By The Verge | Created at 2026-06-24 00:18:12 | Updated at 2026-06-24 02:32:43
3 hours ago
is a senior reviewer with over a decade of experience writing about consumer tech. She has a special interest in mobile photography and telecom. Previously, she worked at DPReview.
The Nex Playground is the family-centric, Kinect-like game console that made one Verge editor’s kids laugh, cry, and ask for more playtime, even when they were sick. The motion-based game play isn’t perfect, but it has won over plenty of parents — and it’s on sale for $239 at Amazon, down from its current MSRP of $299. That’s a healthy discount, though only slightly better than the Nex’s original $250 price.
$239
What if the dream of Microsoft’s Kinect lived on? It does in the Nex Playground, an all-in-one, motion-controlled console filled with kid-friendly games. Exhaust and entertain your little ones. You’re welcome.
Like so many other gadgets, the Nex Playground became a victim of RAMageddon when its price went up in April. It got a $60 discount shortly after for Amazon’s week of gaming deals — and again with this Prime Day deal — but it’s nothing like the $199 prices we saw before the RAM crisis hit. This is the new normal, I guess.
Still, any discount is welcome, especially when you’ll need a subscription if you want to play more than a few starter games. You can get a 3-month Play Pass for $49 to access a much deeper catalog of games, or pay $89 for a 12-month pass. The subscription economy and RAMageddon come for us all, but at least a sale can take a little bit of the sting out of it.
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