The Officially Licenced Wii Tower Gaming Station [The Wiicast]

"We've seen a tremendous response to the robust parental controls offered on Xbox 360 and Windows Vista, and the Xbox 360 Family Timer will continue to deliver on our promise to provide safer, balanced and fun entertainment for everyone," Bach said. "Professionally, I am proud of my division's work in this area, and personally, as a parent of three school-aged children, I know how important it is to be engaged in an ongoing dialogue with my family in order to uphold our household screen time rules."

Rice spoke to the middle-school crowd about how important it is to have balance to be successful. "I'm a Super Bowl champion and a 'Dancing with the Stars' finalist, but my most important accomplishment in life is being a father," Rice said. "I try to teach my kids that no matter what they do, they have to find a balance between work and fun. That's why it's so rewarding to join Microsoft and the PTA today to promote a healthy balance for our kids in this exciting digital age."

The 360 Family Timer should be available in early December.

Microsoft, PTA and Super Bowl Champion Jerry Rice Announce New Tools to Help Parents Manage Kids' Interactive Media Use

Xbox 360 debuts video game industry's first and only Family Timer.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nov. 7, 2007 — Microsoft Corp., the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and Super Bowl champion Jerry Rice joined forces today to unveil new parental tools as part of the second year of the "Safety is no game. Is your family set?" campaign. They include a PACT, a family contract intended to foster family discussion about screen time guidelines, as well as a new parental control feature, the Xbox 360 Family Timer. The Family Timer will enable parents for the first time to set the appropriate amount of gaming and entertainment time on the Xbox 360 for their kids, on a daily or weekly basis.

"As a leader in interactive entertainment, it's Microsoft's responsibility to provide parents with tools they can use to manage their children's video gaming and online experiences, and we have made that a priority from the very start," said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment & Devices Division at Microsoft.

Through this all-new educational partnership, millions of PTA members nationwide will receive information on the fundamentals of the campaign, which encourages a balanced approach to interactive media use and families to come to an agreement on how their children spend their screen time.

"As times change and technology advances, the role of the parent stays the same in raising a safe, healthy and successful child," said PTA National CEO Warlene Gary. "PTA is proud to partner with Microsoft to provide parents with more resources that keep them involved in their children's lives. Using the PACT will help parents and children talk about and agree on interactive media use."

The family PACT is a comprehensive, proactive approach to setting rules on media use, and asks parents and children to agree on the level of Parental involvement; the amount of Access children can have, including who they are allowed to play and interact with online; the types of Content children are allowed to play or watch; and the amount of Time children can use media. The family PACT is available for immediate download at http://www.xbox.com/isyourfamilyset.

Another all-new parental tool unveiled today is the Xbox 360 Family Timer, an addition to the console's existing set of industry-leading parental control features. Similar to its Windows Vista counterpart, the new Xbox 360 Family Timer can restrict children's activity time and can be set on a per-day or per-week basis. Helpful notifications will appear to warn the gamer that the session is nearing the end, and the feature will automatically turn off the console when the predetermined time limit has been exceeded. The Family Timer feature will be available for download via Xbox LIVE in early December.

Microsoft expects the news of the Family Timer to be received very favorably by parents based on independent* research it unveiled today that showed 62 percent of parents would welcome a tool to control the amount of time children spend using the video game consoles in their homes.

Bach, along with PTA CEO Warlene Gary and Super Bowl champion and "Dancing with the Stars" finalist Jerry Rice, talked to more than 400 students and parents gathered at Stuart-Hobson Middle School in Washington, D.C., today, about the benefits of being a kid in the digital age and the challenges parents may face in navigating this complex new world.

The independent research sponsored by Microsoft released today asked parents a series of questions about their children's use of digital media and represented feedback from 800 parents of children between the ages of 5 and 17 who have a video game console in their home. The research showed that 45 percent of parents say that enforcing rules about their children's media consumption creates tension at home. Nearly all families (99 percent) have some rules, but less than half (47 percent) have comprehensive rules concerning access, content and time. The research revealed that only 16 percent of families actually put media-use rules in writing, and 40 percent of parents involve children in related discussions.

Rice spoke to the middle-school crowd about how important it is to have balance to be successful. "I'm a Super Bowl champion and a 'Dancing with the Stars' finalist, but my most important accomplishment in life is being a father," Rice said. "I try to teach my kids that no matter what they do, they have to find a balance between work and fun. That's why it's so rewarding to join Microsoft and the PTA today to promote a healthy balance for our kids in this exciting digital age."

Microsoft's Commitment to Families Is Ongoing

Xbox was the first video game and entertainment system with built-in parental controls for both online and offline use. Known as Family Settings, these controls allow parents and caregivers to set guidelines for which games work for them, make informed choices about content, and decide with whom their children can play online. Earlier this year, Windows Vista launched with a similar set of parental controls that allows parents to guide children's game playing, Web browsing and overall computer use. These controls help parents determine which games their children can play, which programs they can use, which Web sites they can visit — and when.

"We've seen a tremendous response to the robust parental controls offered on Xbox 360 and Windows Vista, and the Xbox 360 Family Timer will continue to deliver on our promise to provide safer, balanced and fun entertainment for everyone," Bach said. "Professionally, I am proud of my division's work in this area, and personally, as a parent of three school-aged children, I know how important it is to be engaged in an ongoing dialogue with my family in order to uphold our household screen time rules."

According to Bach, with more than 13 million Xbox 360 consoles sold, the company's drive to empower parents is a core Microsoft responsibility. Last fall, the company launched the "Safety is no game. Is your family set?" national grassroots campaign (http://www.xbox.com/isyourfamilyset) with Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Best Buy Co. Inc. to educate parents about the tools and resources available to help them manage their children's interactive entertainment experiences on both Xbox 360 and Windows Vista. Year two of the campaign will continue with the support of these partners and others such as the PTA.

She's crazy about cross-stitching and old school Mario, so it didn't take much to get her to put the two together. We just picked out some pictures from Google image search, gridded them in paint, and picked out the colors. The Mario's span from Super Mario Bros. on NES thru Super Mario RPG. We didn't keep track but it took her well over 100 hours to complete.

Dang, a hundred hours, now that's some dedication to your craft. Cross-stitch just naturally lends itself to 8-bit art and this is a fine example of what you can do if you put your mind and fingers to work. Now, if only I could find the time in my day to pull something like this off. Sadly there is no time in my day, only Zuul.

Game Informer spoke with Nintendo of America Vice President of Corporate Affairs Perrin Kaplan who confirmed that while the company is moving certain folks out of Redmond, Nintendo Power is not shutting down. Instead, the magazine will become a "licensed property" still owned by Nintendo.

If there's any confusion about that, Kaplan says that details are forthcoming, including information on who the new owner of the magazine will be. Your subscription lives to see another day. Michael McWhertor

Taking A Spin With Perrin: The Perrin Kaplan Interview [Game Informer]

Some of our readers have bred, which might or might not be a good thing. But, it does give them an understanding of what gaming is, that it's not bad or evil. The Guardian points to a gaming parent post written by the mother of a 16 year-old son. It details how Super Mario 64, Halo and PG-13 rated trash talk has brought them closer. There's From the post:

I played badly at first but I would sneak into his room at night while he was asleep to practice and hone my skills. His gaming time was limited because he was young and reading and learning were more important at his age; each night we would play for an hour and on weekends a couple of hours per day. We would take turns on the controller. I would usually only play if he was having a hard time getting through something. We each would have our attempts at defeating the unbeatable bosses. I shared in the excitement when after 20 grueling tries he would finally beat a level or boss and I would bask in the hugs, kisses and pride when I beat a level or boss he could not defeat. And yes I even spent late nights while he slept looking for hints and walk-throughs.

How sweet. The post is gooey, schmaltzy and slightly heavy handed — Important words are put in bold to drive home the point. Still, it's really nice to see this kind of stuff. What about Kotaku-land? Anyone game with their children or parents? Brian Ashcraft

Gaming Parents [2old2play via The Guardian]

Yes, even Xbox is now taking advantage of the made-up greeting card holiday, Mother's Day (May 13th), and taking it to the next level of cross promotion.

The insensitive "My Mom's a Gamer" contest is willing to award anyone over 13 who can string 250-300 words together an Xbox Elite system and a bouquet of ragged out flowers for the winner's mom. All you have to do is write an essay about the woman who gave you life (and gaming) and you could easily win a Mother's Day gift for yourself six times the cost of hers.

Apparently, this is better than just forgetting. Kim Phu

My Mom's a Gamer Contest [Xbox]

Nintendo ain't just making games for Johnny-Come-Latey's. No. Nintendo is still making h4rdc0r3 gamez (along with making pedestrian stuff for my mom). With the DS appealing to the casual and non-gamers, some are worried that Nintendo's ditching the 'core. According to company president Reggie Fils-Aime:

For the passionate fan who wants something a bit more challenging, a deep story, 70 hours of gameplay, it's Zelda. It's all there, it's nine dungeons long, it is an immense area—that alone should stop all of the worries as to whether Nintendo will continue to make big, epic games. We absolutely will... We want it all, quite frankly. So when we talk about bringing gaming back to the masses it is both for this core fan, which we will continue to have great content for, and this new expanded gamer who either hasn't played in 20 years or hasn't played at all.

1337. Or as mom would say, "That's swell." Brian Ashcraft

Reggie Hasn't Given You Up [Eurogamer]

And you thought your mom loved you more? Ian writes in to point us to a link of a Zelda quilt his mother made his brother.

As if she hadn't proved that she loves my brother more than me enough, my mother has provided him with an incredible quilt based on the stained glass promo images from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.

Wow, that things beautiful. Your mom must really hate you Ian. Brian Crecente

Zelda Wall Hanging [Free Play Gaming]

First, allow me an angry gibber. This website is so hideously constructed that in Firefox, the google ads overlap the text and the text runs out of the boxes, and having to actually click through the magazine and "pages" just reminds me of the bad old days when I actually had to touch paper. I am tempted to copy the entire article here, because it's good.

But for chrissake, catch the fuck up.

Anyway, this piece addresses the claim by Microsoft's Peter Moore that "...god forbid, even your mom will be [on the Xbox 360]." He turned out to be right, but perhaps only in the case of one Mrs. P, a mom who was foisted on the author's 360.

The conclusions are actually a little surprising to me. Her favorite game by far was "Condemned", which is in line with an earlier study claiming that women prefer immersive, story-given games that require problem-solving. But I would have figured the intense spookiness and violence of it would have put the lady off. I'm very pleased to read that she not only loved it, but got very good at it as well.

The biggest problem they encountered was the same as I've experienced with my own mother when introducing her to technology: she requires me to write down the steps that must be taken for every single task. She is at a loss to understand that once you've executed one program, you can execute them all. The control scheme is almost exactly the same from task to task, and opening Outlook is really the same as opening Firefox.

Mrs. P also has this problem, somehow unable to grasp that the dual analog controls for Prey were almost the same as the ones in Condemned, and had to start all over. I think this is the fault of generations of unintuitive controls being memorized by an insular game society. Perhaps the Wii will save us.

Even though the controls in Prey are similar to those found in Condemned, it was like starting all over again for her. It was difficult for her to get use to the initial movement controls, without swinging violently out of control and running off into the walls.

The final judgment was that the 360 has a long ways to go before mom would actually go out and buy one, but now I'm very tempted to run my own mother through the same gauntlet, perhaps on a different system. Hmm... Eliza Gauger

Warrior Woman [Primotech]