PlayStation 4's NBA game is a favorite among these teens. But some PlayStation 4 games are strictly off-limits. You can block kids from playing those games with the parental controls.
But in Consumer Reports labs, testers discovered there is other content you can't easily restrict.
Carol Mangis of Consumer Reports says, "The PlayStation 4 lets gamers stream live streams of any game they're playing, including adult games or mature-rated games. Kids can view these live streams, and they can comment on them and view other people's comments, even if you have parental controls on."
Also potentially disturbing - The Playroom. It comes pre-loaded on the PS4. Users who own the PlayStation 4's camera can use it to capture video in their own living rooms and share it across the PlayStation network.
"Anything goes. And those streams are also available to view, even if your parental controls are cranked up to the maximum limit" says Mangis.
You may feel safe if you've disabled the Internet browser in parental controls. But testers found that didn't block the live-streamed video either.
Sony's website does provide instructions for blocking the live stream or "user-generated" content.
Mangis says, "It involves setting up what Sony calls a sub-account for your child. And we found that it wasn't a very intuitive process."
