Parents - Never trust a news story about "scary" games.

Again it has come to my attention that a news team has reported on absurdities regarding kids and gaming.

This time, it was a story saying that children supposedly earned game points for nude pictures of themselves. After digging deeper, this turned out to be as stupid and silly as all the other "news" stories that tries to scare parents. No pedophiles here.

http://kotaku.com/5030079/tv-station-check-with-detective-for-facts-on-pedophile-story

Parents - Beware of stories about sex & child exploitation in news stories. They are 99.99% sure to be false. Like the story about nudity in the role playing game (RPG) named "Mass Effect" for the PC and Xbox 360.

Remember - All games carries a rating, just as movies do. If the game has a big "M", for mature, on it, don't let your 12 year old play it. At least not alone.

I'll write another post about this topic during the week.

What a parent should know about games and Xbox Live

Dear Parent,

I'm not a parent. Yet. Oooops. Please don't stop reading. Why? Because I have two god-children who plays. And I play. So I know something about what to think about when it comes to children and on-line gaming.

In this post I'll focus on Microsoft's on-line service, called Xbox Live.

To a gamer, this is an excellent service. It has features that you as a parent should know about. Maybe you now ask "How do I know if my child uses this service?". If you have an Xbox, or Xbox 360 console in your house, your child has access to this service. The service comes in two flavors, named Silver and Gold.

The Silver service is limited and doesn't allow the user to play any games with anyone else. They can have a conversation, using a head-set, though. But their exposure to other players is limited.

The Gold service costs money. Depending on in which country you live, it costs about US$ 50 per year and it DOESN'T require a credit card. It's possible to buy a code at a game store, enter it and get access to a variety of functions. If you don't know if your Xbox Live account is a Silver or Gold account, you need to involve yourself more. And ask your child, whether you have a Silver or Gold membership to the Xbox Live service.

First, let's look at what your child can do if you have a Gold Xbox Live membership.

1. They can play any game (most games have an on-line features) with anyone.
2. They can talk to anyone.
3. They can have a Video-Chat with anyone (Xbox Live Vision camera required)

It has more features, but these are the ones you as a parent needs to focus on. No matter which game they play on-line, they will hear strong language.

Do you, as a parent understand why you need to be involved now? If you aren't involved, you should get involved now!

Follow this link: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/familysettings/?WT.svl=nav

It will take you to Microsoft's information page about what you as a parent can do to control and monitor which games your child can play, and what they can do on Xbox Live.

If you have cared enough to find this blog post and read it, you are ready play. You may enjoy it more than you think.

Please post questions in the comments, or just comment if you like.

Game on!