience.  I ditched Kinect for 360 but plan on buying the new model coming out for PC but that's just me.

There yah go.

Summary - so long as you want to play Halo, Gears, Forza, etc. and will use Live enough then it's a very good console and worth the price.  If you like a bit of silly fun without worrying the controller is actually less perfect for the job than others then you'll have fun with Kinect

If you're not going to use it enough then clearly you'll just have to decide whether to burn the money for the sake of ownership or skip a few games this gen.

I love my 360's but if you need someone to convince you to buy one, it's probably best not to buy one.

Was looking for advice, not convincing lol. Making an informed decision is alot better than splurge spending.

If you line online gaming, shooters, and/or the Kinect stuff a lot, I can recommend it. Those are probably the three things that I least care about in gaming.

I bought it for some jRPGs back in the day and the fact that games like Mass Effect were exclusive. While I expected MS to eventually lose the jRPG battle to Sony, I didn't expect them to cut out of that market as fast as they did. Tales of Vesperia and Lost Odyssey were two amazing games, so I am glad I got the console for those two. But I hardly use the thing now compared to the Wii and PS3.

There is the multiplat differences and 360 usually wins out. These days, the differences are so minute. Most won't notice one more FPS or 5 more pixels. It really comes down to the controller for that - which I prefer the PS3 controller due to a left hand defect that I have.

Better get Wii or 3DS (or Vita soon)

Would you halo guys recommend playing reach first then 1 then 2 then odst then 3?