Microsoft adding Family Timer to Xbox 360

29 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Nov 7th 2007 11:59AM
Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

The rumor becomes reality as Microsoft announced today the addition of a parental control timer to the Xbox 360. Robbie Bach, president of MS's entertainment and devices division, confirmed the new feature, dubbed the "Family Timer." Bach says that as the customer base broadens, the demand for these types of options does too.

The timer can be set to limit playtime on "a daily or weekly basis, and turns off the console when the time limit is reached." Microsoft says that 90% of parents have a restriction on video game time and this will allow them to enforce their wills without prejudice. Now if we can only get research on how many parents will actually know how to use the timer (and remember their passwords eight months later).

Additional information can be found on Xbox.com.

Tags: parentalcontrol, parentalcontroltimer, timer, xbox360

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Dreamcicle: Nov 7th 2007; 12:09PM

5 minutes after this photo was taken the timer activated and the kid punched his mom.

HineyWipe: Nov 7th 2007; 12:40PM

"Honey, the timer kicked on, grab the Cialis, and junior, off to your bed for you!"

Foggy Bottoms: Nov 7th 2007; 3:57PM

5 seconds after the mom covered the dad's eyes he punched her in the face

gonk: Nov 7th 2007; 12:11PM

so is this going to be in the fall update? is the update going to get here before winter?

Scott: Nov 7th 2007; 12:38PM

The announcement doesn't mention this as being part of the Fall Update. Just a download in December. Who knows. MS is super-secretive about when the Fall/Spring Update comes out and what is in it because they don't want people to get pissed if they miss a date or a feature has to be cut.

reconflux: Nov 7th 2007; 12:18PM

now people can punch their mothers everywhere!

reconflux: Nov 7th 2007; 12:19PM

@Dreamcicle

aww you beat me to it!

Dreamcicle: Nov 7th 2007; 12:22PM

Sorry. The second I saw the picture it popped into my head.

It had to be done.

Synner: Nov 7th 2007; 12:22PM

no this ensures the mother is safely out of reach when the timer goes off. Gives her time to arm herself.

Zertoss: Nov 7th 2007; 12:24PM

She's not doing a very good job of that in the pic. Looks like she's about to get smacked by her husband, who has taken a thumbless approach to playing the 360, for messing him up.

Dreamcicle: Nov 7th 2007; 12:25PM

With an AK that she learned to use through the murder simulators right?

Synner: Nov 7th 2007; 12:29PM

I was thinking more with the phone she has 911 on speed dial, Didn't you read about that last week?

Quix: Nov 7th 2007; 12:39PM

Any way to set the timer to expire after X number of headshots or chainsaw decapitations? Because, you know, parents need to control the amount of blood splatter little Johnny is exposed to on a daily basis.

"Sorry Johnny - you've reached your slaughter brutality limit for the day. See you tomorrow!"

WiNG: Nov 7th 2007; 12:43PM

I wonder if it warns you when it's going to turn off.

I know it's not the same system, but if my Wii turned off right before I stepped on a save point in Metroid Prime, and I was 1 hour past the last one, I would probably punch the first thing with a face that talked to me.

Scott: Nov 7th 2007; 12:54PM

Yes, the press release says, "Helpful notifications will appear to warn the gamer that the session is nearing the end, and the feature will automatically turn off the console when the predetermined time limit has been exceeded."

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School): Nov 7th 2007; 1:05PM

It would be nice to program a 3 minute grace period, just to give time for that saving.

Not that it matters, as I don't have children, nor am I a child.

CaptNink: Nov 7th 2007; 4:22PM

"I would probably punch the first thing with a face that talked to me."

ROFL! Loved that one!

mr mobius: Nov 7th 2007; 12:59PM

Now little Johnny can go to bed early so Mum and Dad can then have some of their own kinky fun. It does appear as if the Mum is up for anything in that photo and the Dad appears to be enjoying it, so only one thing they'll do as soon as little Johnny goes to his bed - make a little Timmy or Tabitha.

baby sea tuna: Nov 7th 2007; 1:07PM

What a bizarre comment.

Batzarro: Nov 7th 2007; 1:13PM

I'm sure kids won't be able to bypass it. They're stupid.(sarcasm shuldn't be warned, BUT...)

mr mobius: Nov 7th 2007; 1:29PM

Yea. In most cases the 12 yr old playing Halo has better knowledge of the X Box than his mother who barely knows how to switch on her Nintendo DS to play Brain Training.

FK: Nov 7th 2007; 1:44PM

I would be just thrilled if my wife came up behind me and covered my eyes while playing my 360. Just thrilled.

elmersglue: Nov 7th 2007; 2:46PM

Believe it or not, i'd probably use this for myself, just so I can be like, alright im gonna play for a max of 2 hours today. Then it'll stop me after 2 hours and i'll know that its time for me to do other things with my life. I tend to get carried away when i play, then i realize the sun is down and i feel depressed for letting my time fly like that.

zero: Nov 7th 2007; 2:49PM

I almost wish I had kids now so I could use this. I think it's a great feature for tech savvy parents. Just because you as a parent aren't around, doesn't mean that your rules aren't still rules.

Beano: Nov 7th 2007; 2:51PM

The guy in the green shirt is not little Johnny's dad and mom knows about it. She is covering dad's eyes to prevent him from noticing that little Johnny doesn't look at all like him.

WiNG: Nov 7th 2007; 3:02PM

she is punishing his cheating by letting him get pwned by Johnny in a deathmatch.

Matt Sulivan: Nov 7th 2007; 3:19PM

considering i learned at an early age that my father's password to everything was either the last 4 digits of our phone number, or when it would allow the word "password", i don't think this would have been very useful for us.

of course, that was back in the 80's, there were very few cases of little Jimmy punching mom in the kisser, and if he was it was probably because mom was beating him with a big wooden spoon.

but still, i doubt this is going to be very effective - as i said, what little kid hasn't figured out his parent's password to everything?

Tom: Nov 7th 2007; 3:35PM

Responsibility Unlocked!

Slaziman: Nov 7th 2007; 3:41PM

Oh noes!! I'm doomed if mommy finds out! :(

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