Microsoft Has Patented Achievements For Watching TV

[drop2]Last November, Microsoft applied for a patent to gift achievements to viewers for watching TV. I’m not quite sure what to make of this myself.

The application states “Television viewing tends to be a passive experience for a viewer, without many opportunities for the viewer to engage or have interactive experiences with the presented content”. It further adds “to increase interactive viewing and encourage a user to watch one or more particular items of video content, awards and achievements may be tied to those items of video content.”

Although we don’t know if or how this will be implemented, Xbox One TV viewers could potentially see themselves receiving achievements for, let’s say, watching an entire TV series or a sporting event.

How would you feel about receiving achievements for watching your favourite shows? Or would you even be encouraged to watch other TV shows if this were to be implemented?

Source: GI International 

55 Comments

  1. Talk about overdoing it

  2. There’s no amount of money or achievements in the world that would make me watch any of the x-factory, Cowell, big shit Greek/Pikey freakshow wedding, reality bollox that fill the terrestrial tv schedules.

  3. It’s going to become a way to get more viewers by giving money to Microsoft for a ‘special’ achievement.

  4. This would be the first step to cheapening the whole experience, imo. Next would be integrating achievements into Facebook for a certain number of ‘likes’ or whatever.

    In the 4 decades I have survived on this planet, I’ve come to the conclusion we are on a steady, horrific decline…

    1980s – fluorescent shell suits
    1990s – recreational drugs
    2000s – global terrorism
    2010s – social networking

    • Just had to point out that the 90s was more likely to be the acceptance of commercialism, as recreational drugs have been around for donkeys years

      • And still are. Americans have discovered E, which is why they’ve all gone dance music silly. Or at least, what they think its dance music.

  5. Well there’s no games to get achievement in, so this makes perfect sense.

  6. Watching some of the drivel you see on TV these days will definitely be a well earned achievement.

  7. It just seems to keep getting worse, it’s getting to a point now where I’m not just disinterested in the Xbox One, but will actively avoid it wherever possible just to get away from this sort of shite.

    They’ll really have to go some at this point to persuade me otherwise.

  8. Well, if you sit through Jeremy Kyle, you deserve a fecking medal!

    • If you get a medal for that, what do you get for sitting through a Justin Beiber song?

      • A Knighthood from the Queen!! :)

      • A slap to the face and a burial at sea.

  9. Oh FFS, next you’ll be reporting that if kinect sees you watching TV nude, that’ll earn you the ‘OMG!’ Achievement!
    When are they gonna stop? Patenting human life?

  10. This will almost certainly undermine the whole system which should be based on gaming skill or perseverance in some cases. People could just leave their TV on all the time to get achievements. They’d be mental but I’ve seen worse. (Hannah Montana).

    • My thoughts exactly. They will become next to worthless if anything like this is implemented.

    • I guess the Kinect surveillance will make sure you actually watch the stuff before you get the achievement. I wonder if it also notices when you fall asleep.

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