US president Barack Obama has piped up about games consoles again, picking on the Xbox and getting some agreement from Microsoft.

In a speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Obama said, “We can’t tell our kids to do well in school and then fail to support them when they get home. You can’t just contract out parenting. For our kids to excel, we have to accept our responsibility to help them learn.

"That means putting away the Xbox — putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour. It means attending those parent-teacher conferences and reading to our children and helping them with their homework."

Microsoft, apparently realising that if you can't beat 'em you should probably join 'em, responded with, “We agree with President Obama that it’s a time for families to work together so that kids use media in ways that are safe, healthy and balanced. Xbox 360 is the only console gaming system that has a timer feature allowing parents to set time limits for their kids, as well as parent controls to enable parents to set limits on what their kids are playing and watching.”

Microsoft might have a bit of brown on its nose, but Epic's Cliffy B wasn't taking it lying down. Oh no. "Srsly, Obama, quit hating on the Xbox. Ps this weekend is going to be great", he tweeted. It's unclear whether the last bit was also for Obama (are those two pals?) or more of a general statement.

Obama also thinks kids should step away from games consoles for the good of their health.

Here's footage of the speech.