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PS3 to include parental controls

Sony's upcoming console joins Xbox 360, Revolution in having option to limit access to games based on ESRB rating.

The next generation of games brings with it some impressive technology, bringing gaming to the next level of realism. The new graphics capabilities allows football jerseys to flop around authentically, cars to accurately depict real-time reflections, and landscapes to have unprecedented detail.

Unfortunately for parents of little ones, the new consoles also have the ability to show blood and gore at all-new levels of realism. More megahertz means more megaviolence. If inappropriate material was a concern of parents with the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube, it'll be an even greater concern after parents see what can be portrayed with the new crop of high-powered machines.

To combat the problem of minors playing games deemed unsuitable for them, console manufacturers have begun instituting parental controls in their systems. Both Nintendo and Microsoft have already revealed that their consoles, the forthcoming Revolution and the recently released Xbox 360, respectively, include parental controls. However, both companies play second and third fiddle to gaming giant Sony, whose forthcoming PlayStation 3 is the successor to the top-selling PlayStation 2. The PS2 included parental controls for movies, but not for games.

Concerned parents can breathe a sigh of relief as Sony today announced that the PS3 will also have a method of limiting the play of games or movies based on ratings. Sony has not yet revealed how the system would be implemented in the PS3, but previous parental controls let parents of young gamers "lock out" games and movies that carry M for Mature, T for Teen, and R ratings.

"With the average age of game players now 30, our industry naturally creates content appropriate for a wide range of audiences, just as there are TV shows, films, music, and books for people of all tastes, interests, and values," said Doug Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association.

48 Comments

  • SavoyPrime

    Posted Nov 29, 2005 5:55 am GMT

    I guess this would matter if parents actually used the Parental Control feature. But most parents don't even know what kind of games their kids are playing (until their kid ends up on the news for taking a gun to school or going on a killing rampage).

  • slow-pc

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 6:35 pm GMT

    Parents just need to use them. I am sure they will not...

    Cable companies are pushing it... but do they use it? I would think not a lot of families do. Same thing will happen with the 360/ps3. They can advertise it all they want, but it is up to the parents to set it up.

  • forever_blank

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 5:05 pm GMT

    WOW, WOW, Like people are saying, is this news?

    This has been round for ages, noone is suprised. People will find ways to manipulate the controls of parental units:

    Mod chips, Lazy Parents, Bribing With Beer etc.

    There is no way that getting parental control will help. All the parents do is buy, you the console, wrap it up. Then wait to see your smiling happy face at christmas, they will not console the console box (excuse the pun) for the special code inside.

    IE: Billys mum is single and working at hooters. She see's the Xbox 360* on the T.V at work, while straping up and thinks that her little Billy would forgive all sins that she has performed on stage. Billy opens the big box up on Christmas Day and see's a brand new platinum 360* (Billys Mum, Does A Few Tricks For The Manager, Gets Her That Bit Extra Cash) He turns it on, Billys Mum heads off to work and says to billy that he can play his xbox 360 all night if he wants, off she goes to work hopping away and billy turns on the xbox 360, which came with condemmed somehow and gets a message to enter the parental code, Billy gets upset, but keeps his cool and searches through the manaual and BINGO!, He finds the code and enters it, it just happens that the code is 9999 so billy can remember it, he rights it down and has it forever, he also find there is a reset function of the code.....

    Though a long example, it is true, most parents don't want to know what happens on there kids new toy. Probably by the time Billys mum find out what type of games he is playing, he will be well into his good teens...

    I think it is good that Console makers have made an effort to protect children from illicit, gory and violent games, but unfortuantely it won't work until something more effient comes along.

    >You Never Know...< EnTeR tHe MaTrIx

  • devilscry

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 5:02 pm GMT

    Now if only they could reveal some worth while information about the PS3, like when the things coming out, price plan...stuff like that. Company's like Sony shouldn't have to worry about a parents inability to raise their children and/or limit the violent content they may encounter in a video game, of course they wouldn't take that task apon themselves. But of course we live in a world where a kid kills police officers and its a games fault, God forbid his upbringing had anything to do with it. besides, whats the point of a ratings system if these parents who despise these violent games, buy it for their kids anyway. Hmm, interesting.

  • Jubei_Hikari

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 4:20 pm GMT

    I didn't know that the average age of gamers are 30.....oh, it sucks for you underage noobs. Grow up to play grown man games.

  • 3000s

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 3:27 pm GMT

    This is old news. Come on gamespot give us some real news.

  • Geek12

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 3:12 pm GMT

    Sorry kids! No 50ct Bulletproof for you!

  • jon1233

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 3:08 pm GMT

    This isin't system wars. Why must we argue?

  • beinss

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 2:51 pm GMT

    Well i would have been more suprised if they hadnt put it in. (as the 2nd poster said) But I honestly dont see a reason to do this. If the parents buy their kids a game thats rated M then they should know their kid is about to get exposed to pritty graphic/sexual themes. And for this thing about rated R movies also requiring the password thats just silly. Do you think a standard DVD player has a password protection? (If it does then sry, im ignorant of it atm) So if the kid really wants to watch it they could easily pop it into their actual DVD player or even the computer. The only reason there should be a parental control on anything eletronic is TVs. Parents cant stop kids from going to HBO at midnight without the V Chip thing. I support protecting children, if i had children I would want to protect them from as much insanity as the world accepts currently, but at the same time, i know how annoying it is to enter a password when u simply want to watch a movie or play a game. So I dont feel these parental controls as necessary, but as long as it doesnt become a neusance im fine with it.

  • FiveFist

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 2:37 pm GMT

    I think its suppose to be used in a case where parents arent there and the lil neighborhood kid brings over GTA or Manhunt or Bulletproof or something, but parents who buy a game thats Rated M.. and the kid is 8 years old.... then ur just a moron. And in a world where parents dont actually spend time with their kids and actually play the games with em.. then nope they arent gonna know how to set up the parental control... but if parents would stop using video games as a babysitters we wouldnt have these problems. But im over 18..so i could careless.....but this is cool for some parents who actually know a thing or two about games.

  • rubaducky69

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 2:26 pm GMT

    I agree with "Eclipse" Put in parental controls, I dare you! Then when some little nappy crapper stabs his little sister with a sewing needle, the parents won't be able to blame anyone but themselves. "But we activated the Parental Control thingie in our son's Playstation - how could this happen?"

    Buy a Game Cube. At least then the only thing you could blame Nintendo for is for encouraging young ones to squash turtles out of their shells, or to eat funny mushrooms.

  • scarface100

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 2:18 pm GMT

    The kiddies have been owned!

  • Hyperblade

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 2:11 pm GMT

    was this really worth any attention?

  • raza357

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 2:09 pm GMT

    Comment on "Microsoft Taking $126 hit per Xbox 360"

    Rumor has it that PS3 will sale at about the same price as XBX360 and with all the new/advanced technology they are adding (Blue Tooth, Blu Rays etc.) they are to lose about $300-500 per unit. If that averages to $400 per PS3 and they sold over 90 million PS2s, Sony could lose up to
    $ 36,000,000,000 (do the math!).. can they realy make that up with Games and Peripherals

  • Neo9898_98

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 2:08 pm GMT

    Parents need to settle down about all this violence stuff. Who cares. OMG I JUST SHOT A GUY IN A PARK WITH A ROCKET LAUNCHER!!! OMG THATS SO REALISTIC!!!11!!!!elevenone11!!

  • jsmoke03

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 2:05 pm GMT

    i think all this will be in vain unless the parents are educated by this. They complain soo much but i think they are partly to blame for not knowing what kind of games their kids play until its 2 late.

  • timboyrt

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 2:04 pm GMT

    todays parents don't know anything about games or consoles. The kids pick out a game, the parents buy it, paying no attention to the rating. Also, when the kid gets a new console and sets it up, they will get to choose a password for the PC without the parents even knowing. Its more like a device to keep parents out of control.

  • MaximusZX

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 2:03 pm GMT

    Maybe when parental controls become standard in the next generation of gaming, all the attention-grabbing jerks like Jack Thompson will finally keep quiet. When games have ratings telling the buyer what kind of content they have, AND you can control whether or not your kids have access to them with passwords, there will be no excuse for blaming video games on childrens' unwanted behavior.

  • doomed51

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:42 pm GMT

    lol, i'll tell you my password now : 0000 LOL no surprise here tho

  • FourSwordsx4

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:38 pm GMT

    I'm guessing that all the noobs complaining about the parental controls are 11 year old who aren't allowed to touch a M-rated game.LOLLERSKATES!

  • tulio03

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:27 pm GMT

    it's gonna be a standard now for all systems.

  • anton10000

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:26 pm GMT

    _sean_05 is also a fanboy

  • ProsserBoy

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:23 pm GMT

    Why does anyone care if this thing has parental controls? I have an idea, PARENTS CAN PICK WHICH GAMES THEIR KIDS BUY IN THE FIRST PLACE. But anyway, this isn't front page news by any stretch (and it made front page of my local paper); I think it's just Sony's attempt to distract people from the Xbox 360 for a moment.

  • iamchampuk

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:23 pm GMT

    Make sense - These systems will help parents, long may they continue

  • JoeyHawk

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:17 pm GMT

    "What would be better: Scaling games to fit parental controls. Oh yeah. You could play Halo at a "T" rating instead of an "M" rating. Shot, I'd like that for myself. Who needs giblets or great puffs of blood anyways?"

    You know, that's not a bad idea! I know it sounds silly at first, but it would make sense for there to be different levels at which you could play a game!

  • murderusone

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:15 pm GMT

    I work at a game store. That's where. I am a manager. I see regional sales stats. Tides are turning. By the way. Most ps2 games only use about a third of the space. With xbox's 9 gig disc, even less. I loved ps and ps2, until better things were out there. The extra space isn't currently needed. For a game company to fill 54 gigs of a disc with gameplay content, it would require a lot of development time. That turns into consumer dollars. Our dollars. I'm not a MS fanboy, I'm a gamer. Had an Atari in 83, a Nintendo in 86, a snes later, and a genesis. Sorry to bust your bubble, but not everyone who buys a 360 or revolution is a fanboy. Fanboys are people who can't afford all systems. I can.

  • thornpaw

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:11 pm GMT

    What a waste of effort and time. Why do parents expect others to do their parenting for them? If parents would get off their ***es and actually take a real interesnt in their children's lives Parental Controls would not be needed.

  • Donkeljohn

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:10 pm GMT

    What would be better: Scaling games to fit parental controls. Oh yeah. You could play Halo at a "T" rating instead of an "M" rating. Shot, I'd like that for myself. Who needs giblets or great puffs of blood anyways?

  • _sean_05

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:04 pm GMT

    murderusone = raging ms fanboy the HD did not get canned. the release price should be 300-400. the $500 tag is for 360, or maybe $1000 if you have to buy a crappy bundle from a video-game store, or if you have to ebay one since MS is intentionally withholding stock from stores to make it look like theyre more in demand than they really are. How can you discredit the blu-ray disc? its new tech developments make developing the actual discs not much more expensive than DVD. plus what disadvantage could a massively bigger game POSSIBLY have. maybe some people want a variety of games not just 500 FPS's marketed to consumers as a 'choice'. americans are NOT starting to prefer xbox. Where did you get this idea? xboxfanboy.com?? c'mon xbox will FAIL internationally for sure. no rpg's, crappy fighters, 50000 pc-style fps's get over it. you bought the next sega cd.

  • tenorio_rotc

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:04 pm GMT

    Parental controls are good because now it puts the responsibility on them, for knowing how to use them and since they are the ones who would buy the consoles and games for their kids, they should be responsible. Dont be complaining, it is a good thing to take the heat of the game industry because now it is not entirely their fault some kid plays GTA.

  • murderusone

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:56 pm GMT

    If the ps3 is till supposedly coming out in April, then how come we are just now getting news about such mundane features as parental controls. People want to know about release dates, ACTUAL GAMEPLAY FOOTAGE (as apposed to those beautiful, yet PRERENDERED mini-movies). Sony needs to get on the move. They may have great fanbase in Japan, but Americans are starting to prefer XBOX. I work in a video game store and people are constantly trading in ps2's for BOX's. Can't they give us something interesting. Wow, parental controls. That's really a new one, let me tell ya. Next we're gonna hear that it will play dvd's, cd's, and mp3's (what other system does that now). Wireless controllers, there's a new one. Hard drive? Heard it got canned. Bring me something original and I just might show interest. So far, it's the copycat war. Who wants to buy a copycat system. I have a 360. It kicks ass. I'll have a Revolution. It's innovative and also cheap. PS3? Nothing new here. EXCEPT A RUMORED $500 PRICE TAG AND NO HARD DRIVE. Only thing new is a damn expensive BlueRay disc drive........

  • stiker71

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:52 pm GMT

    omg this is stupid my mom just wont buy the game if its m and there r to stupid to care about a code i mean the ps2 one is 0000

  • megamanlink

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:50 pm GMT

    NO PARENTAL CONTROLS !!!! that'll be better

  • m3g4t0ky0

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:49 pm GMT

    OMG Kitty ate my megaviolence!

  • dude_12

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:34 pm GMT

    most parents i know wouldnt even know how to set parental controls
    so its kind of a waste.......unless the parent can use a gaming system

  • phoenix14

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:32 pm GMT

    nice to know and i'm happy for parents but me personally i really don't care i would much rather hear about a release date

  • Jackrm

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:30 pm GMT

    Shocking!!!

  • FourSwordsx4

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:17 pm GMT

    And how many parents will actually know how to work their kid's gaming system and set the parental control? LOL.

  • bklapmeyer

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:13 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • Eclipse_ShinRa

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:11 pm GMT

    its very good idea and stupid one at the same time...its not really going to help..iI hate GTA, but i bet when the next one comes out for the 360 and ps3, no matter what, with these new parental controls..ppl we still ___ about it..moms well buy it for there kid, and them say i didnt know it hade all that stuff in it..just like last time..kids are going to play the game no matter what, its the moms and dads job to watch there kids and know what there playing XD..

  • gignator

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:10 pm GMT

    so,the PS2 does not have one!

  • meischris39

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:08 pm GMT

    i hate parental controls i think there a total waste of time if a parent buys a game that is older than ur current age then your parents dont care about you playing that game and if you are the suitable age why should you parents have control when its your legal right

  • shadowburger

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:05 pm GMT

    Just copying the competion again. But whats this adverage age crap it seems to me they are trying to convince us that on adults buy games now, jeez.

  • veratronator

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:03 pm GMT

    I hate these parental things especially on the ps2 iam 18 and when i pop a movie in my ps2 thats rated R I have to put in that stupid code theres no way to turn it off but parents probably dont no how to use the parental system and smart kids will find away around it.

    P.S prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

  • Cartman86

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:02 pm GMT

    Average of game players is 30??? Wow...

  • Eclipse_ShinRa

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 11:56 am GMT

    lol, how much you want to bet, everyone well still blame video games..
    well the parents and the (USA)goverment, well look really stupid if they still blame video games..hey looked stupid in the first place by blaming video games.. need to blame there selfs, XD..

    I like the Idea, because moms and dads cant cry about it no more...wait thet still will, video games well stil get the blame..no matter if it said only 18 years can play video games

  • phamilton

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 11:52 am GMT

    Is anyone really surprised?

  • Dan-O-Mite

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 11:47 am GMT

    Is this news? I mean the Xbox has had PC since 2001. The PS2 had it for movies. It would be a bigger deal if it DIDN'T have parental controls.

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