Microsoft launches family timer for Xbox 360

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.

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.

Congrats Scott, how's life in the minute minority of parenting treatin ya?

I frown upon that picture >:(

Lazy photoshopping skills.

picture looks good to me! reminds me of my younger days...

No, somehow the 360 is now somehow able to limit the amount of PS1 your children play.

Yes: It's that powerful.

He's happy because he doesn't have to use one of those awful, misshapen Playstation controllers.

Nah. He's smiling 'cause he approves of your SamFish Avatar!

The kid on the right doesn't yet understand video games. That's why his expression still has a soul.

Eh, I'd be smiling if I was playing a PSone. Besides the SNES, the PSone had some of the greatest RPGs ever.

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.

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.

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?

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?

I salute you sir.

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.

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.

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.

ZING!!

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.

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.

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.

"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!

+1

Soap for you Sir!

Your asking for it...



Aren't you...?

I see half a heart in your future.

Well that was a half-hearted reply.

That was actually pretty smart

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.