Want to get DS10 an XBox for Christmas, but...

[MAGICX2]

My DS10 has been asking for an XBox since his birthday in May. I told him no for his bday because we already have a Wii. He told his Grandma in Aug. that if that was the ONLY thing he got for Christmas, even if it was from everybody, then he would be so happy.
We are going in together to purchase him one for Christmas. We want to get the Xbox Elite 250GB with Kinect bundle, but I have a few concerns.
First, I am hesitant to let him go on LIVE and play with other users. Is there a way we can restrict it so he can only play with certain users, his friends? Or is it more like a free for all and you end up where you end up? I don't want freaks out there communicating with my son.
Also, I have heard the Kinect may not be as user friendly and tech ready as it has been promoted. I have read that it needs to tweaked a little more before they launch it. Should I be concerned and just not get the bundle right now?

 

[worm761]

I cannot comment on the Kinect. We don't have it though one of the Xboxes is set up for it.
Anyway, as far as live content, there are two things. First, you have to pay for it and the Xbox has to be hooked up to the internet. We buy DS the whole year for $50 since that is the cheapest way to go. But you can buy smaller times. I think a month and three months. Second, as far as I know, there is no way to restrict who your DS can play with. But that may depend on the game too. I have no idea. What you can do is let him play on Live but not let him use a headset so he cannot hear or talk to the other people. I will be honest though, most of them are kids. Some, but not all, are foul mouthed. (DS likes to boot players who swear after giving them a warning. Gotta love that kid.) You can also "mute" players you don't want to listen to. DS and Boyfriend (31 yrs) both play Xbox Live. DS in his room but Boyfriend in the living room. I swear all he plays with are little kids. Some as young as 8! And I only say that because of the content of the first person shooter game he is playing.
If your concern is creepy people talking to your kid, most of the conversations I hear are about the game. Though Boyfriend will sometimes run into military and they talk shop since Boyfriend used to be in the Navy.

 

[princessmom29]

you have 2 choices here
1. don't buy a gold membership and he won't have the ability to go MMO (play online).
2. tell him he is only allowed to play with people he knows IRL, if you can trust him to keep to that. There is no way I am aware of to limit who you can play with.

 

[nbs2]

Frankly, it would be better for him to play with adults rather than snot nosed little 12year olds. some adults will get a little too into the game, but most of them are good natured gamers. The kids on the other hand....

 

[crisi]

I'd be far more concerned about what he then wants to PLAY on the XBox.

In my son's ten - eleven and twelve year old set the game to play is the very violent Modern Warfare 2. I curse the day my husband brought that into the house and didn't talk to me about it first (he's learned).

Wii games are pretty sweet and innocent. XBox games are often MUCH more mature. Know what you are getting him.

 

[dawson5]

when my boys get home, I can ask them for sure. I know you can block people from seeing you on xbox live. They have a friend who has live, his parents have to approve each and every one of his friends for live. He is only allowed to play with those friends. I do believe you can turn off the ability for people to speak to you also.

We keep ours in the office, only place they are allowed to play it. Usually if we aren't in there with them, we can hear what is going on.

As for live, if you keep an eye out you can get it for $35-40 for a year. Last year Sears put it on sale right before xmas. I went in to buy it, they had sold out. I took the ad to WalMart and they price matched it. I save $15. Newegg will also put it on sale for about that price, usually with free shipping and unless you live in that state, no sales tax.

 

[msmayor]

Its no different than monitoring your child's activity on the internet...

Keep the xBox in a place where the family is, not in a bedroom or closed area where you can't monitor his game playing. Set restrictions on times he can play as well as the games.

Its all about supervision.

 

[JayT]

You can create a 'child account' and set parental controls on what he can play or watch, by rating. You can also set it up where the parent has to approve friend requests. I think you can set it up so that he's only able to play with friends. And even if you don't give him a headset, you can still hear the other people through the TVs regular speakers.

You can google how to set up a child account, and what parental controls there are.

It's a really fun way to connect with your friends. (and I'm 30!)
Just make sure the controls are set up so he can't play M rated games (mature) that way you don't have to worry about him playing Call of Duty, etc at home.

 

[Kuraire]

You can set your xbox live account to block all chat / messages from people who aren't on your friends list.

I always do it through Xbox website to change my account setting, very easy to do. Although it can take a few hours to take affect this way.


Also I just wanted add to something a previous poster said. You can play some games online with just the silver membership, these tend to be games that are online only though (Final Fantasy XI is one such game).

 

[MAGICX2]

Thanks for all the responses. We are very aware of what he is doing while on the computer and will keep the same awareness with the XBox. I think the rule of us having to approve any friends he wants to play with online will be a good one. He is not a huge gamer but plays video games 1 or 2 days a week for about an hour at a time. I think as long as we keep tabs on everything we will be fine. Thank you!!