Gamertell

Ah, Thanksgiving - one of the greatest American holidays. Time to stuff oneself, watch football, catch up with family, and plot Black Friday strategies. For a lot of gamers, it’s also time to use the long weekend to catch up on some fall gaming - our busiest season of all, of course. But just because you’re surrounded by the warm and/or dysfunctional glow of family doesn’t mean you can’t have your games and family time too. Nowadays, it’s easy to mix the two, and if you play your cards right, it’s as natural as chocolate and peanut butter. Here are a few tips to keep your family gaming happy and “incident” free.

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During Comic Con 2008, many games and comics were featured. And who wouldn’t want to attend a special preview of today’s most talented directors and animators create independent film masterpieces. The Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival consisted of movies that fell into seven categories: action/adventure, animation, comics-oriented, documentary, humor/parody, horror and science fiction/fantasy. On July 27, 2008, the top films in each category were announced and awarded.

This year’s Comic-Con International: Independent Film Festival are…

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It has always been challenging for parents to control the outside influences that might be warping the minds of their children. The game industry is no exception as media, parents and even the United States Senate have blacklisted a number of game titles over the years.

None of this has however stopped most children from getting their hands on the latest shooter or GTA style game as there are a number of outside sources for kids to test drive adult oriented games.

To better educate parents, the US non-partisan research and information group, National Institute on Media and the Family, has released its 12th Annual Media Wise Video Game Report Card, focusing on efforts to educate parents and retailers about M rated games, and why kids shouldn’t be playing them.

The top ten games that made their “Naughty” list this year are:

1. Assassin’s Creed
2. Call of Duty 4
3. Conan
4. The Darkness
5. Jericho
6. Kane and Lynch: Dead Men
7. Manhunt 2
8. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
9. Stranglehold
10. Time Shift

It should be noted, that some of the games on this list haven’t exactly flown off of store shelves nor received strong reviews, save for a few.

What made the group’s “Nice” list though are:

1. FIFA Soccer 08
2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
3. Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour
4. Madden NFL 08
5. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
6. Need for Speed Pro Street
7. The Sims 2: Castaway
8. Super Mario Bros 3
9. Super Mario Galaxy
10. Viva Piñata

I guess it is a good thing that, apart from a few exceptions, this list doesn’t have much of an impact on the majority of us gamers. Otherwise, the industry might have floundered years ago.

Read [The Blog Guardian] Also Read [Media Wise]

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In the Xbox 360’s most recent update (December 4, 2007), Microsoft included the Family Timer. As its name implies, it is a virtual timer you can set to limit the amount of time the console is used.

Certainly meant to make the system even more family friendly, Microsoft conducted its own survey. According to the completely biased, corporate sponsored surveys, 62 percent of the 800 US parents surveyed said they would use a timer and 75 percent “welcome built-in technology or software to monitor the time their children spend playing video games.” Of course, The Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii all have some parental controls in place.

The Family Timer is all on screen through the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live menu. After the timer has been set, on-screen warnings pop up (yay, more popups) to warn gamers that the system will soon shut down. It is supposed to give them enough time to save the game but, as all gamers know, that is not always immediately available. ("Just a few more minutes, I need to get to a save spot, mom/dad/automated babysitter.") Once the timer runs out, the system shuts down.

To get to the timer you go to the Xbox Dashboard, to System, select Family Settings and then select Console Controls. It’s the sixth item down (labelled “Famiyl Timer,” of course). You can set the limits to Daily, Weekly or Off. You then select an amount of time in 15 minute increments from 15 minutes to 24 hours (for the Daily option) and hour increments from 1 to 168 hours (Weekly option).

The Xbox 360’s other settings include limits for Game Ratings, Video Ratings, Access to Xbox Live, Xbox Live Membership Creation and Marketplace and Inside Xbox. These are all part of Microsoft’s “Safety is no game. Is your family set?” campaign which also includes involvement from Best Buy and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

No matter how many of these nice features companies include, please remember that the best parenting is educated and involved parenting. Try all (and I mean all) the games your kids are playing and see how well they play with others. Though the timer will help limit excessive gaming, simply setting a hardcore time limit might not be the best solution for every family.

UPDATE: The timer gives a popup warning at 5 minutes prior to shutdown. Also, the time left is displayed in the Xbox Dashboard, so you can press the Xbox logo button on the controller to see it. When set, it appears at the top of the dashboard in the upper right corner next to a mini family logo. When your time expires, the Dashboard pops up and three options are available: Add More Time, Suspend Time or Shut Down Console. The first two require the parental pass code (a four-button sequence). If you shut down and simply restart the system, you get 2 minutes on the clock.

Read [Loot Ninja] Site [Is Your family Set?] Site [Microsoft]

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