Microsoft to school 'rents on games

Microsoft today revealed that is partnering with Best Buy and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for an "education tour" to teach nongamer parents about the games their kids are playing.

The 20-city tour, which will be the lynchpin of a larger campaign called "Safety is no game. Is your family set?," kicked off today at the DigitalLife conference in New York City. Besides the bus tour, the campaign will incorporate a "listening tour to hear the concerns of parents and caregivers regarding their children's access to age-appropriate, interactive entertainment." Details on locations and dates for the tour, which will run through next June, can be found on the official "Safety is no game" campaign Web site.

The "Safety is no game" campaign will also take aim at staving off antigame legislation. Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, will be making "presentations...to government officials and leaders in advocacy and business." Microsoft did not single out any officials or business leaders by name.

"With success comes responsibility," Bach said in a statement. "We are unwavering in our commitment to address the genuine concerns of families on how to keep interactive entertainment safe and fun for our children."

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft is touting its own products as having the perfect parental gaming controls. Specifically, it is advocating parents familiarize themselves with the Xbox 360 Family Settings features, which can control which games kids can play and DVDs they can watch. Parents can also govern how their kids play games on Xbox Live and how they can use the just-released Xbox Live Vision camera.

Microsoft is also using the event to promote the parental controls in its forthcoming operating system, Windows Vista. Vista is set to launch in early 2007.