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Playstation 3 to have parental controls

Sony Playstation 3 follows in the foot steps of Nintendo Revolution and Microsoft XBox 360

BY A CORRESPONDENT

29th November 2005: Sony's Playstation 3, to be released some time next year, will have parental control settings built into it, just as the new Microsoft XBox 360. Nintendo has announced that its upcoming Nintendo Revolution, also set for a 2006 launch will have similar features.

Playstation 2 (PS2) had parental controls for movies, but not for games. The new Playstation 3 changes that too. In XBox 360, parental controls can be set for online gaming and interactivity too.

There has been increased concern over the years with many adult games debuting on gaming PCs. Last year saw a major controversy when Grand Auto Theft game wasfound to have adult material built and hidden inside the program code, which could be opened with a hacker code.

Sony Playstation 3 is the successor to Sony Playstation 2, which is selling like hot cakes in US, Europe and Japan. It is not available in India yet.

With the parental control settings built into the Playsation 3, parents can restrict viewing/playing of games and videos which carry ratings like M (for mature) and T (for teens).

Over the last few years, several game developers have games carrying M rating, following the realisation that computer games are getting increasingly popular among grown-ups too. M rated games usually contain violent and sexual images and videos.

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