Xbox 360 Kinect

Lincoln Steffens originally said: “I have seen the future and it works” when he returned from a visit to Lenin’s Russia at the start of the 20th Century. The phrase could just as easily be applied to the Xbox 360 Kinect.

Kids have long argued that they get fit in other ways playing their video games – huge thumb muscles maybe – but there is no cheating with the new Kinect system. You have to actually run, move your legs, move your arms, lean on your left leg while raising your right and pistoning your arms like a windmill. And that’s just calibrating the system.

All jokes aside, Kinect is brilliant. You move your hand in front of yourself to move cursors on the screen Р no wires, just the all knowing sensor in front of you. I tried it out with all sorts of different- sized people and it worked every time. It was only slightly confused when the Golden Retriever entered the zone to see what all the fuss is about.

The games are great fun, too – very intuitive and well paced – and the console never once got confused, even with two players. Microsoft no doubt has some brilliant explanation of the science behind a machine that can distinguish a flailing mess of arms and legs into a synchronised game play, but I would equally accept a one-word explanation: magic.

Best thing about it? Once you’ve run, jumped, flapped your arms and done a hundred lunges you will be due for a rest. Grab a beanbag, load up Halo... it truly is a gift that keeps on giving.