Microsoft Xbox 360 LIVE Vision Camera Review
Microsoft Xbox 360 LIVE Vision Camera Overview
Pros:
- Compatible with both windows and mac
- Tiny and so can be fit in anywhere.
- Balances well to almost place on any hard object.
- USB cord is long enough to position it any way you want.
- Sending pictures is possible.
- Video Chat runs smooth.
Cons:
- Camera will become mildly hot after 15 minutes of use
- Cannot create your own background themes.
- Not too many games use the service yet.
The complete Review:
When the Xbox 360 gaming console was released, we were all quite sure that a camera was going to be one of the accessories of the console. But we had expected its release to be done pretty soon, by Microsoft took its own time. When the spring updation was done to the Xbox 360 by Microsoft, one thing that all the gamers were quickly able to notice was the extra camera settings tab in the system blade. This is for the Xbox LIVE Vision camera which is essentially a standard PC style webcam. Xbox LIVE Vision puts a face to your gaming experience and allows you to get the most out of your Xbox LIVE Vision packages. Though we cannot say that bringing in a camera to the gaming console did not revolutionise the gaming experience, yet it brought in some excitement and added some more interesting things to a few of the existing games.
Design:
From a design standpoint, the Microsoft Xbox LIVE Vision camera is a pretty nice piece of gear. It matches the Xbox 360’s colouring, it tilts and swivels nicely, and it is meant to propped up on top of your TV or any flat surface.
Prominent features:
The USB2.0 is the most welcome support as it allows the console to be used in anything and everything that has support for USB2.0. The camera features a VGA resolution of 640×480 at a rate of 30 frames per second which is not that bad. The LIVE Vision camera is capable of taking still images at 1.3 mega pixels.
Xbox Live Vision setup:
Set up of the Xbox 360 LIVE Vision camera is extremely easy. First of all, once you unpack the device, find a nice place to put it next to your gamer. Then connect it to the nearest USB port available in the Xbox 360. And guess what? That is all that you need to do. There is no software to install. Of course if it had been ages since you had updated your Xbox then just have an update using the Xbox Live. Switch on your Xbox, and immediately a ring of light around the camera will light-up to indicate that the webcam is connected. The ring of light looks absolutely gorgeous, it glows green if video capturing is going on. Not having to swap discs around or fiddle with PS2’s online service gives it infinitely more appeal than its only real console competition.
Find a good place for your Xbox Live Vision:
The only thing that us very tough in the part of installation is finding a right place to put you’re the LIVE Vision camera as in most of the cases, the Xbox 360 is in the living room connected to the TV and most of us usually tend to sit far back from the television set and so, you would look very tiny on the screen during video capture. However, having known this, Microsoft has added the zoom feature to the software program. This zoom feature allows the camera to focus over a specific portion of the screen. If you are having any doubts, all that you will have to do is, just hit the Guide button in the center of the pad and it is all fairly self-explanatory.
Compatibility:
Here is the answer for the question most of you are longing to get. Yes! LIVE Vision can also be used as a webcam for your Windows XP machine. Nice feature in case you do not have a webcam for your PC yet.
Compatibility with PS2 and PS3:
The LIVE Vision Camera is compatible with Windows XP Service Pack 2 using USB 2.0 connection. It requires a microphone for audio when used on a PC. Drivers are not included with the Vision Camera, but must be downloaded by Windows when prompted. One problem with using the Vision cam on the PC is that it will not allow you to record videos with it only take pictures, unless you download additional supported software.
Mac OS X 10.4.9 added support for the USB video class group of peripherals, including Vision Camera. They work in iChat, Photo Booth and other applications that use Quicktime for video display, such as Skype. Connection over USB2 is also mandatory. The Vision Camera is also compatible with Sony’s PlayStation 3 but requires firmware 1.54.
Environmental Adjustments made:
You will be able to configure, test and play around with the video portion of the camera through the systems tab that can be seen in the Xbox dashboard followed by Xbox Live Vision. In this section you have got options for setting the room and lighting arrangements. For the room setting, the options available are, Auto, Light wall and Dark wall and for lighting, the options include Auto, Daylight, Fluorescent and Incandescent. As and when you are adjusting the lighting conditions, a grey ring swivels around the nose of the camera itself allowing you to refocus.
Visual effect:
Dashboard gives you another way of determining if the webcam works or not. The background has a watery effect and the current video feed is blended into the background of the current theme. The effect is very stylish, nifty and good looking. But, if the console is running for a long time, the camera has a tendency to warm up a little.
Getting the focus:
The operation of the Xbox 360 LIVE Vision camera from Microsoft is quite straightforward as all that you will need to do is simply point the camera at the object that you want to record and start to show off your shooting abilities. Since there is no auto focusing facility, if the object that you are trying to focus is unclear, then you will have to rotate the lens until you get the focus right.
Personalised gamer images:
The Xbox LIVE Vision camera can be used for video chat, personalised gamer images, still images and gaming video chats. The use of the camera is great fun when you use it with video games that come with support for camera. Some of the famous Xbox Live Arcade games that support the LIVE Vision camera are, UNO and Texas Hold’em. The real fun can be experience when you use it with the world series of the Poker Tournament of Championsx game. You will be allowed to create a Digimask face out of the snapshots taken by the camera. When you take personalized shots, you can also add predefined effects to the picture to just add some snazzy to the overall look and feel of the shot.
Digimask support:
The digimask face mapping support is available in games including FaceBreaker Football Manager 2007, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets and World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions.
In-game support:
The in game video support is given by the Xbox LIVE Vision camera for games including Battlezone, Band of Bugs, Bankshot Billiards 2, Bomberman LIVE Burnout Paradise , Carcassonne, Chessmaster LIVE, Civilization Revolution, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Domino Master, Duke Nukem 3D, Gin Rummy Hardwood, Backgammon, Hardwood Hearts, Hardwood Spades, Lost Cities, Pinball FX, Rocky and Bulwinkle, Soltrio Solitaire, Spyglass Board Games, Texas Hold ‘em - 4 person video chat, Ticket to Ride Uno - 4 person video chat, Uno Rush - 4 person video chat, Vigilante 8 Arcade, Warlords, Wits and Wagers and Word Puzzle.
Your picture in profile:
As and when you play the game, you will be able to get Live video feedback from the player under the gun. The anticipation and excitement is great. Your gamer profile can be updated using your Xbox LIVE Vision camera by taking a personal shot of yourself. Using it to customise your gamer picture is incredibly simple. Pull up the edit-profile page and you can take a photograph to replace whatever your gamer picture currently is. The personal picture can be seen only by your friends which is a good option as this prevents others from abusing you and misusing the camera. But if you have to talk to someone who is not your friend, you can still have a video conference.
When you are taking a picture, you have three seconds to get ready before the camera actually snaps the picture. After the picture is taken, you have the choice to add effects or take the picture all over again. As of right now, there is over 20 effects to choose from such as, black & white, a night camera effect, and the double Vision effect. Image quality for still photos is pretty mediocre.
Video chatting with Live Vision Camera:
And finally coming to the most obvious application of the Xbox LIVE Vision camera apart from using it for gaming purposes is, for video chatting with your friends. Just like the other webcam applications, it is not necessary for your friend also to have the LIVE Vision camera. You can have a video conference with your pal irrespective of the fact if he would have a cam or not. Once you accept the invitation, and the connection is been made and you can get a decent-size video stream of the other, while you can chat away using the bundled headset. Picture attachment messages can also be sent to your friend.
Their favourite feature though is the way you can make the other person’s pad rumble by holding the left or right trigger buttons. Presumably it is meant to be a sort of MSN Messenger style nudge function.
Microsoft Xbox 360 LIVE Vision Packages available:
The Xbox LIVE Vision camera can be purchased in two different packages. One is that, you could get the LIVE Vision camera with one month trial Xbox Live Gold Membership, Xbox 360 Headset and games UNO and TotemBall. The other package is that, the Xbox LIVE Vision comes with Xbox 360 Headset, Twelve month Xbox Live Gold Subscription, 200 Marketplace Points, Robotron 2084, UNO and TotemBall games.
Verdict:
The long awaited release if the Xbox LIVE Vision camera is worth it. Microsoft’s slickly designed Xbox LIVE Vision for Xbox 360 is relatively inexpensive. You can expect more games to support the camera feature from Microsoft. The base package is inexpensive and will instantly add a new level of enjoyment to certain games as well as the Xbox 360 in general. Aside from that, the video-chat system and general integration with the dash is robust and inconspicuous, with little evidence of lag between you and the on-screen version of you, and little evidence of lag during video-chats either. Xbox LIVE Vision as a whole, though, has little to criticise about it. Being an answer to Sony’s EyeToy camera, the affordable Xbox LIVE Vision Camera for Xbox 360 is a success.
Microsoft offers Xbox 360 LIVE Vision Camera 2 years limited warranty.
You may also be interested in review of Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite System Game Console.
Xbox 360 LIVE Vision Camera - Technical Specification Details
| Manufacturer | Microsoft |
| Model Name | Xbox LIVE Vision Camera |
| Type | Accessory |
| Accessory for | Xbox 360 |
| Accessory type | camera |
| Interface | USB 2.0 |
| Colour | White |
| Video resolution | 640 x 480 pixels |
| Video rate | 30 frames per second |
| Still images resolution | 1.3 mega pixels |
| Compatibility | Windows, mac, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 |
| Digimask support | FaceBreaker Football Manager 2007, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets and World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions. |
| In-game support | Battlezone, Band of Bugs, Bankshot Billiards 2, Bomberman LIVE Burnout Paradise , Carcassonne, Chessmaster LIVE, Civilization Revolution, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Domino Master, Duke Nukem 3D, Gin Rummy Hardwood, Backgammon, Hardwood Hearts, Hardwood Spades, Lost Cities, Pinball FX, Rocky and Bulwinkle, Soltrio Solitaire, Spyglass Board Games, Texas Hold ‘em - 4 person video chat, Ticket to Ride Uno - 4 person video chat, Uno Rush - 4 person video chat, Vigilante 8 Arcade, Warlords, Wits and Wagers and Word Puzzle. |
| Package 1 | LIVE Vision camera, one month trial Xbox Live Gold Membership, Xbox 360 Headset and games UNO and TotemBall |
| Package 2 | Xbox Live Vision, Xbox 360 Headset, Twelve month Xbox Live Gold Subscription, 200 Marketplace Points, Robotron 2084, UNO and TotemBall games |
| Power device | None |
| Warranty | Two years |
