As for who said or did it first does not matter. If we want to stake who is the first and true king of "family friendly" video games, then I would posit Nintendo with the NES, the Super Mario cartoons, the Super mario pajamas and bed spreads, the Super Mario cereal and on.
The division that were present in the 1980s and 1990s have never died. Rather, those raising the "hardcore" banner are new faces. Back in the golden days, they were raising Atari and Sega banners. Nowadays, it is a weird motley of PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Same war, different soldiers.
The only ones truly profiting from this divide are the 3rd party companies. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo would pay billions for a copyrighted logo saying "The One and Only Family Entertainment System." Publishers are pulling a Switzerland by staying neutral and just profiting from both sides.
I think Ballmer's statement is over the top as expected from a higher up plugging his company in an interview. This being said, it is about damn time Microsoft changed gears. Too bad it took Kinect to do it, which makes me question their dedication to "family friendly" entertainment.
