Sony PS3 to Offer Parental Controls

Sony has become the latest of the video-game console makers to announce parental controls in its newest machine, according to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). Now, all three major console makers are promising parents the means to help restrict their children’s access to violent video games.

Microsoft has parental controls in its new Xbox 360, which debuted last week. It also offers parental controls on the company’s Xbox Live online gaming service, limiting whom their children can interact with.

Earlier this month, Nintendo announced similar plans for its next-generation machine, Revolution, due 2006.

In an announcement made from its San Jose office, Sony Corp confirmed that it would enable parents to choose which content would appear on its machines in the same way Microsoft has and Nintendo has pledged, taking the ESRB rating system with the rating of each game encoded into the disc.

“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.

The video game industry faces increasing scrutiny from parents and watchdog groups—especially in the wake of this year’s scandal involving hidden adult content in the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas—and governments are increasingly enacting legislation restricting the sale and rental of violent video games to minors.