Microsoft confirms new Xbox 360 Parent Tools

Sorry kiddies, your days of unlimited 360 playtime -- which seem primarily dedicated to screaming pre-pubescently into your headset while you trash us in Halo 3 -- are numbered. As rumored, Microsoft is unveiling new a new Xbox 360 Family Timer control for concerned parents that allows them to limit console time on a per-day or per-week basis. The child will be notified when they're play time is nearing an end, and the console will shut off once the limit is hit. The timer will be available in December as a download on Xbox LIVE. Microsoft is also teaming up with the Parent Teacher Association and Jerry Rice to raise awareness and plug "PACT," a family contract meant to get kids and parents talking about video game limits.

[Sg. Grant @ Nov 7th 2007 10:28AM]

i spy a milf in that photo

[michas_pi @ Nov 7th 2007 10:43AM]

I don't.

[michas_pi @ Nov 7th 2007 10:44AM]

Oh wait, now I see it. Yessir, that is a milf.

[Raymond @ Nov 7th 2007 4:04PM]

Too late michas.

[a.sintic @ Nov 7th 2007 10:29AM]

Great idea but knowing kids, they'll figure out a way around it real quick.

[JAmerican @ Nov 7th 2007 10:32AM]

That is true. Not all parents are tech savvy. ;)

[Ahmed Alzayani @ Nov 7th 2007 11:07AM]

Change the time…reset the password …. Simple Google search. … Kids will figure it out fast …. Safe your time Microsoft

[ToonPac @ Nov 30th 2007 6:53AM]

Or don't sign up with a child account? And if you do have one, make your own parent account instead of asking your real parents?

[JAmerican @ Nov 7th 2007 10:31AM]

Thank god I am an adult now and buy my own systems. Imagine if something like this was implemented since Super Nintendo. LOL. It would have been painful. LOL.

[blade417 @ Nov 7th 2007 10:33AM]

Quick!!!

Delete this topic before my wife finds out!!

Hurry!

:0

[Ray-- @ Nov 7th 2007 10:54AM]

LOL how true! I think this feature will be used more by wifes than moms!

[HineyWipe @ Nov 7th 2007 10:37AM]

I see what you are pushing there, Microsoft. Parent Tools. Yeah, parent's are tools to the clever kids.

[John @ Nov 7th 2007 10:47AM]

Because for parents, it's so hard to just stop the kids themselves.

[Jéssica de la Portilla Montaño @ Nov 7th 2007 10:50AM]

God I cannot believe that! I still miss my old NES and my Super Mario Bros :D

*Gina Halliwell*
www.TodoMePasa.com

[jc @ Nov 7th 2007 10:52AM]

I think this would be awsome except for the fact most parents are not going to be aware of this feature since most probably do not know enough about the xbox to implament this, nor will they be informed of said feature. But it would be nice not to have so many spazzed out little kids on XBL. I read a good thread on XBOX forums were someone suggested having a one XBL for 18 and over and one for minors. I would be willing to pay more for something like this, since I do not enjoy having a 6 year old yell racial slurs at me constantly during Halo3. AND NO THE FEED BACK SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK!!!

[blade417 @ Nov 7th 2007 11:02AM]

I agree completely. I believe you should have to have a developed adam's apple before you can have voice communication privileges on live.

[James @ Nov 7th 2007 11:25AM]

You know something. That is a spot on brilliant IDEA!!! Seriously, I would pay a premium to play in an XBOX live environment free from 8 year old trolls. I don't own a 360 (the live experience from XBOX was enough to make me cancel my subscription), but if you could set up private games that allow only adults in, I would easily sign back up to play.

but .. then again.. age isn't always a strong indicator of maturity.

[ghost @ Nov 7th 2007 10:59AM]

Sometimes a proofreader comes in handy:

"The child will be notified when they're play time..."

You should have used "their" not "they're". tss tss

[rzlmlchm009 @ Nov 7th 2007 12:19PM]

You should have used tsk tsk, but who's noticing ;)

[joey @ Nov 7th 2007 1:09PM]

who gives a fuck

[Serengeti @ Nov 7th 2007 1:33PM]

I give a fuck. It drives me nuts that there are still people that don't know what contracted words are, or the difference between "they're," "there," and "their."

It's fucking grade 3, guys.

PS: Sorry. My pure rage on this issue has been building up for the last few months. But to answer your question, joey, I give a fuck, and so does whoever Ghost is. I'm pretty sure there are others.

[SteveJ @ Nov 7th 2007 11:09AM]

They've had this since the beginning: red ring of death

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 7th 2007 11:15AM]

But now it's a feature.

[rv @ Nov 7th 2007 11:38AM]

I though rrod was a feature?

lol j/k

[joey @ Nov 7th 2007 1:08PM]

This is a cover up, they just found out a way to control the red ring of death on a timer. jk

[Justin @ Nov 7th 2007 11:11AM]

The console just shuts off when the time limit hits? Nah, that's not at all a good way to handle this. Kids will be pissy enough that their time is limited, but if you then happen to negate a bunch of unsaved work because he reached an arbitrary time limit, that would be too much.

[insertAlias @ Nov 7th 2007 12:04PM]

"The child will be notified when they're play time is nearing an end..."

How else would you handle it?

[Justin @ Nov 7th 2007 12:16PM]

It has a hard drive. Save the gamestate just like you can with an emulator.

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 7th 2007 11:14AM]

I could have swore the title was "Microsoft confirms new Xbox 360 Patent Trolls"

[paragraph @ Nov 7th 2007 11:15AM]

well, since there arn't any specs on this yet, i do see a few workarounds possible.

First and foremost, just don't plug in to XBL, i don't have my XB plugged in 24/7 since i have a cable and i don't like having it run across the floor.

Secondly, if this is a per-logon thing, why not just log out? or use a second login?

And Finally, what about just backing up your saves to memory sticks and popping the hard drive off? No program means no timer... end of discussion (unless it's a real patch to the firmware, then kiddies, u is fuxx'd)

[blade417 @ Nov 7th 2007 2:12PM]

"u is fuxx'd"

LOL!!!

[Jons @ Nov 7th 2007 11:18AM]

haha, that picture along with the headline is just so hilarous, love it!

[anonymouspimp @ Nov 7th 2007 11:18AM]

Here's an idea. Act like a parent and TELL your little brat to stop playing the console. Why the hell would you need an automatic timer? I guess I just don't see how the game automatically turning off in the middle of a game is going to make things easier for the parent.

"You can play the damn xbox for two hours, then it's bed time." See how that works? And if they won't listen to you, you screwed up somewhere along the line.

[Mike Holzapfel @ Nov 7th 2007 11:52AM]

Thank you! I hate how parents are afraid to tell their kids what to do.

who gives a sh*t if little Johny yells about playin Xbox. If your a parent, act like one.

[LC @ Nov 7th 2007 12:00PM]

Spoken like someone who has no idea what it is like to be a parent. Even the best parents on the planet have rebellious kids from time to time. Does every kid you know listen and obey everything their parents say 24/7? This is a far better alternative for the kid than the parent getting rid of the 360 altogether.

Then again I don't know what MS was thinking. Giving a parent the option to set a time limiter on their Xbox? We all know that it's the governments job to parent kids, not the parents job.

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 7th 2007 12:07PM]

You know, when I was rebellious, I couldn't sit for hours... I quickly learned that my parents always had the last word.

[LC @ Nov 7th 2007 12:18PM]

Sure there is always that, but it is also good to have options.

I don't see why some are getting bent out of shape about this. It's like getting upset over a v-chip. Both put the responsibility in the parents hand and not some legislators. What is so wrong with a parent having software shut the system down instead of pulling the plug? How is it affecting those of you who don't like or won't use the feature?

[sharpski @ Nov 7th 2007 1:10PM]

++ to LC, kids test boundaries, parenting is setting those boundaries.

This is great, especially if they're including a "x hours per week" feature. If I'm not in the same room as him, I don't have to watch the clock to go in and turn it off, or have a debate about "let me finish this level." He gets an automatic warning that time's almost up, save while you can, then click, it's done. I'm still parenting by setting the limits, but it's one less instance where I have to be the bad cop (I play that role enough).

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 7th 2007 1:05PM]

The problem comes when parent start blaming the v-Chip and/or Microsoft for the kid being able to circumvent the protection and parents relying on the technology for control instead of properly raising the kid to respect other's input and opinions. Using this technology for control basically makes you ignore your kids emotional upbringing by "anonymizing" it. When you just let your kid be rebellious and stomp off into their room they think that it's OK as long as nobody is around or paying attention to them. You've heard of: "It's only illegal if you get caught" There's a reason that comes into play.

[LC @ Nov 7th 2007 1:14PM]

"The problem comes when parent start blaming the v-Chip and/or Microsoft for the kid being able to circumvent the protection and parents relying on the technology for control instead of properly raising the kid to respect other's input and opinions."

That is a valid point and any parent who relies solely on technology to be used to babysit their children are misusing it. This limiter isn't supposed to be used in place of good parenting, but rather to supplement it. As it is now if ones child is told to limit his time on the Xbox and does not listen, the parent would then disconnect the Xbox and lock it in a closet, but what happens when they have more than one child and that other child is well behaved, does their homework and gets good grades? Why should they be punished for the other childs misdeeds?

I have some friends who are good parents that have 3 kids and one of them just plain misbehaves. They did not raise this child any different than the others. If a time limit can be set per user account, then that just ads one more tool in the arsenal of parents to punish them. If the child continues to misbehave, then their user account can be cancelled outright.

Kids like to push buttons and test their parents limits. Parents cannot monitor their kids 24/7, which is why they have help whether it be vchips, parental internet controls, or even locks on the liquor cabinet.

[SteveJ @ Nov 7th 2007 11:21AM]

Voice communication should have the option to be invite only. I don't have an Xbox 360 (only a DS, PS2 and Gamecube), but if they have something like friend codes, why not have the option to limit voice chat to those you've specifically choosen to allow to talk to you? I.e. you can opt to let anyone play, but only certain people chat.

[Liderc @ Nov 7th 2007 12:29PM]

"The child will be notified when they're play time is nearing an end, and the console will shut off once the limit is hit."

Ummm... I may be missing it, but what is stopping the kids from just turning the damn thing back on?

[joey @ Nov 7th 2007 1:08PM]

It will stay off

[sharpski @ Nov 7th 2007 1:19PM]

I hope not, what happens when I want to play instead of my son? I'm betting it will turn back on, just not allow the child's profile to sign in. I think he'll get tired of playing "Xbox Dashboard" quick enough.

[KC @ Nov 7th 2007 1:30PM]

@Joey, how does this work? Only for enabling the timer for games? What if you wanted to watch a HD-DVD or enjoy some streamed content after the has "used his quota"? The box will stay off?

This would be terrible. Then all the xbox fanbois will just come on the internet and troll when their playtime is up...

[Jared @ Nov 7th 2007 12:41PM]

I can see children hiring a hitman for parents enabling this feature.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/05/boy-hires-hitman-to-kill-parents-after-being-denied-playstation/

[Boynamedsue @ Nov 7th 2007 1:36PM]

kids are gonna be pissed when the console is daily signing them out of ranked matches and destroying their stats.

[Greg Baz @ Nov 7th 2007 2:27PM]

I was just flipping through the WalMart Holiday Whish Guide I got on friday when I tried to get the $99 HD DVD player. On page 36 it makes 4 referances to the "Family Settings Features" - Use the Family Settings feature to help control what your kids play and watch. Opps I was a few days behing on discovering this.

[James @ Nov 7th 2007 3:52PM]

Here's my understanding: your console has accounts, right? You probably have it defaulted to sign in with your gamertag and that's that, but you can have multiple accounts per console. Well, the "daddy" account sets parental controls, and specifies settings for the limited "child" accounts, including what ratings they're allowed to play (I think that's already implemented), and now apparently how much time per day/week/month they get. It seems like a good system to me -- my kid is only 2, but when they get a little bigger, I'd rather have the system cut them off automatically than to have to stop what I'm doing, note what time they start playing, then remind myself to cut them off when time is up. The automated way just seems better.


Now, the problems. First, there *was* a bug where a child account, once created, is a child account forever, even when the kid turns 18. I don't know if that's fixed yet, but if I had a 14-year-old I'd insist it were before I made them a child account to take advantage of this system. Second, Gold status is per account, not per console, which means that if my 'daddy' account is Gold, I have to choose between letting my kid play online (are there any online titles that are OK for kids? I guess like Uno or something?) logged in under my account, or having the parental controls work. They really need to figure out some way of letting us link multiple "family" accounts to one Gold membership. I'm sure as hell not paying an extra 50 bucks a year to have a Gold account with functioning parental controls.


That said, I'm glad they did this -- it's a step in the right direction.

[Nelson @ Nov 8th 2007 11:39PM]

Just as parent friendly as the Wii, its more like the Wii #2.