So this is a little bizarre. We were under the impression that voice functionality the Xbox One would not be available in Australia at launch, but a report from IGN stated that Australia was on the list.
We called Microsoft locally to confirm precisely what’s going on, and a local representative confirmed that, yes, voice functionality would “absolutely” be available in Australia on launch day, with one tiny exception.
The phrase ‘Xbox On’ will not work in Australia on launch day. Literally everything else will work just fine. For some reason the ‘Xbox On’ command is only available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and German.
So good news! But also bizarre news! It’s so strange that only one simple phrase has been eliminated from select regions. Is it the way Australians say ‘on’? I’m sitting here trying to say the word ‘on’ in my best Australian accent and I can’t for the life of me see what the problem is!
Still, it’s great that voice functionality will be available here in Australia on day one.
Comments
49 responses to “Xbox One Voice Functionality Will Work For Australians (With One Caveat…)”
I for one am sick of all this censorship and having content cut from our games.
I’m more outraged that I’ve got to go to all the trouble of pushing a single button on a controller to turn a console on now.
pre-order cancelled.
To be honest, I find that to be less effort than saying “XBox On”.
yeah, same.
& i’ve always thought felt talking to random objects, especially if nobody else is around, is not something that i’d like doing….
Same here. I don’t even leave voice mail messages unless it’s a real emergency because I just feel like an idiot talking to an inanimate object. Although, unlike you, I actually find it worse if there ARE other people around 😛
I noticed the other night that i was singing to the toaster. I am not joking.
I’ve lived alone for far too long & i’m going a bit odd.
I just don’t think I need more encouragement to talk to random objects.
HAHAHA, that’s hilarious. I can imagine you answering the door in a paper robe and saying “hello Mr postman, it’s time for your bath” and then you start smearing his face with butter.
It really isn’t if you think about it. Walk in the door, say Xbox On while you go to take a leak. Or walk in the door, have to go to the controller and put it on, then go take a leak.
Or just take a leak first 😛
And unless you’re playing a shit Kinect game then you’re going to be picking up that controller anyway.
Yeh but it’s about the console being ready by the time you get to the room. I was just making the point that it is less effort if you actually utilize it.
I was pretty keen on the Tony Stark style moment of saying “Xbox On” and having my TV Turn on and switch HDMI channels via HDMI CEC.
So if I say ‘Xbox On’ with an English accent, will it work?
No, it only likes American accents.
They altered it so now instead of saying “Xbox On” you have to say “G’day Xbix”.
“OI! tuurn on ya kahhnt!”
Gold.
The best.
Reminds me of when Hyper used to caption Paaaaaanch da Caaaaant under everything.
Well with the current setup. punching it is the only way to turn it on.
This, oh God this.
Oh my god, I never knew I wanted this until right now.
my uneducated guess would be some legal crap imposed by australian law preventing devices from powering up by voice?
How bout a definitive answer as to why not? Seriously just badger the crap out of them until they explain it.
Probably because “Xbox On” and “Xbox One” sound very similar in many accents and they haven’t successfully tweaked the voice analysis for that command.
You mean I have to use my hands to turn it on? That’s like a babies toy
Actually, thinking about Back to the Future 2’s prediction that manually operated video games would be something for babies, it’s ironic that with motion controls being a reality in gaming now, motion controls are generally used for kids games.
I wonder if there will be voice command easter eggs, like “flamin Galah” causes red ring
If you Alf Stewart style tell it to “turn the bloody hell on ya flamin hooligan”
It’s doubly curious, especially considering Win8 has voice commands in UK/AU locale.
I really hope this is a regulatory issue. I hate the idea of having my voice activated equipment turned on by the the guy in the next apartment and vice versa.
Voice activation needs to be able to switch off when the device does, simply to avoid pain-in-the-arse complications.
Though I’d be surprised to find that our legislators might have thought ahead to such consequences and actually made it difficult to do…
New Zealand?
“Ixbux On”
haha i meant will any of the voice work at launch in NZ
The sad thing is I’m guessing we’ll have to suck it up and speak ‘strayian for it to work.
Eexbahx Ahn!
Sorry for the necro, but does your xbone have the turn on function yet?
I havent tried it to be honest
I was under the impression it didn’t work in AUS, I only change to US region to get the games cheap, but the voice commands then become unresponsive and I like to use Xbox record that allot, I found it wasn’t working properly under US.
If “Xbox, On” doesn’t work for Aussies, why not just change it to:
“Xbox, Start Ya Bastard!”
“Oi, exbawks! Start up, ya fuck!”
“Power Up ya flamin mongrel!”
What if they just fitted it with a pull-start, like a Victa?
Or have a pressure sensitive surface on the top of it so that it only turns on when you rest a beer on it.
Oh, wow… imagine the state-by-state regionalisation! Victorians will only be able to turn it on by resting a VB on the top… Queenslanders must use a XXXX… Not being a beer drinker myself, that’s all I can guess/remember of regionalisation, but ya get the idea.
And it calls your a poof when you put a foreign beer on it.
My TV has voice commands. I used it once, 10 minutes after taking it out of the box.
‘xbox on’ refused classification?
Well “ON” is Aussie sounds like “Ohn” whereas in American it’s more “awwn”… Maybe too different.
It wouldn’t be a problem with accents, it’d be some other regulatory issue.
But hang on, you can use “Xbox on” in the UK? How is our accent more difficult than the multitude of UK accents?
I didn’t realise that ‘German’ was a country…I wonder ‘y’?