A Parent’s Guide to Video Games – Parental Controls

Parents now have additional management tools once computer games are brought into their homes.

Major game console developers (Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo) all offer parental control tools in their new gaming systems. For example, the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii consoles allow parents to enter the Australian Government classification level that they believe is acceptable for their children. Once they do so, no game above that level can be played on the console. Classified games contain embedded metadata “flags,” or a string of code in the software, that allow the consoles to automatically recognise the game’s rating.

X360 allows you to limit the time your children play.  Personal computers using the new Microsoft Windows Vista operating platform have the same screening capabilities as these stand-alone gaming consoles. For example, parents can set the classification threshold on their child’s video game console or personal computer to PG for pre-teens and then no games rated M or MA15+ can be played on the console (or PC) unless the parent first enters a password.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 console and PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld gaming system work a little differently. Both Sony gaming products let parents use a 1-11 scale to determine the level of game content.

To watch the videos’ on how to set them up, click here