Emergency Alert System Broadcasts Making Their Way To Video Game Consoles?
You know those emergency “flash flood warnings” that interrupt your television viewing experience with the ever soothing sound combination of nails on a chalkboard and a car alarm? Well, they may be making their way to your video game console in the not so distant future if one government official gets his way.
As it turns out, the state of New York is currently testing an Xbox based emergency alert system. New York State Deputy CIO, Rico Singleton, who seems to be spearheading the push, believes that the majority of kids these days play video games instead of watching TV or listening to the radio — mediums which already have emergency alert systems built in.
The goal is to tap into the online networks already established by companies like Microsoft and Nintendo to more effectively reach this video game obsessed demographic when natural or man made disasters occur.
Okay, serious hat off for a moment. Where the hell are the parents? In the other room snorting cocaine off of dead hookers? “Mom! Dad! The Xbox just told me that terrorists attacked an airport! … Wait, never mind, that’s just a level in Modern Warfare 2.”
I personally find it funny to hear a government type sounding like they miss the “good old days when kids rotted their brains out watching TV, and stayed glued to the raido for a chance to record a new song for their mix tape.”
What say you? Do you feel that there is a need to have a video game based emergency broadcast system, or is this simply going too far? Sound off in the comments section below, and look out for that killer Yoshi!
[Thanks InformationWeek]
4 Comments
i will go offline xbox live just so i don’t get said warnings in the middle of a level.
god help us when we’re playing MW2, and get interrupted.
Heeeelllllll no.
On one hand I understand the logic, but on the other, I just feel that it’s nothing more than some spotlight hungry government official looking to tie their name to something for a few extra minutes in the spotlight.
I mean, are we really that connected to our technology that we can’t … oh crap my dinners burning.
I don’t own a TV license. Which makes sense. I don’t watch TV or listen to the radio. What I do have, is a steady (at times) broadband connection and an Xbox Live account. I read the news online from various sources, sometimes once an hour, sometimes more than once. My problem is, if I get engrossed in a game, which, let’s be honest, can happen to the best of us, I can frequently miss news updates and not know about plane crashes/celebrity death/flood warnings for a good 6 – 10 hours. How many times on the Xbox, do we get little flashes telling us xyz is online or xyz has sent you a message? It happens we deal with it, so where would the harm be in having say a red popup to let you know there’s been some breaking news? Maybe a flood or a hurricane heading your way? Personally, I’d be all for it.