Insomniac Developers Shut Off The Xbox One Using Studio PA

Max Level: "Okay, let’s be honest. We’ve all imagined a funny scenario involving the Xbox One being shut off via it’s Kinect 2.0 enabled voice command feature. Apparently the developers working on the Xbox One presently have already been making this happen. For instance at Insomniac Game's studio, where Senior Engine Programmer Andreas Fredriksson is already tired of his co-workers shouting "Xbox Off" over the PA, thus causing a mass shutdown of the console dev kits."

[cl1983]

Purely evil coworkers.

[badz149]

yeah, but this should send a message of concern to MS about the vulnerability of the Xbone to the trolls! I think they should do something in particular to "xbox off" command to prevent trolls from ruining gaming sessions!

[Eonjay]

Max Trollage lol. I would be pissed lol!

[Trekster_Gamer]

Keep Sony gamers out of the room...

Problem solved....

[Eonjay]

FOX DIE!!!!

[Eddie20101]

No need for a voice command to turn the system off to begin with, it's easier to push a button.

[XB1_PS4]

I can all ready imagine myself telling someone in the room,
"Don't say Xbox Off"
*Xbox turns off*
"F**K ME!"

[badz149]

@zyphee

aren't we talking about "trolls" already given access here? trolls can be anyone and yes, including family members too, you know, those who usually ALREADY HAVE ACCESS to your system too!

with the XBL Gold Family sharing plan, most xbone will probably have more than 1 account, did you consider THAT? not everyone is a forever alone guy, you know, people have families too and the internet has proven that family members are sometimes the biggest troll you can encounter your entire life!

think for a second R-TARD!

[Kingthrash360]

check my past comments and you will find several comments of me saying this was one of my conserns.
your girl walks in the room and yells "xbox off". she wins instantly. so until you take out the trash or wash the car or let her watch arrow on hulu all she yas to do is yell thos three words.

[n4rc]

It uses directional sound..

You cant control someone's kinect over their TV speaker.. But a company pa? i dont think kinect would be able to tell it apart from a human standing in front of it..

[cl1983]

Actually a few days/weeks ago Major nelson discussed this and was posted on n4g that you have to confirm you want to shut the system down after you give the command.

[JokesOnYou]

ha that is funny....but I'm sure I read that it will have a secondary on screen prompt that asks if you want to shut off the console.

Edit my bad didn't read all comments, yeah OK so thats right cl1983

[indysurfn]

I can see Sony having a commercial making fun of the xbox off. Or even a tv show talking about 'xbox off' (simpsons already did it?). And then as they are saying 'xbox off' Millions of TV's go off! Oh I know, how about a simpson tv commercial for a up coming show during the superbowls FIRST commercial! That would be hilarious! Everyone will miss at least part of a commercial. A whole one if they have smarttv!

[Gekko36]

@All Don't be soft, it's tied to your voice. This is a none issue. CHILL

Oh and to the people on here who find the use of the word "Retard" offensive like me, Retarded means to hinder or hold back, Just like your emotional skills. Bunch of C*NT5

[mcstorm]

I know this could be an issue but its the same with all voice command systems as I had my brother shouting things at the TV when playing Halo CEA. But doesn't the Xbox one save the state of play in its memory so you can turn off your console and come back later on an carry on from where you are? If it dose then this is not that big of an issue.

[christocolus]

i wish kinect could detect trolls..then all we would do is say " kinect ignore all trolls" or "kinect activate troll noise cancellation and troll activity filter" ...lol...anyways its good to see them having so much fun...now insomniac pls kindly hurry up with sunset overdrive..the wait is killing me.

[extermin8or]

Wont just be fanboys doing it-I'd find it hard to resist the urge todo that, be so funny :p

[mewhy32]

wow. yet another reason to avoid prism project, information gathering for advertisers kinect.

[gameonbro]

Sure there are a lot of trolls running around your house

[user5575708]

cant wait to mess with my friends lol

oh wait...no one i know is buying an xbox one

another great prank would be yelling xbox off in a voice message and hoping your friends console goes off

[darthv72]

My youngest son does this to me on our 360. It was funny a few times but then it got annoying.

He didnt like it when i did it to him so we dont use the voice commands unless absolutely needed.

[schubacca]

Non-issue for most of us really. If you are playing at home, and someone in your house says "xbox off", then you simply kick his ass.

[Legion21]

There's actually an option to turn off certain commands

[Yetter]

Trolls in the livingroom with you? I think you should re-think your living arrangements

[Elit3Nick]

Some people just want to watch the world burn

[rainslacker]

Then MS has a product for them. It's called the Xbox 360.

[malokevi]

Ahahaha, what a dick move

[3-4-5]

Microsoft employees trolling themselves ?

Is nobody sailing that ship?

[badz149]

Insomniac is an independent studio. they are not MS's or any publisher's employee to begin with.

[3-4-5]

yea I realize that now... mistake

[Blaze929]

I'm pretty sure, just like Kinect on Xbox 360, that you have to confirm "yes" when giving the command "Xbox Off."

It's not simply just going to turn off on its own. Come on now people. Lets use those tiny brain cells of ours, it exists.

[ziggurcat]

is there a reason why you're getting worked up over an office prank (a prank that's confirmed by an employee to work) at insomniac studios?

calm your fanboy self down for a minute...

[Blaze929]

@ziggurcat

what in the world are you talking about -_-? As you can clearly see in the comments, some people think that's a feature that needs to be addressed by Microsoft to "prevent accidents". So I made an obvious statement to negate that.

So really, please explain what YOU'RE talking about. Worked up?..lls, I don't have to be a genius to figure out what insecure side you stand on:

http://n4g.com/user/comment...

[indysurfn]

okay, lets do use our brains. You first, guess what a person over the PA need to do? Just wait 2 seconds, and say 'yes' to the confirmation(you see you don't have to actually hear it to answer it!).

Lets use your tiny brain cells people that say lets use your tiny brain cells! LOL

Actually using your brain would not be 'assuming' as you are, it would be seeing that it is happening. That is reality, you can't assume it away! And you can time it in the future unless it only responds to a particular voice.

[Palaven]

@ziggurcat
Have you read the rest of the comments?

There are people that are trying to turn a prank into something negative about the Xbox One. You are the one getting worked up.

[ziggurcat]

@ Blaze929:

You're the one getting defensive, telling people to use their brains, and *i'm* insecure?

Bravo *slow clap*

I think the prank is hilarious, and in no way is it a negative against the xbone, so good job at getting upset over people thinking it's a funny office prank.

[ziggurcat]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_...

[Pogmathoin]

@ Trekster, you saying Kinect 2 can detect a Sony fanboy? I am offended....

[smugbullfish]

Evil but kinda funny

[SharnOfTheDEAD]

Changes gamer tag to "Xbox Off"

[himdeel]

This is all bad. Any significant other can say xbox off and fuck your whole world up. Not good.

[lastofgen]

Lol..that's pretty funny.
It'd be hilarious if someone forgot to unplug/turn off voice recognition during a tourney and someone across the room yelled 'xbox, off...'

[Godmars290]

With Kinect being optional I don't see anyone having it plugged in during tournaments, but you could get situations where a kid relation says "Xbox off!" while someone's playing COD.

[CrowbaitBob]

Saying "xbox off!" while someone's playing COD would be considered an act of compassion.

[-Gespenst-]

I can see "Xbox, off" becoming a meme... I can also seeing that functionality making for some pretty funny situations.

Man if anybody I know gets an Xbone I'll just be saying this constantly.

[Majin-vegeta]

Omg im one kill away from a chopper gunner

*xbox off* [troll face] xD.

Along ewith everyone else in that lobby xDD

[-Gespenst-]

Oh my god that's right! Anyone with a mic could just shout it! Everyone's xbox... just off. That's incredible.

EDIT: Oh wait, your voice only works if it's registered with the console... that's no fun. The again you could still do some damage if your voice was similar to whoever's voice was logged on a particular xbox...

[rainslacker]

Voices are pretty distinct. They're kind of like finger prints. Even more true on the wave form level voice recognition works off of. Unless they just use peak/valley "sounds like this sound" type software...which I highly doubt.

[ApolloTheBoss]

Delicious.

[WeAreLegion]

Haha. Hey...it'll happen. Just turn off the function. I hope Microsoft has taken this into account, so you don't have to turn that function off every time you play a game. Also, if you could bring Sunset Overdrive to PS4, that'd be great...

[DarkBlood]

too bad its an exclusive paid by microsoft last time i read.

[WeAreLegion]

Insomniac said not to rule out a PS4 version. I'm betting on timed exclusivity.

[PFFT]

Maybe a sigma style version. IF Mass Effect and Ninja Gaiden made it to the Ps3 why not Sunset overdrive for the PS4. It might and there is a high chance it will happen.

[n4rc]

It probably will..

Ms doesn't seem to care about holding exclusivity past its usefulness (first year).. Good for gamers imo..

[christocolus]

i think it may remain an exclusive...cos ted price said no amount of petitions from sony fans would change that..and he also stated that the possibility of it coming to the ps4 was same as rachet and clank coming to the xbx...which we all known is immpossible since sony owns that franchise...

[DarkBlood]

but then you are implying that microsoft owns the sunset ip which as far as we know they dont, so that wouldnt stop them from bringing it over to the ps4

[JamieL]

@ DarkBlood
Damn man, all he did was quote what the man said, and added his opinion. Why get so defensive? How do you know what they're going to do? (and) What makes what your opinion on the matter more likely than his?

[coolasj]

" I finally had the game breaking bug gone... We can't make the demo now. "

:O
I'm sure it saves.

[thebudgetgamer]

Two friends playing Madden.
Friend 1) Twenty seconds left and I got the ball

Friend 2) Bring it

Friend 1 passes to running back, he breaks free and is about to score the winning touchdown,

Friend 2) Xbox off

Friend 1) What the hell!

[rainslacker]

LOL. I do believe the Xbox saves the state of any game your in when it shuts down.

Otherwise we all know people are going to be trying to turn off other people's Xbox's the first week or so.

[HugoDrax]

"LOL. I do believe the Xbox saves the state of any game your in when it shuts down"

I remember reading that as well, that's why I can't wait for next gen. As the months go by, you will hear more about the exciting features of XB1 and PS4. As for now, it's trolls everywhere. Once consumers, and other media outlets get a hold of consoles they will give their personal review. We're in for a treat

[n4rc]

They talked about this awhile ago... Kinect won't respond to commands that come through the TV speakers..

You'd have to physically be in the room (or use an intercom ala this article)

[JackStraw]

...what? dude, what he said went right over your head. you make it seem like 2 people in the same room can't play the same game together. facepalm.

[Ohlmay]

I read that voice commands will only work with Player 1 signed in as will detect it via their heart beat and facial features, but who knows, Kinect 2.0 could end up having the exact same issues as Kinect 1.0.

[supersonicjerry]

how about you not plug in the kinect did you guys ever think of that?

[JackVagina]

Isn't that being implemented in the day 1 patch tho?

[SilentNegotiator]

Why be forced to spend the extra $100 and then not use it?

[Wizziokid]

Well your not being forced to buy it really, there is the PS4 as an alternative ^^

[WeAreLegion]

Or even the Wii U. Or a Sega Gamegear. These are all better alternatives.

[BOVICE47]

COLDBLOODED OOO

[L0N3_ST4R]

Well they did say when the "Xbox off" command is implemented it gives you a 5-10 second window to confirm. Not sure how this worked. Must be because of the dev kit.

[r21]

My god, it sorta works. I would think MS would incorporate a feature to allow certain voices to work instead of random ones. Oh lord next gen trolling.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Shutting down dev kits? Costing time and money. These people should be fired immediately.

This also harms my opinon of insomniac as a company. It makes them look childish and unprofessional.

[Malik4Play]

Dude, relax, they're humans. There's horseplay in the offices of Wedbush Morgan...

Game Studios tend to be pretty chill work environments too, it helps with creativity to be laid back

[porkChop]

Dude who shit in your cereal this morning? Chill the hell out.

[ziggurcat]

you've obviously never worked in that environment. it's called having a little fun to break up the monotony.

relax.

[joe90]

Yeh working 12 hour days and maybe more to get a game finished for deadline, for all of that day of work to be gone is Funny?. workers who can't make it home to there kids that night or take there family for a meal.......then to be done over by a co-worker with "Xbox off"

Insomniac are shit anyway, what have they made aside from Spyro,Ratchet and resistance? Nothing ground breaking that sells consoles anyway.Obviously a very unprofessional team with only making low budget games with minimal effort.

Breaking up the monotony?????? HAHA yeh you just destroyed that whole day of work i now have to replace in my own time is totally hilarious /s.

I'm wondering if any of you have a deadline job that requires you to have a project done in time.....serving a big mac or having a pizza delivery in 30 mins or it's free doesn't count.

One thing that is looking pretty sure is the PS4 is going to have Hardware issues with its random shutdowns during confrences so possible failure rate worse than the 360 is probably going to happen. i'd rather be trolled with the Xbox-off than PS4 YLOD 90% failure rate.

[JackStraw]

lmfao @ 1 disagree to all of you. he disagreed with you all for being right. hilarious.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

No, I disagreed with them for being the kind of unprofessional people I would never employ at my own company.

Guess what? You're all fired. Clean out your desks. Security will be along to escort you to the door.

(Seriously kids, people like you would never survive more than a day at companies like Apple or Nintendo.)

[GuyThatMakesSense]

@MultiConsoleGamer

You're over reacting, dude. You were never even there to begin with so you're just assuming the scenario. And what do you mean "would never survive more than a day at companies like apple or Nintendo"?

First of all Apple Has NOTHING to do with being a game developer. Second, Nintendo (developers' offices) do this too (joke around once in a while, chill, etc)! Maybe not Rockstar nor Capcom but morale is on the floor in those companies because of it. But some of the best companies (naughtydog, santa monica, sucker punch, etc) have an environment like this.

And don't worry. I would never promote you to an employer or leader of a GAME developing company (in which creating fun games through skills, but also through ideas [which come from the mind] [which becomes hindered when emotionally restricted at certain areas]) with that kind of attitude.

[1OddWorld]

If you can say XBox Off over a PA, then people could troll each other through the tv playing multiplayer. Trolls will be saying this at the beginning of each multiplayer match to see who has their kinnect hooked up and not using a headset.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

Wait till your girlfriend , has her voice recognized for the system,. She get's mad while your in the middle of an online match. 1st place, 5 seconds left on the clock,. XBOX OFF.

[porkChop]

http://cmster.com/media/c8u...

[voodoogts]

Xbox say build me a SlaveStation.

[LinkSmash]

Now this would be cool if, say, an AI like Edi or Cortana were behind these jokes...Nothing beats machines rising up against their human creators!

[AceBlazer13]

xbox owners gonna be pissed at their family this november. at least you can unplug kinect now

[YodaCracker]

Or your family member could just walk over and push the power button on the console!

[Goku781]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?...

[Lazyeye79]

Wouldn't it be great if a game developer put that text into a game so that when you interacted with a specific character they would yell "Xbox off" and through the speakers shut the console off.

This brings up another good question, if I use the Kinect as a microphone and the TV as my speaker for online chat, could someone else in the game yell it and shut my Xbox off?

[blackblades]

Lol imagine playing a multiplayer game like cod and someone on the game with a mic says it out loud.

[MasterCornholio]

Doesn't Kinect have the capability to distinguish different voices? What I mean by this is if some else shouts Xbox Off since its not your voice the console won't shut down.

Nexus 7 2013

[mkis007]

Wouldn't the low power state technically make this just a matter of turning it back on without any loss?

[Funantic1]

Just another way of abusing good intentions like someone hiding a controller and turning off a Playstation or Xbox, or someone unplugging your console. It won't happen at my house so I'm good.

[mechlord]

So.....lemme get this straight...

I can yell "Xbox shut off" then a pop up comes and i have to push a button to confirm it ???...

im i the only one seeing how stupid this is?
Why cant i just push the button to begin with?

[JackStraw]

EXACTLY!

[YodaCracker]

You can just push the button! Who's stopping you?

[paul-p1988]

Insomniac obviously still prefer Sony consoles, and just want to troll the Kinect haha

[solidboss07]

This is nothing. The NSA can do this, and more thanks to software put in for them. Controlls such as XBone On, XBone Record, Kinnect Intrude into the personal lives of XBoners, ect ect.

[Gr1mmyshadows]

im a massive XBoner!

[mhunterjr]

There device has an array of directional mics. The simple solution would be to visually verify that the person speaking is the person playing... Which they've already confirmed they can do....

I'm surprised they haven't used this feature for power of controls... Ofcourse developers could be using a different build.

[Red_Devilz]

What is my friend sitting next to me on couch, who is frustrated now that I've beaten him at Madden, yells XBox off? Will the directional mic be able to differentiate?

This whole voice command thing is a stupid gimmick. Too bad MS wanted to make it a central attraction of XB1 (along with TV - another BS)

[mhunterjr]

There's nothing to stop that same friend from turning the xbox off using his controller. What's the difference?

The issue here is people who aren't even using the device turning it off. The directional Mic, coupled with Kinect being able to tell if the players mouth is moving, is fully capable of handling this.

[CuddlyREDRUM]

I think the Xbox One may deserve a purchase down the line, just not with me paying $100 for a Kinect.

[StevenvEekeren]

I can just imagine all the frustrated husbands when their wife shouts at them 'Turn that fucking Xbox off!!!'

[Khajiit86]

This isnt the problem for me. The problem is still that the xbox1 forces the kinect 2.0 on us and it supposedly worth 200. I would gladly buy an x1 on launch if it was 299 then.

[Relientk77]

Omg that's great, gotta love Insomniac and their humor

[MrPerfect813]

You turn off my Ps4 or Xb1 in the middle of my gaming and that is an ass whopping in my house. It is understood.

[hankmoody]

"Bobby, time for bed."

"Okay, Mom. Just give me a second so I can make it to the next save point and save my game."

"Xbox off."

"GAH! You bitch!"

[indyman7777]

lol....hmmmm.... no wait!

[5eriously]

Great, must be the best feature ever.

Cancelling my preorder to get and be part of this unique piece of excellence!

[mt]

I can't wait for my friends to get next gen Dark soul on xbox1 and me in the back of his couch waiting for him to deliver the final blow for the boss of the last level and me in the back shouts "xbox off"

[GraveLord]

Kinect. Such an innovative, useful camera. Can't live without it. Did I mention its so useful?

[ipach]

i think both new consoles do a suspend/pause anyway, so it's not likely this will delete gameplay. there's probably a confirm screen that comes up to turn off anyway as well. but yeah, that would get old real fast...

[eye no toe fu]

This reminds me of the good old Sega Genesis days where me and my boys would have Bulls vs. Blazers tournaments and when someone is being blown out, they'll act like they're getting up to do something and purposefully hit the reset button or cause the game to freeze. A little different, I know, but I can totally see someone in a pinch instantly shouting XBox off to save face, lol.

[americanGTA]

They should of said "Die Xbox"

[PickAShoe]

always research before you buy people.

[oof46]

If I buy an Xbox One, I'll keep playing with headphones like I do now. It'll negate anyone yelling, "Xbox off!"

Let's see how many angry threads on Battlelog will address this issue when Bf4 is released.

[IIC0mPLeXII]

This is one of the worst implementations of voice commands of all time. Seriously a command that powers off your console. How did someone not see this as a potential problem.

[Smoey]

You're on COD and someone shouts over the mic XBOX OFF. The entire list of people you're playing with disappear.

LOL.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

they should let you use your own "safe phrase" so that people can't mess with you when you're playing. even if it asks to confirm whether you want it off or not, i'm sure the screen dims or some sort of prompt comes up that obscures the screen(which can be equally as frustrating when trying to play).

[WhyHate]

It's great to have a new system coming out with an above average set of brand new, and never before seen features; not seen with a videogame console. It's great to see that for the Xbox Won regardless of what system you are planning to buy ppl seem to like thinking about the Xbox One's features, and coming into Xbox articles to comment.

That't the sure sign that you have an innovative system, and features. Much like this past generation I think we will see envy from Playstation fans directed towards
Xbox fans due to a lack system wide option as compared to the Xbox One.

From everything I have seen and played the Xbox Won is just the better "over all" system. O well another 10+ years of **tchy PS owners. Well not from the ones I know personally. (Maybe)

[Ninte]

Now i just have to find people playing their xbox one and turn off their console while they are playing, to get them really, really mad haha