Home : Hardware : Reviews : Xbox Live Vision
Video chat, picture messaging, custom gamertag pics, and upcoming game support are just enough to warrant a purchase.
Microsoft is ready to launch their new peripheral for the Xbox 360 – Xbox Live Vision. With this handy peripheral, due on September 19th in the U.S., Microsoft is aiming to take Xbox Live in a whole new direction. Forget the days of old when you had to text message your friends on Xbox Live. You might as well forget voice messaging too because a picture is worth a thousand words.
Xbox Live Vision’s two key features as of right now include video chatting and sending pictures. The video chatting currently supports two users in the chat. Within the video chat, you have the option to apply filters to the video feed to spice up the conversations. The streaming video is beautiful in motion, and I never experienced any real slow downs. 
While chatting, Microsoft also allows the users to control the rumble feature on their friend’s controller. Wait a minute; I can control their rumble feature? That’s correct, with the tap of either trigger your friend’s controller will vibrate. How cool is that? All sarcasm aside, the video chat is an amazing feature they have added. Instead of looking at a dead screen full of text, now I can actually see my friends as they interact with me over the headsets. If I had one wish, Microsoft would look to add a few more users into the video chats to allow group discussions.
Sending a picture is simple and user friendly. When you are taking a picture, you’ll have three seconds to prepare yourself before the camera snaps the picture. After the picture is taken, you have the ability to add effects to liven up whatever dull expression you may have. As of right now, there are over 20 effects to choose from such as: black & white, a night camera effect, and my personal favorite, the double vision effect. If you don’t like the effects added to the picture or just the picture itself, you are able to retake the picture as many times as you may like.
