Does the Xbox have a social gaming killer app?
Arguably you could say yes: a) XBox Live offers plenty of opportunity to play together or b) I've got Rockband/Guitar Hero World Tour - surely that counts?
What it wasn't was You're in the Movies, though unlike Guitar Hero etc, the marketing, Burt Reynolds and all was placed very squarely on Nintendo's doorstep. The difference was suggesting that the camera, a feature the Wii does not have, would be enough to make you and your family clown around in front of the TV.
That You're in the Movies did not perform well in the reviews was not surprising, but does this mean the end for the Xbox Camera? Well not necessarily. The opportunity is to use the camera socially.
Let's say you want a create a room for you and your friends or family. You put the room together in the program beforehand, make it as strange, beautiful or crazy as you want - an island paradise, a space station, a replica of your own living room. The room is then uploaded to the Xbox Live server and becomes your private chat space. All you do is sit in front of the camera and your live image is uploaded to the room, other people you invite to your room can do the same and there you have live, virtual chat. Use it for fun or board meetings.
Anyway I'm not suggesting this will save the XBox camera as a peripheral of choice, but it would be interesting to see if using it could be developed in some way, however limited.
