Parents' guide to games consoles: How to make an Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo Switch safe and secure

pocket-lint.com:

(Pocket-lint) — As entertainment technology offers kids more ways to connect, it is important that parents understand the risks and how to safely get the most out of these devices in the home.

So before choosing between different games consoles or booting them up for the first time, it is important to know what kind of connected interactions and services are available, and what a child is able to access.

If you understand what each console is capable of, you can rest safe in the knowledge that the new console is being used responsibly. Forewarned is forearmed, so to speak.

Beyond the interactive gaming experiences, apps and services are available on PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, and Xbox One. These enable users to stream video and audio from a wide range of providers and share voice, video and recorded gameplay content.

This can range from spoken communication with other players in a game to sharing images on social networks.

The PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One can each also access video content via video streaming apps, such as " rel="" target="_blank">Now TV, BBC iPlayer, " rel="" target="_blank">Netflix and " rel=«noopener» target="_blank">Amazon Prime Video. The Nintendo Switch has just a couple of services, YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Allowable access to any of these will vary from family to family. Therefore, it’s important that parents spend time with the console when it first enters the home — before the kids are let loose on it — to set-up accounts and access for each family member.

Most streaming video services have their own restrictions and settings for parents to explore. Netflix, for example, has different profiles for different family members that can restrict content to specific age groups.