Fat Ninja

I spy…

One could go so far as to say that the Xbox Live service is in large part to thank for the success of the Xbox. Through tireless efforts, Microsoft put together a stable, user-friendly network for console gamers to come together. Despite the nay-saying of some Nintendo execs who attempted to suggest that gamers weren’t looking for online playability, it wasn’t long before gamers were jumping in to test their mettle against human opponents.

Never one to rest on its laurels, Microsoft has grown their fledgling online service into a thing of beauty. From its general visual appeal to its myriad functions, the face of Xbox Live has changed a great deal since the launch of the Xbox360, but one feature was still missing: face-to-face interaction. However, Microsoft has long had every intention of exploiting this functionality through the Xbox Live Vision camera.

The first thing you’ll note about the Vision camera is its diminutive dimensions. In addition to its size, it retains the austere and clean aesthetics of the 360 console, right down to its own glowing ring of light. Despite its small stature, the Vision camera offers a robust set of features that will not only enhance the way we communicate over Xbox Live, but also the way we play games both off- and online.

The camera will be available for purchase under two SKUs:

Xbox Live Vision
* Xbox Live Vision Camera
* Xbox 360 Headset
* Arcade games UNO and TotemBall (available for download from Xbox Live Marketplace)

12-Month Xbox Live Vision Gold Pack
* All of the above plus…
* Twelve-month Xbox Live subscription
* 200 Marketplace Points
* Robotron 2084 (available for download from Xbox Live Marketplace)

Once you’ve picked the SKU that’s right for you, hooking up the Vision camera to your 360 is as simple as plugging the little device into an open USB slot. In fact, the hardest part about it is getting used to being on camera. Once you’ve plugged it in, you can go into the System Blade of the Dashboard to access the Vision Camera Settings. In this section you can make adjustments so that the camera will know more about your environment and the ambient lighting it offers. Generally, the camera’s automatic detection is quite effective at capturing you in your best light, however I noticed that it seems to struggle in darker settings. As such, you may need to do some manual tweaking to get the best picture. Once you’ve made the necessary adjustments, you can really start playing with the Vision camera.

One can easily see the more obvious impacts that the Vision camera will have with its community features. Video chat will prove a welcome way to keep in touch with friends and family over Xbox Live. You can also use it for video messages, a feature which I’m certain won’t ever involve gratuitous nudity. You can also use the camera for still photography, allowing you to set a personal picture of yourself (Or that of one of your less reputable extremities) that is only accessible to those gamers on your Friends’ list. Once you’ve taken the picture, you can then apply a number of filters to it to further customize it.

What surprised me (and those random Live gamers I played Uno with) most about these features was the the image quality offered by this little doo-dad. Overall, picture is pretty crisp and clear, particularly when the subject is close to the camera. When separated by a distance of about five-feet, the picture became slightly more grainy than when up close, but not enough to cause any distortion. Packing VGA 640H x 480V video at 30 frames per second and 1.3 megapixel still photos, the Vision camera is an impressive little peripheral.

In addition to enhancing your interactions with fellow Live gamers, the Vision camera also offers a number of other assets that allow you to get more out of the 360 and a portion of its games library. Once its plugged in, you should notice that the camera’s frame becomes a slightly transparent layer that sits over your 360’s Dashboard interface. You can make adjustments to this display by applying one of three filters through the Dashboard Theme options. The Watery effect, for example, lends a liquid feel to the dashboard in which ripples will run through the picture. The amount of displacement by these ripples is tied to movements that the camera picks up, so if you wave your arm, you’ll notice its motions are tracked through the virtual surface of your Dashboard. The Dotty theme basically pixelates the image, while the Edgy effect simply focuses primarily on the outlines of objects within the frame.

The Vision camera also works with the Visualizations found in the Xbox360’s Music Player. During playback, the camera will pick up your movements and play them back in a lucid but subtle effect that makes the already hallucinogenic Visulization feature all that more of a trip to watch. Sure, these sorts of capabilities aren’t at all necessary to making the Vision camera a must-have item, however there’s a thoughtful appreciation on the part of the developers for the 360-community that is evident by their inclusion of these features.

That’s not to say that the Vision camera isn’t a worthy addition to your 360’s repretoire, because it certainly is. While its enhancements of the general Xbox360 features are relatively superficial, the Vision camera is really geared to revolutinize next-generation gaming in a number of ways. If games like TotemBall that allow you to play through your own movements and gesticulations weren’t enough, the Vision brings that missing human element to Arcade titles like Uno and Texas Hold-Em by letting you actually see your opponents. This actually makes a big difference in the way these games are played, because until you are consciously aware of the fact that you are actually on camera in front of your opponents, it’s easy to give away your hand through your physical reactions. I can’t tell you how many times I had my plans to ditch my last card in Uno thwarted on account of my inability to supress my own excitement.

The Vision camera is also poised to change the way opponents see our virtual representatives as well. Games like UbiSoft’s Rainbow Six Vegas and Activision’s World Series of Poker aim to tap the potential of the Vision camera for face-mapping purposes. What does this mean? It means that you’ll actually be able to paste your likeness onto your in-game avatar. So, when you storm a room on the tail-end of a flashbang, the last thing your opponent will see is you staring at them down the barrel of your silenced MP5.

The Xbox Live Vision isn’t a vital component for your Xbox360. However, the way in which it utterly compliments every facet of the 360, from its physical appearance to its interaction with the Dashboard, really adds some nice accents to the experience. Likewise, not having it won’t necessarily detract from the gameplay offered by titles like Uno or Rainbow Six Vegas, but it certainly takes a lot of the anonymity out of Xbox Live, making it a much more intimate and personalized experience. Ultimately though, when you consider the relative affordability and the capabilities of the Xbox Live Vision camera, it’s definitely worth picking up.

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