New York State will issue emergency alerts via Xbox Live

According to a report by InformationWeek, the state of New York is in the planning stages of a revamped emergency broadcast system capable of sending alerts to Xbox Live (and presumably other console online services) in the event of a natural disaster, terrorist attack or other not-so-good event. The state's deputy chief information officer says the idea makes sense "considering the amount of time our youth spend on video games."

No specifics of how the system would actually work were provided, but we'd hope those who heed the warnings would get Achievement points for doing so. After all, it'd mean taking precious time away from griefing other players in Modern Warfare 2.

[Thanks, Nick!]