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New York to send emergency broadcast alerts via XBL

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DVDBack23 @ Nov 25, 2009 18:00 | 10 comments

New York state officials are preparing to use Xbox Live to broadcast emergency alerts such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks.

The New York state Emergency Management Office says they are planning to test alerts over TV, radio, the Internet and the gaming consoles in an effort to "reach younger residents who spend more time on the Xbox, PlayStation," then on traditional media outlets.

New York state deputy chief information officer Rico Singleton added (via IW): The decision was made mainly "considering the amount of time our youth spend on video games."

Additional details are scarce but Singleton did say the technology is ready and being tested.

The Xbox online service was the only one mentioned by name but it is extremely likely the alerts will be broadcast via the PlayStation 3 and Wii as well.

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Comments

Comment by: jaqafter (Nov 26, 2009 07:01)

This is some good forward thinking on their part. The amount of televisons that are not viewing a broadcast must be much much higher than years past. This is a good way to reach some.

Comment by: KillerBug (Nov 26, 2009 08:38)

It has to be better than the ones on tv...everyone has a DVR, so they don't get these messages untill they watch the show containing the message. By that time, the emergency is over, but the recording on the DVR is destroyed by the break-in.

I wonder how they would do it...it can't be by zipcode, as everyone lies about that during setup. I sure would be pissed if they broke into my PS3 while i was gaming just to announce, "Attn: This is a test of the new york emergency system, it is not an actual emergency [loud, long, annoying beep] [loud, long, annoying beep] [loud, long, annoying beep] If this had been an actual emergency, then you would not need this message because you would already be dead after all those long beeps. Thank you."

Comment by: bam431 (Nov 26, 2009 14:22)

-25G The end of the world

Comment by: creaky (Nov 26, 2009 15:21)

..except all the people who've just had their consoles banned won't be able to get the alerts; oh the irony :p

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Comment by: joeroni (Nov 28, 2009 00:30)

They show they are thinking to future. WTG. Then they shot themselves in the foot and ban many many users.They should have looked into their own future with all there smarts.

Comment by: Coyote42 (Nov 29, 2009 07:25)

I hate to say it, but this would be very annoying. Most "emergency" alerts we get are not something I would interrupt a game for. And I can imagine they will use this for Amber alerts too. So ya know that kid that's missing might be the one that fragged you on Xbox Live.

Oh yeah, and there's the mandatory weekly test. So count on some random chance your game may be cut short at any given time. They had better make this an opt-in type service.

Comment by: TrinUK (Nov 30, 2009 15:37)

Originally posted by Coyote42:
I hate to say it, but this would be very annoying. Most "emergency" alerts we get are not something I would interrupt a game for. And I can imagine they will use this for Amber alerts too. So ya know that kid that's missing might be the one that fragged you on Xbox Live.

Oh yeah, and there's the mandatory weekly test. So count on some random chance your game may be cut short at any given time. They had better make this an opt-in type service.

Well on the bright side, 2 minute warning siren - you get a chance to save your game & drag your 360 to the basement's faraday cage before an EMP strike fries the crap outta the circuits. Or maybe M$ could add an anti-spam feature to block these unwanted messages? LOL

Comment by: howy_2005 (Dec 01, 2009 17:58)

"then on traditional media outlets. " Not to be a bother...but I believe you meant to use "than." Nedd an editor...lol

Comment by: howy_2005 (Dec 01, 2009 18:10)

Originally posted by howy_2005:
"then on traditional media outlets. " Not to be a bother...but I believe you meant to use "than." Nedd an editor...lol

I Guess I "nedd" an editor

Comment by: BaconBIt (Dec 02, 2009 04:46)

I think this is a good idea because I know that most of the time my television is on, I'm playing my Xbox. It would be nice if campus officials would consider the same idea.