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Why Turning Your Xbox On/Off Via Kinect May Never Happen

by Carlos Macias, posted on 23 November 2010 / 9,788 Views

According to Kinect's Project Manager, Alex Kipman, the power to shut off or turn on your Xbox 360 would go against Microsoft's voluntary green initiative.

On users' query about the glaring, futuristic-seeming omission:

"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," said Kipman on last week's Major Nelson Radio, "It's a green requirement -- which is not a real requirement -- but it's something that we are pushing."

Kipman goes into further detail about the Xbox 360 and Kinect sensor's need to be, at least partially, on in order to hear commands from owners.

"It's for saving energy. For you to say 'Xbox, turn on,' that means that some amount of the system needs to be on," Kipman continues, "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.'"

Considering most of the sensor's current offerings require gamers to stand, it hardly seems like a big deal to go up and press the power button on the Xbox 360 to turn it off and on.

But, more importantly, what do you guys think? Think Microsoft's "going green" angle gives them a free pass or do they need to reconsider their "save the ozone layer" stance?


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41 Comments

Podings
Podings (on 26 November 2010)

Going green. The Xbox. Alright, they're having a laugh.

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kupomogli
kupomogli (on 25 November 2010)

With my PS2 I'd always put it on standby then power it off in the back. On the PS3 I put the system into standby but only power it off when there's a storm. I've gotten lazy thanks to being able to turn on the console with the home button.

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voty2000
voty2000 (on 24 November 2010)

It's sad that people will find anything to bitch about.

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Freyt
Freyt (on 24 November 2010)

Total excuse.

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tjallern
tjallern (on 24 November 2010)

taking it as gospel =) ye, i do!! damn, how could I be so stupid!!! i'm dead serious and really CARE when I'm on the internet ^^ do I look like I want to research this shit? I just posted a link I found in 5 seconds. got better stuff to do. did you research it? lololol.. you might as well "research" this statement from MS, which you obviously don't. tbh,I'd trust Greenpeace over MS any day. oh well, time to go sleep. night night nitpickers!

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thranx
thranx (on 24 November 2010)

@tjallern Maybe you should research what you read instead of taking it as gospel since it came from green peace. Those lists are bs if you read the criteria

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nordlead
nordlead (on 24 November 2010)

It should be optional, with the functionality disabled by default. @tjallern - as far as I know, Nintendo/Microsoft make it on the bottom of the lists because they refuse to work with green peace. I really wouldn't trust anything they publish as most of it is designed to make companies look bad so green peace can push their own agenda not to inform consumers.

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tjallern
tjallern (on 24 November 2010)

Cueil shows his BLINDNESS. It's a blatant lie, since MS is almost DEAD LAST on green technology lists http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/how-the-companies-line-up/ Dated... OCTOBER 2010! OOOOOPS, I guess they DON'T ACTUALLY CARE! Now don't talk about ME showing ignorance... Take a look in the mirror, or at your avatar for that sake...

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Raze
Raze (on 24 November 2010)

Kinda scary. Very 1984 - Big Brother is watching always. I might have to put it onto a power strip and turn the damn thing off directly myself.

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Cueil
Cueil (on 24 November 2010)

tjallern shows his ignorance... it's not a lie at all... it is the basic truth... I wish they would at least make it an option though... and I don't have to have the on option if I have the off option

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tjallern
tjallern (on 24 November 2010)

BULLSHIT!!! They even advertised this feature early on (not that I care) with the kid stepping in saying "Xbox On".. But this explanation is BULLSHIT, it's simply a lie, it's simply PR, it's simply.... MICROSOFT!

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ArnoldRimmer
ArnoldRimmer (on 24 November 2010)

This is a good decision by Microsoft, and it's the same reason why current operating systems do not use voice commands by default even though the required software has been available for decades: Always available voice recognition requires a constant and significant amount of processing power that would slow down the system and consume insane amounts of energy if everyone would be using it. "Xbox on!" would probably increase the 360s standby power consumption by the factor 10 at least.

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kibebr
kibebr (on 24 November 2010)

I have a Knectic and I must use my hands to touch a button, where´s the innovation?

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EyeAmTJ
EyeAmTJ (on 23 November 2010)

I could've sworn Bill Gates house is pretty much voice activated....Guess he said screw go green when it comes to his home LOL

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Barozi
Barozi (on 23 November 2010)

@McDaniel-77 Not true at all. Xbox 360 (old model) turned off uses 2.0 - 2.8W Xbox 360S turned off uses 0.6W Wii at maximum uses 18.4W http://www.hardcoreware.net/image.php?src=5480&ts=1172056422 http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/06/500x_360power.jpg btw. look at this chart: http://www.hardcoreware.net/image.php?src=5479&ts=1172044985 Wii uses more power in standby mode than PS3 Slim and 360S http://www.product-reviews.net/2009/08/28/ps3-slim-vs-playstation-3-first-gen-energy-consumption-compared/

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Hephaestos
Hephaestos (on 23 November 2010)

they should really add the off... like that when a chick sees you dancing to kinnect she can say "this is such a TURN OFF"... and you really feel the low mood setting in :p

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D-Joe
D-Joe (on 23 November 2010)

kinect didn't remove processor... http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4210757/Teardown--Kinect-has-processor-after-all

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Smidlee
Smidlee (on 23 November 2010)

you could always hook up your X360 to one of those "clap On" "clap off" light switches. I really don't buy the "green" excuse. For example if you were that green you would exercise without a console. Unless the console was connect to a generator which you was turning to generate power for the console.

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riders42
riders42 (on 23 November 2010)

Lazy ass people can just get up and turn it on themselves.

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kain_kusanagi
kain_kusanagi (on 23 November 2010)

If I know I'm not going to be using my systems for a while I turn off the power bar their are plugged into. As you know many consoles stay in a sort of standby mode. I turn off their power source for two reasons. 1. It saves energy. 2. If my building gets hit by lightning there is no physically connection to harm my electronics.

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Ail
Ail (on 23 November 2010)

it makes sense for different reasons. Do you really want your Xbox360 to turn on each time someone is making gestures in the room ?? I don't think so...

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McDaniel-77
McDaniel-77 (on 23 November 2010)

PS360 is wasting a lot of energy even when it's turned OFF. You can measure the amount of watts wasted by a turned OFF XBox360 - it's more watts "using" when turned off, than a Wii at full power!!! McDaniel-77

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nandakoryaaa
nandakoryaaa (on 23 November 2010)

Ok, not allowing to say "Off" just because you can't say "On" is plain stupid. It's not a rocket science to remember that it won't switch on by voice.

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Talal
Talal (on 23 November 2010)

stupid excuse.

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libellule
libellule (on 23 November 2010)

good for the planet but VERY bad for kinect ..

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CaptainHavok
CaptainHavok (on 23 November 2010)

Makes a lot of sense, really. The removal of the Kinect processor not only requires the 360 processor to be running, but also the powered USB port on the slims. Good call, Microsoft.

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880user088
880user088 (on 23 November 2010)

too lazy to push a button ??

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sergiodaly
sergiodaly (on 23 November 2010)

at last, M$ did something i agree with... it is a feature that is far from essential, and i see it needing lots of energy in a standby mode to be real damage to electric bill.

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dahuman
dahuman (on 23 November 2010)

not a big deal tbh, can always turn in on with controller. I can see so many problems with a voice command with that feature.

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badgenome
badgenome (on 23 November 2010)

"Xbox, why did you lie to me about your features? Xbox, turn off forever!"

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cory.ok
cory.ok (on 23 November 2010)

for an 'xbox on' command the kinect would have to have access to a processor. they removed kinects standalone processor (for whatever reason, though im assuming to save money) so they would have to use the x360's processor, which would end up costing quite a bit of energy; you cant run the x360's processor alone, it would need other things running, not to mention a bit of power for kinect. i'm sure they could get it to do it, but now that they went all cheap ass on us and removed kinects processor, it would take probably 3-4 (perhaps 5..?) times more energy than they originally thought that it would for an 'xbox on' command. the excuses that that guy gave are probably true, but for different reasons than what hes saying they are.

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JOKA_
JOKA_ (on 23 November 2010)

Question: The 360 is currently able to be turned on by a wireless signal from a controller...so doesn't that mean that "some amount of the system needs to be on" so it knows when a controller is trying to signal it. I guess voice commands would probably be more complicated though, since if you were hanging out in the room with the 360 it would need to listen to your entire conversation and analyze it to see if "XBOX on" was said.

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Grandia
Grandia (on 23 November 2010)

I think Microsoft has a good Point there. It would make no sense to include an "Xbox On" command if the Xbox 360 must be constantly on power therefor.

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binary solo
binary solo (on 23 November 2010)

There's a reason why devices that have a "standby" status are called vampire devices. I turn off as many devices as possible around the house using the power switch on the device (turn off at the wall) every night, and that includes the PS3 after I'm done using it. It's not about being "green" it's about saving money. So if I owned an Xbox360 and Kinect I'd turn off the power after I'm done using it so an "XBox on" command would be a useless gimmick for me given I'd be having to go up to the box and turn the power on manually anyway. If they have a genuine green policy I'd be interested in having a comprehensive look at it. Unless there is an automatic total powering off of the 360 they've made a vampire device and hence they are really not so green.

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80s_gamer
80s_gamer (on 23 November 2010)

Why are you to so sceptical. If you know the slightest about voice commands and about the Kinect technology you would know that to power it on or off via voice is a very simple ting to do especially in comparison to the other stuff the Kinect sensor does. As soon as i saw the title of this article i knew that would be the reason given by Microsoft. So until we can prove otherwise we have nothing else to go on. And couldn't be bothered or couldn't figure it out is just silly.

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maximus22
maximus22 (on 23 November 2010)

I hope no one is falling for this. This is just another kinect broken promise. Why people still buy anything from MS is beyond me.

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Barozi
Barozi (on 23 November 2010)

@PEICanada7 Maybe the old models can heat a room and I know that because I have one of them. http://kotaku.com/5567516/how-does-the-new-xbox-360-perform-compared-to-the-old-one Huge improvement of efficiency

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hagelt18
hagelt18 (on 23 November 2010)

I guess I couldn't say whether it's true or not...I wasn't one of the engineers who made the hardware or software. I can always speculate though.

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Kantor
Kantor (on 23 November 2010)

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. When a system is on standby, a part of it is on. That's the DEFINITION of standby. It wouldn't take an enormous amount of energy to make it recognise the words "Xbox on". And if a customer really wanted to be green, they would just unplug the thing or turn it off from behind. Translation of this statement: "Actually, we can't figure out how..."

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PEICanada7
PEICanada7 (on 23 November 2010)

They're worried about power? The system that takes up so much power, that you can heat a room up with it, when its on for a couple of hours. The same system that you can leave on in "low power mode" to download things, when you turn the system off. So why can't it just stay in that same "low power mode" all the time, to use Kinect better? If the Wii can do it, then why couldn't the 360? What a bunch on PR BS. If it couldn't do it, than why did they even bother to say that it could back at E3'09?

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Silver-Tiger
Silver-Tiger (on 23 November 2010)

Yeah sure, is there actually anyone who believes that? Why don't they just say they're too lazy or they aren't able to do that. Always all the lying in this industry. IMO there was much less deceiving back then in the PSone era.... -.-

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