Agree with everything you said except for the "technology sucks" part. I mean, i don't like the Kinect either, but it is indeed a great piece of technology.

I really don't know why it took Microsoft so fucking long to figure out that bundling the Kinect with every console and making paywalls for PAID apps are not good ideas.

Mine should work for that too, but I've gotten pretty hooked on my Roku. Bluray app support (From what I hear) isn't super constant so you don't really know what you are getting until you try, and the Roku does quite a bit more. (amazon, crunchy roll)

I use it for music quite a bit and there are lots of options. Pandora is good for quick streaming at no cost, and I can send it music via media share, or from my tablet. The tablet option is my favorite for ease, features, and the lack of need to have anything else on. At Christmas I used my tablet to toss the pictures I took up on my parents tv via my dad's Roku. A phone or tablet also doubles as a voice activated remote and full keyboard, which I don't think my Bluray player could compete with.

I could see how it could be faster, and support some nicer graphical bells and whistles (stroked subtitles please), but it's still a good buy for what it does. All said, if my Roku died in the middle of the night it's one of the few things I would grab my keys and buy another of without waiting for the sun to come up. In that case it would be the V3 I can't currently justify spending money on.

Still have no desire to own one. Funny how MS is slowly making sensible decisions though.

Fair enough. I guess I view a blu ray player as essential, and since it has the streaming stuff I want I don't see a need for anything else. If you need some special apps most blu ray players don't have, that makes more sense. Or if you have already given up on physical media, which makes me cry, but again to each his own. ;)

No need to cry. I still love my disc media. Spent a few weeks not far back without internet and my DVDs got me through it.

I did give up CDs though. Don't really feel bad about it either.

Bluray is a waste of money if you don't have an HDTV and even then, a bluray player doesn't add additional pixels to DVDs you already own. I know they mostly upscale, but I've found that the TV generally does a good enough job of that itself.

Also, you can get a new Roku for between $50 and $100 and they even make one now that sticks out of the HDMI port with no cables at all.

I would assume the percentage of people in America who watch a lot of media but don't have an HDTV is extremely small.

In any event I don't want to get into the merits of blu ray. If I read one more "barely looks any different" I might gouge my eyes out. Suffice it to say, different strokes for different folks.

Depends on the hardware really. I started out with Bluray on a 42" 720p HDTV with no surround system, and the difference was...massively underwhelming. It still is to this day on that particular hardware, as that TV is now connected to my PC and I use it to watch films from my gaming room occasionally. Likewise, there is no appreciable improvement in sound between DVD and Bluray if all you're using is the TV's stock speakers.

And even on anything below a 46" 1080p HDTV, you'd be hard pushed to see real benefits from upgrading DVD and Bluray when actually watching a film (you'll certainly notice them in freeze-frames, but not really in motion). The benefits of Bluray really unfold with a 1080p TV from that size and a reasonable surround system - that's when the differences really become apparent. DVD audio compression - at least with DD5.1 (less so with DTS) means that quieter dialogue sections of films tend to be excessively quiet, while action scenes tend to be excessively loud.

So, for some people with cheaper hardware, Bluray actually "barely looks any different". That's why we've got this two-level market right now of DVD and Bluray (as well as Netflix/Lovefilm etc. for rentals), because spending out on Bluray really is a waste of money for some people.

It's long overdue for Microsoft to do this!

I'm confused, how will they be able to do their job as the fourth branch of our government without Kinect?

I notice the difference extremely easily, even on my smaller bedroom TV. I have near-perfect vision though, and am picky about such things, so I understand it's not the same for everyone. Still, when I read stuff like "looks identical to DVD" or "Netflix looks just as good" it makes me want to scream.

I beg to differ. My TV is a 32" 1080p'er of humble quality, and the resolution bump is quite noticeable, I say this as someone whose glasses are in good need of an upgrade.

Disc quality certainly matters. A good DVD vs a bad BluRay with less than perfect eyesight and someone might not quite get it. I guess you really need to toss viewing distance into the equation too.

It's probably not good for MS when they make a major shift in strategy and people just end up talking about Roku's and BluRay players.

My question is, can you make homemade porn with the kinect?

Well, okay, the technology itself is remarkable and it has incredible potential (I mean - real-time motion capturing at your home without the need for some complex setup? wow!). However, the technology still isn't refined enough to be used the way MS wants it to be used - or at the very least none of the developers and designers have figured out how to use it properly. So from the user's perspective in the current state Kinect is pretty much worthless (and you can easily find videos on YouTube where you see how Kinect even hurts the traditional gaming experience). That's why I say that it sucks - despite being fully aware that the technology itself is actually quite amazing. I mean, when you compare the actual Kinect experience to all the marketing material the device feels more like a prototype.

I did the same: ditch Xbox gold and just got a Roku. When I thought about it, I realized I was paying a monthly fee for online play I was never using.

Anyone else feel they are now too old for online multiplayer games? Between work, house stuff and kid stuff, all my gaming has become solo. It's all I have time for.