Emergency Alerts May Be Coming to Your Xbox

[Razer_uk]

Good idea, but has the potential to get very annoying.

"There's a fire in Downtown New York! Roads in x district are closed."

What do I care? I'm sat in the outskirts of New York (or more accurately; I'm sat in the UK, but run with it) and do not intend to go downtown; I'm busy shooting people!

And there's the potential to cause needless panic too. If they send things to the wrong areas by accident.

But it could be very good. Of course, like others above the worst I will get in West Yorkshire is Flood Warnings, but I live in a top floor flat on a hill. Won't affect me much.

EDIT: Oh and for warnings of Terrorism... I just have images of a message appearing on screen "Terrorist alert!" and the gamer just going: "I know! I was in the middle of shooting them before you interupted!" and returning to the game without reading it.

 

[Radelaide]

As a New Yorker I din find this very annoying to read.

Why? It could be an effective way of telling people about natural/human disasters. The less lives lost the better.

 

[Devil's Due]

"Alright, I've almost beaten this game on the hardest difficulty. The last boss is almost dead, it's taken so long to get here. I just need to listen in to where he's hiding around so I can move my character in position to figh-

BLAAAAAAA... BLAAAAAA...

This has been an emergency broadcasting test. Thank you for your time.

BLAAAAAAA... BLAAAAAA....

- What do you mean I lost? But... that's not fair! The damn test interrupted me! No... no! NO!"

Vote no on proposition 'WTF', kids. Think of your gaming!

 

[GamingAwesome1]

Only kidding, I'm kinda on the fence on this idea. I'd like to know more about it.

I'm in the same boat, need to know more.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

If its done right... yeah, couldn't keep a straight face saying that. The messages will be about as subtle as a 15kg ham to the side of your head. This whole idea has waste of time and money written all over it.

 

[Del-Toro]

Is it just me, or was that a backhanded reproach of our hobby from a stuffy old politician? Perhaps I'm being sensitive.

That's just it though, we do spend alot of time on videogames, and just because we take our minds out of what's going on around us doesn't mean the world stops. I mean, the emergency broadcast system probably doesn't work all that well if your television is set to video or component so it makes sense to have a back-up plan.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

It would be ironic if that happened.

Me: Ha! I just killed 15 people with a nuke!

*Warining* A bomb just went off in New York City. 15 dead.

Me:.......

 

[USSR]

It would be ironic if that happened.

Me: Ha! I just killed 15 people with a nuke!

*Warining* A bomb just went off in New York City. 15 dead.

Me:.......

..oh my.

If that happened to me, I couldn't help but feel proud =3

 

[shotgunbob]

QUICK CALL IN A AC-130

*EERRR* *EEERR* *BEEEEEEEEEEEEP* This has beena test of the Emergency Alert System *EEERRR* *EEERRRR* *BEEEEEEEEEP*

And your dead

 

[ctrl-alt-postal]

"Cool, some-one made an earthquake mod for MW2".......roof collapses.........

 

[Beastialman]

As long as it doesn't do a daily test I'd be fine.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Also, 2000 posts. Yay me, i guess.

Yay you indeed. Welcome to the club. We're better than those 3000 post fools.

Your words hurt me. ;_;

 

[Benjeezy]

Seems like a pretty good idea to me

 

[Xanadeas]

I could actually find this a bit useful. I don't watch TV often nor do I frequently listen to the radio. There are fires EVERY SUMMER where I live. And they've been getting closer and closer to my house each year. If no one else were around when one broke out that could threaten my life... I'd like to think I'd get a message about it while playing a game. Y'know... so I could flee and live. I kinda like living. It's all I'm good at.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Your words hurt me. ;_;

Wow, that was a good while ago.

Actually, no it wasn't.

How did I possibly post this fast?! I'm a stone cold weirdo.

Because, not entirely unlike me, the only other thing you could be doing is sleeping, and that's no fun.

 

[Zer_]

"WARNING!!! Local tornado alert for the entire Kansas area, please evacuate. More info at 1-800-555-4567."

Achievement Unlocked: Passing Wind "There's no place like home."

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Not on my 360 they're not! Ha ha!

I'm not actually convinced this is a bad idea, and it certainly does present a vaiable solution to contacting people who might normally eschew other means of communication, especially if engaged fully in a game. I've known people turn phones off, disconnect computers, ignore mail. If the only way to break that bubble was to interrupt the game, I say it's a good idea.

I would hope it would only be used in emergencies though, hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, rather than to inform people that there may be a gas leak a mile from where they live. (My university alerts system tells me when they're going to perform maintenance on the staff only computers on campus, despite the fact that I am a student off campus. It's just annoying when this pops up while I'm in the middle of a sentence in an essay.)