After the Xbox One Event Microsoft has received a lot of hate from the gaming community, a lot of it completely justified. In an attempt to clarify some points Microsoft and VP Phil Harrison have released some more info regarding the system.
First of all a common question was whether or not the Xbox One will be region locked, today a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed this fact and had this to say:
“Similar to the movie and music industry, games must meet country-specific regulatory guidelines before they are cleared for sale, we will continue to work with our partners to follow these guidelines with Xbox One.”
Region locking is a common thing although the recent Sony systems have not had it, it has not been announced whether the PS4 will be region locked and Sony have been pretty cagey about the subject, hopefully we find out more info around E3.
Next was the subject of the ‘always on’ Kinect, people were worried that if the Kinect was always watching and listening then Microsoft might be able to see you when you do not want to be seen. As with camera devices there are always privacy concerns and Phil Harrison today has attempted to clear up any issues that people might have had:
“Microsoft has very, very good policies around privacy. We’re a leader in the world of privacy, I think you’ll find, we take it very seriously. We aren’t using Kinect to snoop on anybody at all. We listen for the word ‘Xbox on’ and then switch on the machine, but we don’t transmit personal data in any way, shape or form that could be personally identifiable to you, unless you explicitly opt into that.”
This would appear to clear up any troubles with the ‘always on’ aspect of the Kinect, as it just listens for one phrase only and it seems that it doesn’t transmit and personal data which is a very good thing.
Hopefully we get more clarification from Microsoft concerning other matters as some damage control is much needed. After all this drama surrounding the system one thing is for sure… the Xbox One games they show at E3 better be bloody good. They’ll need to be.
