Activities and Entertainment: 5 Family Friendly Games for Kinect for Xbox 360

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by Mom It Forward on January 22nd, 2012 | No Comments »

Wondering what video games are best for your family? How to find fun games for both your eight year-old and your 18 year-old? How can you sort through all the information and ads out there to find out what games are most appropriate? Tweeters at a MomItForward Girls' Night Out party a few weeks ago, sponsored by Xbox 360 Kinect, shared their secrets for doing so, and their favorite games.

Top 5 Kinect for Xbox 360 Games for Families

Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. By far, the most popular choice. We agree.
Michael Jackson: The Experience. @ForestofWishes says dancing along with Michael is "awesome."
Family Game Night: The Game Show. @TiggerMommy082 says "it rocks!" Can you imagine playing Connect Four, BopIt, or Scrabble with your whole body?
Dance Central. @LittleTechGirl says she's addicted to it.
Kinect Sports. The game features tennis, golf, American football, baseball, skiing and darts.

5 Tips for Selecting Family Video Games for Any System

Pay attention to the ratings.This article explains them. I, as a mom and frequent gamer, am well-acquainted with what they actually mean, and, while I'll let my son play the occasional T-rated game, I won't ever, not even when he's a teenager, let him play anything beyond that. There are plenty of awesome, fun games in the E category. Here's one I recommend.
Read reviews to ascertain how fun or challenging a game is. Thankfully, Amazon and other sites are realizing the usefulness of reviews, and they're becoming more available. Next best thing to face-to-face word-of-mouth. Other good sites for reviews are GameFaqs.com and IGN.com.
Consider how many players will usually play. The Xbox 360 Kinect only allows for two family members to play at a time, so there's more opportunity to teach turn-taking, and no controllers to buy. The Wii and other systems, on the other hand, can have up to four family members playing at a time, but the price of the controllers can really add up. @DovGame says that, for her, it comes down to this list of priorities in a game: First: is it appropriate? Second, is it fun? Third, how sharable is it?
Rent, or borrow, first.@BlondeFabulous says it's a great way to check games out before you buy. You can rent games at RedBox, GameFly, or other such places, or you can download demos on Playstations 3 or Xbox 360.
Don't always go for the easiest or most-popular games. You need a certain amount of challenge for a game to be fun for your family, says @DreamFog, and you are the best judge of what will most challenge and amuse them.