Microsoft

Microsoft is making a 20-city bus tour to promote video-game safety.

Tomorrow in New York City, Microsoft is planning to launch a campaign and a 20-city bus tour aimed at teaching parents how to make video and computer games safer for children.

It's definitely a big area of concern for parents, what with stories of hidden sex scenes and rampant violence showing up in video games. Microsoft says it will be reaching out to parents, educating them about video game ratings (do you know the difference between an "M" and a "T"?) and touting the parental controls feature of the Xbox 360 video game console.

Microsoft

Inside the video-game bus.

It's no coincidence that the campaign is timed to the holiday sales season, where parents could be choosing between the Xbox 360 and new consoles by rivals Sony and Nintendo. Bach said he hopes that Microsoft's business will benefit from the campaign as well.

But the campaign is scheduled to last beyond the holidays and into 2007, and the tour stops in Seattle sometime next May. All campaign events are being held at local Boys & Girls Clubs of America, which is a partner in the effort along with Best Buy. The tour has the rather unmemorable title of "Safety is no game. Is your family set?"

Microsoft is unveiling the bus at the DigitalLife consumer technology conference in New York. For more information you can access the company's site here.