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DAILY MANIFESTO

Can't Say "Xbox, Off!" Because It's Not Green?

Posted on Wednesday, November 24 @ 11:47:39 Eastern by Nicholas Tan

During Major Nelson's Radio show, Kinect's Project Manager Alex Kipman explained the reasoning behind not being able to say turn on and off the console by saying "Xbox, On!" and "Xbox, Off!":

That's something that we get asked a lot and the reason is simple: It's around making sure that we make the world a better place. It's a green requirement -- which is not a real requirement -- but it's something that we are pushing

It's for saving energy. For you to say 'Xbox, turn on,' that means that some amount of the system needs to be on. So we decided not to allow you to have 'Xbox on' which you know, in this world, means we also then don't allow you to say 'xbox off' because if you allow it to say 'off' you would expect to be able to say 'on'.

No, no, no. That's not how it's supposed to work. And not just because you Microsoft guys advertised the whole 'Xbox, on' feature before. You don't remove a feature because it's not green; you allow the player to disable the feature if that person thinks it's not green. Give us the option to spend our energy bill however we like, and if you want, set the green option on default and tell us which option saves us energy and which doesn't.

Also, what does not being able to say 'Xbox off' have anything to do with the ability to say 'Xbox, on'. For most operating systems for a computer, the user has the ability to shut it down without having to press the power button (as the user must do to turn it on). You can shut down the Xbox 360 just by holding the Xbox button on the controller and selecting 'Turn Off Console'. So what's so hard about saying 'Xbox, off' or 'Xbox, shut down'? The console is already running; there's practically no energy savings for any particular method of shut down that I can tell.

And really, Microsoft, it's going to take a lot more than this "going green" excuse to get yourself out of the 17th place out of 18 on Green Peace's list in its "Guide to Greener Electronics". If you really want to make an effort, make a timeline for phasing out BFRs, PVCs, CFRs, and whatever other three-letter acronyms those environmentalists don't like.

[Source]

Tags: Kinect, Xbox

Comments

UglykitteN
Joined: Mar 2006

Posted: Nov 24th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Most electronics that are plugged into a power strip are always using power, regardless of if they are on or not. I imagine that having it on enough to recognize "Xbox on" wouldn't require much more power than the average plasma TV or surround sound system would use while idle.

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Sinlaeshel
Joined: Nov 2006

Posted: Nov 24th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
I can only imagine the outrage and lost game time as the kinect incorrectly interprets somebody saying 'Xbox off'' in the middle of their gaming session.

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Tyrranis
Joined: Nov 2005

Posted: Nov 24th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I think it's more more of an anti-frustration feature for your Xbox to not power down when some whiny 12-year old swears at you.

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ryandebraal
Joined: Jul 2006

Posted: Nov 24th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
I think Sinlaeshel nailed it.

Microsoft probably foresaw this conversation

Bill: "You bought a Kinect?! Your living room is only 13 feet across - it makes no sense!"
Ted: "Hey, Fuck Off!"
Xbox: "Shutting down."

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