Real-life emergency alerts coming to NY State via Xbox Live

I remember some years ago when an SUV lost control and plowed through our fence. I was gaming at the time, with speakers and subwoofers blasting away and everything – I did NOT notice a thing. I found out hours later when I stepped out, finding the wood scraps that used to be our fence. Had no one been in our house at the time, things could’ve gotten worse. If something like that has happened to you, then you might find this new service useful – New York State will be sending real-life emergency alerts via Xbox Live.

I remember some years ago when an SUV lost control and plowed through our fence. I was gaming at the time, with speakers and subwoofers blasting away and everything – I did NOT notice a thing. I found out hours later when I stepped out, finding the wood scraps that used to be our fence. Had no one been in our house at the time, things could’ve gotten worse.

If something like that has happened to you, then you might find this new service useful – New York State will be sending real-life emergency alerts via Xbox Live.

It wouldn’t be as silly as isolated cases of SUVs crashing into fences or 15-year-olds having their Xboxes confiscated – New York State authorities will be sending out only real emergencies, such as natural calamities, terrorist attacks, or other threats to the general population. The Emergency Management Office is currently testing out the improvements, possibly because they just saw 2012.

New York State Deputy CIO Rico Singleton says that the goal is to be able to reach younger folks who spend more time gaming than watching TV, which is a good idea “considering the amount of time our youth spend on video games,” he said.

The service, given that the State is trying to reach as many as they can, is expected to come to other platforms as well.

• Two million logged into Facebook via Xbox Live at week one

Via InformationWeek