Microsoft has certainly been dominating video game news headlines after they revealed the Xbox One earlier this month. Several breaking stories have come to light concerning the Xbox One today, concerning achievements, privacy issues, and how much the deal between AMD and Microsoft is worth.
Microsoft has filed a patent that would allow users to gain achievements for watching television using the Xbox One. The technology will allow users to get achievements that are registered by the Kinect. Examples listed include having the Kinect find out if the user is actually sitting on the couch, allowing interaction with objects on the TV, and having users holding up products when prompted. Microsoft has not yet announced if television achievements will actually become part of the Xbox One.
Meanwhile, a German commissioner has taken issue with the Xbox One, calling it a device that can monitor it's users. The Xbox One could be used to violate a person's privacy and reveal their personal information to others. A statement from Peter Schaar, German commissioner of federal data protection, has been translated by Gamesindustry International:
"The Xbox continuously records all sorts of personal information about me. Reaction rates, my learning or emotional states. [These] are then processed on an external server, and possibly even passed on to third parties...Whether it be deleted ever, the person concerned cannot influence."
In other news, a former employee of AMD revealed that the deal between Microsoft and AMD to produce the inner workings of the Xbox One is worth an estimated three billion dollars. Bob Feldstein, former AMD vice president of Strategic Development, revealed on his LinkedIn profile that AMD has a multi-year deal with Microsoft estimated to be worth about three billion dollars. In return, AMD created a custom silicon solution for the Xbox One not found in any other technology.