Live Vision Impressions

Posted Sep 23, 2006 by Wes Phillips

Updated Dec 22, 2006 at 12:34 PM

Microsoft released its Live Vision camera this week for Xbox 360 and I’ve come to an early conclusion: it’s great. It’s really just a webcam that plugs into one of the 360’s USB ports, but the picture quality exceeds expectations. There is little setup involved, except for the ability to tweak which setting best suits your room lighting. There are two packages ($39.99; $79.99), the cheaper one comes with a headset, a month of Xbox Live and a subscription code to download the game Uno from Xbox Live Arcade.

You need to have your 360 connected to the Internet in order to take advantage of the camera’s features. With Live Vision you can snap a picture to use as your gamertile online and show your face in games. However, the video chat has the most potential for coolness and/or controversy.

With the headset users can speak to and see one another in a private forum. Quality face-to-face conversations through the television have been sci-fi fodder for years, but the reality poses safety and security concerns that must be heeded. The potential for abuse is obvious, especially with children. There are security settings, so use them.