How to Set Parental Controls in Games

It’s unanimous. All three major console game makers plan to institute parental controls in their next generation machines. So far, only Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has hit the market, but both Sony and Nintendo say that they too will offer parental controls when their systems are released.

Here are the specifics for Xbox 360. We’ll have more on other manufacturer’s controls as they become available. The Xbox 360 controls allow parents to restrict what games family members can play based on game ratings. Support for game ratings is applied world-wide, and in North America, these ratings come from the Entertainment  Software Rating Board (www.esrb.org). Xbox 360, which is the only console so far to specify exactly how the controls work, offers the ability to restrict three types of media: games on optical discs, online games through Xbox Live and DVD movies played through the Xbox.

You can set controls by using the remote control to go to the “Family Settings” option of the system menu where you can chose between Console Controls and  Xbox Live controls. In the console area you can specify the acceptable ratings for the games you want your child to be able to play ranging from the most restrictive “EC” rating for “early childhood” appropriate games to “”Allow All Games.”  While the ESRB does have an “AO – adult only” rating, Microsoft policy prohibits games with an AO rating on their platforms.  Then you can go to the “DVD Movie Ratings” section to restrict the types of DVD movies that can be played based on the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings which are R, PG-13, PG, or G-rated. The system allows you to set a pass code that will ensure that others in the family can’t change the settings. And, of course, you can turn off family settings if they’re not necessarily in your home. More information about setting console controls can be found on this page of the Xbox website.

There are also controls for Xbox Live, Microsoft’s online gaming service that allows you to play games and download games and content from an Internet-connected console. You can get to the Xbox Live controls from the System menu. Before anyone can use Xbox live, they need to set up a “gamer profile.” The system will ask the member’s age to determine whether to institute controls. Parents can further control a child’s access to the service including the ability to manage approval of a child’s “online friends” and who they can communicate with using the chat messages, game invites via voice, video, or text. You can also determine whether your child will see other gamers’ profiles and who, if anyone, can see your child’s profile or whether your child is online. You can block all access to your child’s profile or restrict it to “friends only.” You can also optionally block your child from playing interactive online games with others and you can control their access to content created by other members.

The next version of Windows, Windows Vista, becomes available late this year and will include parental controls that you can use to limit which games your child plays. Parents can control which games their children play, based on the game’s rating, content, or title. Parents will also be able to control what times of the day their children can use the computer as well as what content they can browse on the web or what applications they can run. Until Vista is released, parents can purchase third party control software that limits what children can do on a Windows XP PC. Also, many online PC game companies offer their own controls as do some makers of PC games. Check with the game publisher for details.