That’s right, kiddies. The end may be near for you. And by “the end,” I mean the end of all day gaming binges, or late night gaming sessions when your parents are asleep. Dubbed the “Family Timer,” this new internal apparatus for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 allows parents to monitor and limit the amount of time that their children can spend playing games. The Family Timer can be set on a per-day or per-week (yikes!) basis and will subsequently give notifications to players once their time is nearing a close. The timer is set to release in early December in the Xbox Live Marketplace.

If you asked me, this sounds an awful lot like what the Nazis did to the Jews in the World War II era, that is limited their gaming time. And you see what happened to the Nazis in the end… But really, genocide is no laughing matter, unless it is mass genocide of clowns.

Hit the jump for the press release.

New Parental Tools for Xbox 360

Published November 7, 2007

Washington (D.C.)—Microsoft Corp., the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and Super Bowl champion Jerry Rice joined forces today to unveil new parental tools as part of the second year of the “Safety is no game. Is your family set?” campaign. They include a PACT, a family contract intended to foster family discussion about screen time guidelines, as well as a new parental control feature, the Xbox 360 Family Timer. The Family Timer will enable parents for the first time to set the appropriate amount of gaming and entertainment time on the Xbox 360 for their kids, on a daily or weekly basis.

“As a leader in interactive entertainment, it’s Microsoft’s responsibility to provide parents with tools they can use to manage their children’s video gaming and online experiences, and we have made that a priority from the very start,” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment & Devices Division at Microsoft.

As a part of this educational partnership, millions of PTA members nationwide will receive information on the fundamentals of the campaign, which encourages a balanced approach to interactive media use and families to come to an agreement on how their children spend their screen time.

The Family PACT
The family PACT is a comprehensive, proactive approach to setting rules on media use, and asks parents and children to agree on the level of Parental involvement; Access children can have; Content they can play and watch; and the Time they are allowed to spend using media. The PACT is available for use today.

Xbox 360 Family Timer
Another all-new parental tool unveiled today is the Xbox 360 Family Timer, an addition to the console’s existing set of industry-leading parental control features. The new Xbox 360 Family Timer can restrict children’s activity time and can be set on a per-day or per-week basis. Helpful notifications will appear to warn the gamer that the session is nearing the end, and the feature will automatically turn off the console when the predetermined time limit has been exceeded. The Family Timer feature will be available for download via Xbox LIVE® in early December.

For more information on the Xbox 360 Family Timer, check out the Fact Sheet.

Parental Control Statistics
Independent research sponsored by Microsoft has shown that at least 45 percent of parents say that enforcing rules about their children’s media consumption creates tension at home. Nearly all families (99 percent) have some rules, but less than half (47 percent) have comprehensive rules concerning access, content and time. The research revealed that only 16 percent of families actually put media-use rules in writing, and 40 percent of parents involve children in related discussions. These new resources should help parents address the issue of media time with their children.

Xbox was the first videogame and entertainment system with built-in parental controls for both online and offline use. Known as Family Settings, these controls allow parents and caregivers to set guidelines for which games work for them, make informed choices about content, and decide with whom their children can play online.

The Importance of Parental Controls
“We’ve seen a tremendous response to the robust parental controls offered on Xbox 360 and Windows Vista, and the Xbox 360 Family Timer will continue to deliver on our promise to provide safer, balanced and fun entertainment for everyone,” Bach said. “Professionally, I am proud of my division’s work in this area, and personally, as a parent of three school-aged children, I know how important it is to be engaged in an ongoing dialogue with my family in order to uphold our household screen time rules.”

Bach, along with PTA CEO Warlene Gary and Super Bowl champion and “Dancing with the Stars” finalist Jerry Rice, talked to more than 400 students and parents gathered at Stuart-Hobson Middle School in Washington, D.C., about the benefits of being a kid in the digital age and the challenges parents may face in navigating this complex new world. Rice spoke to the middle-school crowd about how important it is to have balance to be successful. “I’m a Super Bowl champion and a Dancing with the Stars finalist, but my most important accomplishment in life is being a father,” Rice said. “I try to teach my kids that no matter what they do, they have to find a balance between work and fun. That’s why it’s so rewarding to join Microsoft and the PTA today to promote a healthy balance for our kids in this exciting digital age.”