Microsoft launches family timer for Xbox 360
by Jason Dobson 
{ Dec 4th 2007 at 9:00AM }
Interestingly, Microsoft notes that this feature came about as a result of two independent surveys conducted by the company throughout Europe and the United States, which included 800 parents in the US and some 4,000 parents in the U.K., France, Germany and Italy. According to the company, the surveys found that the majority of respondents (75% in Europe, 62% in the US) welcomed the idea of having such parental controls built into their game consoles, though it remains to be seen how many of said parents will actually take the time to implement and use the controls now that they are available.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
LilCo187 @ Dec 4th 2007 9:06AM
Hmmm...parents can't even monitor what their kids are even playing let along set up some Parental Timer on the console...or even know about one existing.
Scott @ Dec 4th 2007 9:50AM
I'm a parent. I'm aware of what my kids are playing and how long they are playing. I try to limit them to no more than an hour a day if they play at all (they don't play every day).
I also know how to use the timer. It is a nice addition. Sometimes I'll play a game with my son and lose track of how long we've been playing.
hvnlysoldr @ Dec 4th 2007 12:28PM
Obviously Scott should be exempt since he's actually a video game player himself, and the assumption is that parents who don't play or frequent this site will not know.
LilCo187 @ Dec 4th 2007 1:08PM
Congrats Scott, how's life in the minute minority of parenting treatin ya?
Gimbal @ Dec 4th 2007 9:08AM
Playstation controllers for a 360 article? Has Joystiq gone mainstream?
xXFenixKnightXx @ Dec 4th 2007 9:18AM
I frown upon that picture >:(
ThornedVenom @ Dec 4th 2007 9:23AM
Lazy photoshopping skills.
B1gC72 @ Dec 4th 2007 5:28PM
picture looks good to me! reminds me of my younger days...
Lekko @ Dec 5th 2007 5:09AM
No, somehow the 360 is now somehow able to limit the amount of PS1 your children play.
Yes: It's that powerful.
Nguyen @ Dec 4th 2007 9:09AM
Geez, I wonder how long before we hear some neglectful parent going: "But I only set the xbox for him to play for 1 hour everyday while I go shopping! I don't understand how he could've gone and shot up the school like that!"
Nguyen @ Dec 4th 2007 9:10AM
damn you gimbal! I was going to point that out!
FrankTheCrank @ Dec 4th 2007 9:16AM
That picture is priceless.
The smile on the kid on the right...precious.
samfish @ Dec 4th 2007 9:19AM
He's happy because he doesn't have to use one of those awful, misshapen Playstation controllers.
Speddy @ Dec 4th 2007 9:32AM
Nah. He's smiling 'cause he approves of your SamFish Avatar!
ejordan @ Dec 4th 2007 9:35AM
The kid on the right doesn't yet understand video games. That's why his expression still has a soul.
dan stabbingworth @ Dec 4th 2007 10:13AM
Eh, I'd be smiling if I was playing a PSone. Besides the SNES, the PSone had some of the greatest RPGs ever.
eugene @ Dec 4th 2007 9:20AM
I don't understand all these parental controls... don't parents actually... you know... PARENT kids anymore?
dan stabbingworth @ Dec 4th 2007 10:14AM
Seriously, raising a kid costs lots of money and parents have to work. And they can't follow a kid around all day keeping check on every thing they do.
Vidikron (FU) @ Dec 4th 2007 10:20AM
Wouldn't this count as parenting? I see no reason why a parent should stand over a kid's shoulder while they play game or sit around with a timer in hand. Tell the kids how much time/day they have and make them responsible for budgeting the time out accordingly.
eugene @ Dec 4th 2007 10:20AM
who's talking about every little thing? How about keeping the tv/game in the living room so the parent can watch and hear what the kids are playing?
Dash @ Dec 4th 2007 9:20AM
My question: How does a non-gamer parent even know about about a update? Or what stops the kid from changing it himself, even putting a password before then?
And you know, instead of using a videogame to time your children, there's something called "educating". Because even if your X-Box cuts off Viva Piñata, the kid can fall back to tv, pc games, internet porn, violent DVDs, drugs, gamble or joining a gang. So parents, don't trust the life of your kids to a videogame. Try, you know, "parenting" for a change.
merf1350 @ Dec 4th 2007 9:42AM
Gamers parents of the world, do sexual content and foul language in games really make them cool? Of course they do. How 'bout committing crimes and violence? Again, the answer is "yes." But do we really want our kids exposed to that kind of fun in games? I say absolutely not! Uh...on the other hand, most - perhaps all the blame rests with the parents. That's right, you! Have you ever just tried turning off the games, sitting down with your kids, and beating them?
Dr. S @ Dec 4th 2007 10:19AM
I salute you sir.
Dash @ Dec 4th 2007 2:25PM
Since there are a lot of parents here, and some might misunderstand the comment and be offended, I want to make a note to my comment:
I (and likely most here) am not saying a parent that uses the timer is a "bad parent". Far from it, it shows that you care about your children and that you're trying to teach then to balance their time between games and others activities.
But the major problem that I see is the one I tried to mention above. Is that this features cuts access to the X-Box 360, but most likely when that happens the child will just watch TV or just play PC games, which is almost the same. It doesn't offer a complete solution. As long as a child is not stimulated to do a different activity, the cicle will go on.
So we're not against timer controls or other tools here. I just think that I want see more actions that help to "add activities" than just the ones that "cuts gamimg". A kid plays Guitar Hero/Rock Band 8 hours a day? Instead of a feature to stop him after 2 hours, I would like to see something to encourage him to learn the real instruments or go to music course. Books, sports, arts, those are things that a child should also be doing, and games can even help encourage then.
So parents, don't feel offended by the comments here. Know we suport you, and that we believe there is a proper time for everything, including games. We just want see features that are more useful than Microsoft "marketing strategy" timers and friend codes.
thomas logic @ Dec 4th 2007 9:21AM
Yeah like parents give a crap. They want the kid to grow up without a soul so they can keep killing as adults. Get with it MS, lame.
samfish @ Dec 4th 2007 9:32AM
Damn right! That's why my parents kept me in the cellar when I was growing up – because they wanted me to grow up to be a soulless killing machine.
Now if you'll excuse me, there's an orphanage with children in it down the street who aren't DEAD yet.
S-LAH-ziman (B-B-BRUSHED WITH FAAAAME) @ Dec 4th 2007 11:27AM
At least your cellar had pink and white tiles; mine was made of rotten wood.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to orchestrate a train wreck into an orphanage made of bunnies.
ThornedVenom @ Dec 4th 2007 9:25AM
Nice feature. But it'd be blindly idealistic to believe that all parents are tech-savvy enough to configurate this.
Logic Bus @ Dec 4th 2007 9:28AM
Isn't it Robbie Bach?
Wales @ Dec 4th 2007 9:31AM
Already setting the timers on my two Xbox's now. I welcome the feature and have been looking forward to it for some time. I kinda wish the Wii had the same feature but it pretty much just collects dust anyway.
xXFenixKnightXx @ Dec 4th 2007 9:46AM
ZING!!
hvnlysoldr @ Dec 4th 2007 12:49PM
The irony is that Iwata did want to have that feature but decided it would alienate parents and gamers too much as well as too dificult to implement.
umm....hello??? @ Dec 4th 2007 1:13PM
although the Wii doesn't have a timer, it DOES have a calendar which tells you what games were played and how long they were played, as well as what "channels" you used (weather, Mii. shopping, etc) and the duration used. So you CAN check up on your child's activities on the Wii.
Lekko @ Dec 5th 2007 4:00PM
It would be funnier if it just got less and less sensitive after a set amount of time, making you flail harder and harder until you just give up completely.
Good exercise.
Imadogg @ Dec 5th 2007 7:12AM
"It would be funnier if it just got less and less sensitive after a set amount of time, making you flail harder and harder until you just give up completely.
Good exercise."
LMAO INCREDIBLE IDEA!
Raynre @ Dec 4th 2007 9:52AM
See that kid on the right? He'll grow up to be a normal, healthy, functioning member of society. The other two? Worst high school shooting in history circa 2012.
CNN told me so.
Night Elve @ Dec 4th 2007 9:58AM
+1
Soap for you Sir!
wolfpackee @ Dec 4th 2007 9:53AM
I haven't played with the update yet. Are the parental controls applied globally across all the Live and local account or can you set the controls for each account?
XanthouS @ Dec 4th 2007 9:55AM
If every consumer set their parental limit to 45 minutes a day this would virtually eliminate the RRoD plague.
No more swapping systems every three months.
Do your part to help M$'s bottom line.
Jtenma @ Dec 4th 2007 10:03AM
Your asking for it...
Aren't you...?
S-LAH-ziman (B-B-BRUSHED WITH FAAAAME) @ Dec 4th 2007 11:29AM
I see half a heart in your future.
hvnlysoldr @ Dec 4th 2007 12:50PM
Well that was a half-hearted reply.
Imadogg @ Dec 5th 2007 7:10AM
That was actually pretty smart
Stanmash @ Dec 4th 2007 10:05AM
SONY covert operation codenamed: Family Timer. Infiltrate Microsoft and install program to boot kids off of Xbox, forcing them to play on the PS. (Successful covert operative seen at right in photo.)
gevenstaines @ Dec 4th 2007 10:06AM
aww, whut a kyuut pic!
0ldb0y @ Dec 4th 2007 10:10AM
If you don't use up the allotted time this week, can you rollover minutes to the following week?
Batzarro @ Dec 4th 2007 11:04AM
Daddy: Son, I heard this machine has a "parental control" for controlling the time you can play...
Jimmy: Yeah...
Daddy: As a responsible parent, I am obliged to limit your game time.
Jimmy: Well, all you have to do is...
Daddy: Hold it, squirt! You think you old man is stupid?I know you'll try to fool me, because I don't understand you "X-pox 60's" games. Now, I saw this on TV...(picks up Wiimote, talks into it) Jimmy can only play 3 hours a day, and notafter 9:00!(walks away)
Ethan @ Dec 4th 2007 5:26PM
Better than 90% of webcomics.
My parents were very harsh with the one-hour rule, but they sort of understood games, so they'd tell me when I had ten minutes left so I could find a save point.
And kids totally look like that when they're watching cartoons too.
xyrth @ Dec 4th 2007 1:14PM
It's pretty worthless, especially for parents that game as well as their kids ... or families with multiples kids. I had high hopes for this feature, and it's terrible, feels tacked on, and i get more functionality out of my egg timer set next to the tv.
Anybody who doesn't have kids, or doesn't remember being a kid can pretty much shut up about bad parenting through a timer -- my 11 yo wakes up @ 2am to play halo 3, he'll sneak home from a friends to play portal ... he's devious, and cunning to get any game time he can in, and i was the same way when i was 11. A control at the console that daily per user playtime is what i expected, and i get this.
meh.
t_m @ Dec 4th 2007 11:22AM
These are the same parents in the same survey who said they didn't understand the ratings system... despite it being exctly the same as for movies, clearly marked and explained on the box, and blatantly frikkin obvious.
I'd be amazed if any of them are able to figure out a family timer, if they can't work out what an big red 18+ sign on the box means.
(still, i think its a good idea in general)