Arguing with one's parents about when to turn off the Xbox may be far more normative and far less interfering than arguing with one's spouse about thousands of dollars lost in gambling, they note drily.
But the company did not account for gamers' sense of humour when planning the feature, and soon found that legions of pranksters were endeavouring to trick players into uttering the words "Xbox Shut Off" – which, if said out loud, caused the user's console to turn off.
I've heard a lot of: "I can't believe how much he is costing me, leaving his Xbox on..."....
And after the original Xbox flopped in Japan, Microsoft has wooed Japanese games-publishers, hoping to counter the advantage enjoyed by its two main rivals.Another huge change, says Mr Bach, is that the original Xbox was built from off-the-shelf parts.
"We provide better entertainment value than a $60 Xbox 360 title," he says.
However, Microsoft's new Xbox is set for launch a few months beforehand and thus has a chance of catching on before Sony's product has even come to market.Though Sir Howard's success in Hollywood may not qualify him to run a sprawling conglomerate that still derives the bulk of its revenues from electronics, a dose of foreign management might go down well at Sony.
Furthermore, when it comes to online gaming, the PlayStation is deemed to be some way behind the Xbox.
Microsoft hopes to rectify this by producing a wider range of Japanese titles.The Xbox 360 has been launched with what is generally regarded as an impressive selection of new games.
With an Xbox connected to the internet via a broadband connection, "you can download new levels and new characters for your games," enthuses Rob Pait of Seagate Technology, a hard-drive maker.
Not a tie was in sight.Microsoft has been playing up the multimedia credentials of the existing Xbox 360.
The two main consoles the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 are both reaching the end of their life cycles.
