I gave the X-Box as a gift to a friend thinking he needed to blow off some steam by blowing things up on a fun ban-bang, shoot-em-up sort of game. The X-Box TV commercials seemed sort of cool. He loved it, until last week. Apparently with some of the Network Gaming features out there, you can play somebody else out there on many games.
His 11 year old son started out on that road and bought a network game. But apparently, lurkers, predators and just plain sexually perverted people out there now have one more way to reach your kids with sexually suggestive names. And many games do not allow you to delete or block some of these offensive gamers out there. You have to CALL Microsoft and report them.
Suffice it to say, my friend has taken the X-box and put it on eBay and has now bought a Wii console instead.
- Bartman
June 8th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
I find this post very suspect. As a actual gamer, I find a lot of offense in this. You just blatantly spout information as nonchalant as you can. If either of you or your friend had taken the time to look into the actual capabilities of the 360, you’d find you CAN block all communications from people, submit complaints about their accounts, and actually set it up so they are avoided while in-game.
Secondly – if there was a breakdown of the ESRB rating’s system of EC through AO, put in place to teach parents and help them understand, then the fault lies with the parent, not the “machine.” If the kid was playing a Call of Duty or other Mature game, then expect adults to be playing in an adult environment.
The last piece of important common sense that you should have yourself though is the anonymity of the internet. You can’t honestly run a blog like this and expect everyone on the internet is as truthful and honest and positive about everything as you are, can you? Most forums and other sites where discussion is possible can quickly devolve into a scumpit of name calling and racist remarks. A video game system, an interactive FORUM of sorts, is subject to the same laws of the internet – “they don’t know who you are so who cares?”
May 28th, 2010 at 6:09 am
I saw something about this subject on TV last night. Good post.
December 10th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Comeone Hillhouse199 this is 21st century America. That means give the kids whatever they want so parents can park their asses on the couch unbothered and its everyone elses fault their kids are getting into no good.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:59 am
well said great scott..as a father of two girls 11-12 they play the wii..xbox is in my bedroom. i will say they are curious but only let them play games rated for thier level..read a manual…understand before you complain about it moron
September 22nd, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Short-time X-Box 360 owner here, I’ve had it since early this year and I have a great time with it! When you purchase it make sure of two things, 1) Keep your receipt and register with Microsoft 2) Read the instructions that are updated inside of your console (FAQs).
Online games are great. They allow a huge range of play that you normally wouldn’t get from a single-player game. I have many grunges against Microsoft’s Online policies but parental supervision is NOT one of them. Your post is that of an uninformed and unexperienced console owner and it shows.
First of all, you have to PAY to play online (aside from the first 30 days) the X-Box has a Silver and Gold service, the Gold (paying 5ish dollars a month) lets you play with others, download the newest game demos, videos, online content for your games, watch Netflix, etc., the Silver lets you see your “Friends” and download older Demos, videos, etc. Second of all, blocking, and reporting can DEFINITELY be done through the console, press the big ol green X button in the middle and go through there, or just select the name of the offender, you can do it straight through there. Also, 11 year olds SHOULD NOT be allowed to play online games!!! PARENTAL SUPERVISION GUYS, seriously. By the way, the X-Box has an option for Parental setting as well! You can turn it on in the X-Box menu and lo and behold block:
Mature Games
Teen Rated Games
E Rated Games
Ec Rated Games
R RATED DVDS/ONLINE RENTALS
PG 13
PG
G!!!
The fact of the matter is, yes, there is a risk. No, if you are paying a shred of attention to your kids, this should not be an issue.
If you have an 11 year old playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (or ANY Mature rated game that involves shooting others in the face), mic at the ready so the kid can chat with people online, you should NOT be allowed to call yourself a responsible parent, or adult for that matter.
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:47 am
the PS3 sucks too. i had one for lesst than a year before it quit reading blue ray discs and (surprise, surprise) PS3 games. the pos would only play crappy PS2 games. Then when i tried to get it serviced… It was a present so i never had a reciept… the PS3 ppl think that means it is out of warranty. so i had to pay $150 just to get the thing fixed. Awesome job backing your product sony!!
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:36 pm
As an xbox360 owner from pretty early on, I’ve now had to have the system replaced 7 times.
While they are pretty good at replacing your console with a “repaired” version, they never seem to last longer than a few months!
Of the 7 “repaired” consoles they’ve shipped, three have arrived broken! This includes #7, which arrived this week looking like someone had kicked it, and it was most certainly shipped already damaged.
Cosmetic damage aside, the newest “repaired” console sounds like it’s on the verge of collapse already and this is week 1.
After #5 and #6 (#5 arrived broken) i was promised that, if it broke again, they’d get me a new (retail box) console. This time around, the very helpful customer service reps informed me that they have no power to do anything except provide me with another “repaired” version.
Given that this one is already making death noises, I fully expect to have to replace it again very soon. I think this time, I won’t bother.