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Microsoft Announces New Parental Controls For XBox 360

by Darren

Consumer advocacy groups have complained for years about the effect that video games have on children, and few would argue that there’s a line that when crossed, means a child is playing too many games or spending too much time gaming. Now Microsoft has announced that parents will have a way to limit the amount of time kid’s play on the XBox 360.

The move comes as the software giant tries to make the Xbox 360 more attractive to mainstream consumers ahead of the holiday buying season that is the biggest time of year for the video game industry.

“As the customer base broadens, the demand for these kinds of capabilities does increase,” said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division.

The new timer can be set to limit playing time on a daily or weekly basis, and turns off the console when the time limit is reached. A similar feature is found in Microsoft’s Windows Vista computer operating system.

Microsoft said that the feature was the number one requested for the controller.