Parents Master the Controls: Games Industry Launches Video Series
Sydney, 8 December 2010 – The Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (iGEA) has today released a series of ‘How to set-up Parental Controls’ videos to help parents manage healthy video gaming habits for their children.
The videos, hosted by iGEA ambassador and sports presenter Stephanie Brantz and Auckland journalist Kate Palmer, both of whom have three children, provide step-by-step instructions to show parents how to activate parental control features on popular gaming consoles, including the Sony Playstation, Microsoft XBOX, Nintendo Wii and a PC.
According to Brantz, who is also a mother of three, using the parental control features gives her the confidence that her children are playing age appropriate games for a right amount of time.
“The parental control features in these devices are a fantastic tool to help parents balance the amount of time children spend playing video games and other activities. Parents can also use the password-protected controls to ensure their child only has access to age-appropriate games, whether it’s rated G, PG, M or MA15+,” said Brantz.
The videos are released in response to a Newspoll study* commissioned by the iGEA in December 2009 which revealed many Australian parents were unaware of the parental controls built into popular console gaming devices.
According to Ron Curry, CEO of iGEA, “Only 26 per cent of parents were aware of controls within most consoles to help manage the amount of time their children spent playing games. A further 49 per cent of parents were also not aware of classification locks.”
“As interactive games are a popular past-time for the entire family, and particularly in the lead up to Christmas, we wanted to develop a series of videos to help raise the awareness of parental control tools amongst parents to give them the confidence to manage the game play in their house,” said Curry.
The iGEA recommends five tips to help parents mange their child’s gaming habits:
- Play with your children
- Put the gaming console in a common area – like the lounge room
- Check gaming classifications
- Set a time limit
- Set up parental controls
The videos are available online from the iGEA Channel on YouTube
-ENDS-
* Newspoll research was conducted nationally involving 535 adults with dependent children aged up to 17 in the household. The research was conducted over the period 12 – 15 of November 2009.
About the iGEA
The Interactive Gaming & Entertainment Association proactively represents companies that publish, market and/or distribute interactive games and entertainment content. The iGEA aims to further advance the industry and the business interests of its members through informing and fostering relationships with the public, the business community, government and other industry stakeholders. The iGEA is administered by a Board of Directors and supported by the CEO, Ron Curry. The iGEA was formerly known as the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA).
For more information, please visit www.igea.net.
Media Contact
Grace Gabriel
Espresso Communications
Mob: 0431 528 127
Email: grace@espressocomms.com.au