Gamestyle

Xbox 360 Family Timer launched

4th December 2007
Source: GamesPress.com


In a move as likely to infuriate teenagers and relieve parents worldwide, Microsoft has today launched the Xbox 360 Family Timer, letting parents control how long their little happy-slappers smack-talk people while shooting them in the face both off- and online.

Rather more elaborate than similar third-party solutions released over the years that cut off a console's power after a set period, this addition to the 360 system is programmable, and rations how much the gamer plays per day or week.

Despite a raft of figures from Microsoft suggesting how important such a feature is to parents, initiatives such as parental-control levels on entertainment systems rarely seem to set the world alight. It's unlikely that a parent who has to physically cut off their child's gaming on a daily basis rather than cajole them into it traditionally would find excessive gaming to be the worst of their problems.
Still, for those who don't want their kids blowing their summer holiday next year beating hookers in GTA IV rather than going outside and robbing the elderly will be able to activate the Family Timer from today.


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