Nintendo blocking 18+ rated Wii U eShop content at certain times

[Wii]

Nintendo blocking 18+ rated Wii U eShop content at certain times

 

"The times during which this content can be viewed have been restricted."

 

Nintendo of Europe blocks access to 18-rated content on the Wii U eShop at certain times of day, system messages suggest.

 

Users are unable to access trailers for 18-rated Wii U games or buy 18-related content.

 

The issue first came to light after a NeoGAF user experienced the issue and contacted Nintendo of Italy's customer support.

 

"Dear customer," a Nintendo representative replied, "we would like to let you know that Nintendo has always aimed to offer gameplay experiences suited to all age groups, observing carefully all the relevant regulations regarding content access that are present in the various European countries.

 

"We have thus decided to restrict the access to content which is unsuitable to minors (PEGI) to the 11pm - 3am time window."

 

Eurogamer has just tested this and it appears to be true. We were unable to access Assassin's Creed 3 information or buy ZombiU digitally.

 

"You cannot view this content," a message reads. "The times during which this content can be viewed have been restricted."

 

There messages appear for user accounts on which no parental controls have been set.

 

Eurogamer has contacted Nintendo for more information and will update when we hear back.

 

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-07-nintendo-blocking-18-rated-wii-u-eshop-content-at-certain-times

 

Well done Nintendo. Another capital retarded decision.

 

What is the point of having parental controls if you can't use them? What if you work nights? Access stops at 3 a.m? Right because that's the time kids get up at. What will publishers think of having a 4 hour window to sell their games? Always one step forward, three steps backwards with Nintendo. There are so many things wrong with this. I predict this will be dropped within a week. It's already causing a huge uproar. This will really attract the hardcore crowd and do wonders to eradicate that kiddie image of theirs.

Edited December 7, 2012 by Wii

[not_so_tiny]

You already posted this in the general discussion thread. Didn't you think enough people would see you slating Nintendo again?

[Jonnas]

There messages appear for user accounts on which no parental controls have been set.

 

Wait, only when parental controls haven't been set? And is this just on Europe, or does it happen in the US, too? The article only mentions NoE.

 

Either way, I'm sure that enough complaining will get that limit extended.

[Wii]

You already posted this in the general discussion thread. Didn't you think enough people would see you slating Nintendo again?

 

I did but then thought this deserves it's own thread and general discussion thread will be onto pg.238 soon and swallowed up and missed by many.

 

Please try to defend this decision?

 

For your information, I own every Nintendo console system and handheld bar the 3DS. I even bought the NintendoLand deluxe Wii U bundle despite my better judgement but I'd never missed a launch before so...... They make some stupid decisions and I don't have to praise everything they do when a lot of them are clearly wrong. This included. So try harder tiny!

[Rummy]

You already posted this in the general discussion thread. Didn't you think enough people would see you slating Nintendo again?

 

I don't want to spark it further, but please don't post like this. It's inflammatory and on topic with discussions elsewhere(gen chit chat) about why people actually come to these forums; it's been often mentioned that one draw is that we DON'T tend to have people acting like this.

 

Topic is a worthy point, as I for one don't frequent the general discussion topic much. However, surely this isn't that big of news; don't they currently do similar on the 3DS for some content? I'm sure I've seen at least both canand and Mokong mention it before. It's a bizarre thing to do, but currently it doesn't affect me so not fussed. Have Nintendo ever reasoned as to why it's done, though?

 

EDIT:Jesus, 11pm-3am?! That's a pretty silly window.

[Wii]

Wait, only when parental controls haven't been set? And is this just on Europe, or does it happen in the US, too? The article only mentions NoE.

 

Either way, I'm sure that enough complaining will get that limit extended.

 

It's just Europe I think. This limit exists regardless of parental controls being set.

[LegoMan1031]

I tested it on mine and the restriction is indeed there.

 

I even set up parental controls but allowed access for everything.... it still doesn't work.

 

 

It's really silly. So for ppl who own Black Ops 2, you could only download dlc between them times etc (just as an example).

 

Not everyone is awake between them times to download 18+ items.

[not_so_tiny]

I don't want to spark it further, but please don't post like this. It's inflammatory and on topic with discussions elsewhere(gen chit chat) about why people actually come to these forums; it's been often mentioned that one draw is that we DON'T tend to have people acting like this.

 

Yeah I apologise. Crossed the line. Sorry.

 

As for the topic in hand. I can see where Nintendo are coming from, but it'll need a lot of refinement. Nintendo have always been protective like this and this seems a bit too extreme. Hopefully they'll sort it out.

[Sheikah]

Are Nintendo for real? It always feels to me like there is one guy in charge of these Nintendo anti-adult decisions, someone who makes his kids go to sleep at 7PM and forces them to watch songs of praise.

[Ville]

Are Nintendo for real? It always feels to me like there is one guy in charge of these Nintendo anti-adult decisions, someone who makes his kids go to sleep at 7PM and forces them to watch songs of praise.

 

Exactly. This is so retarded I don't even know what to say anymore...

[Rummy]

I tested it on mine and the restriction is indeed there.

 

I even set up parental controls but allowed access for everything.... it still doesn't work.

 

 

It's really silly. So for ppl who own Black Ops 2, you could only download dlc between them times etc (just as an example).

 

Not everyone is awake between them times to download 18+ items.

 

Even if I were awake, I don't think I *would* download at those times. I don't often game after a certain time of the eve, if I do it's handheld. It's only if I'm already on/playing and spillover that I'll be up playing late. To have to specifically set aside a time between 11pm and 3am just to download stuff is ridiculous, and not gonna happen for me.

 

If they already have parent controls on the system, why not just go by those?

[not_so_tiny]

It feels like Nintendo are treating the eShop like a tv channel with a watershed, they are looking at it completely wrong. If anything is going to turn off third party developers...

[Ramar]

Exactly. This is so retarded I don't even know what to say anymore...

 

This, I'm lost for words at home stupid this is.

[Cookyman]

Read all about it - Nintendo censors internet!

 

[Grazza]

I can just imagine someone trying to watch a Ninja Gaiden video before 11pm. It fails, so they watch violence on TV and porn on the web browser instead!

[Retro_Link]

Yeah this is rediculous!

And at least if they are gonna do it, stick with the standard 9pm-6am watershed hours or whatever!

Edited December 7, 2012 by Retro_Link

[-Dem0-]

This could've been avoided by allowing the user to input their age as a required field when creating their NNID.

 

There may come a time where this causes major problems for a lot of gamers.

 

EDIT: Holy crap! I just noticed that the time slot was 11pm - 3am....Thats terrible!

[Lens of Truth]

This does seem absurd. What are parental controls for then?? Sometimes Nintendo can be so bonkers and anal.

 

This could've been avoided by allowing the user to input their age as a required field when creating their NNID.

We did have to put in our date of birth.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I have to laugh at Nintendo's idea of the watershed on this one. 11pm til 3? If that is the case, then I would dread to be one of Iwata's kids. :p

 

This is insane, though. Like it's been already been mentioned, simply having the parental controls linked in to this kind of thing would solve so many issues. It shouldn't really be Nintendo's business to limit users in this way.

[Rummy]

It feels like Nintendo are treating the eShop like a tv channel with a watershed, they are looking at it completely wrong. If anything is going to turn off third party developers...

 

I hadn't even thought of it from a 3rd party PoV, hopefully it'll be removed and it won't come to that. I'd love to hear some official reasoning on this, I find it amazing such a decision can pass through the company...successfully!

[Lens of Truth]

This is another reason we need a general purpose Wii U community on Miiverse, so we can flood them with complaints about this sort of thing, otherwise they're just in blissful ignorance.

 

Now personally I don't give a monkey's about this issue, as fun as it is to throw our arms in the air. But for example we would be able to give feedback about technical issues, like freezing, random lack of headphone compatibility in certain games and a zombie A/V stereo output.

[Cookyman]

Great strategy Nintendo - let's restrict customers from buying 18+ titles on the eshop for 83% of each day.

 

Did Iwata go blind recently because you have to be visually impaired to not see that's a fucking stupid idea.

 

Bye bye 3rd party indie games!

 

Doctor Iwata Doom strikes again!

 

[Dcubed]

This is the same restriction as on 3DS, which blocks you from watching 18 rated videos until a certain time. The part about it blocking access to the game's page or the ability to purchase it however is completely different and unacceptable.

 

That being said, it looks more like a bug than an intended feature, as there's no such block on 3DS and seems to be limited to Europe only. I'd expect this to be fixed in due course.

[D_prOdigy]

Why did it take people so long to notice this?

 

It was one of first little weird things I noticed on launch day.

 

Let's be honest, no-one in here cares about it as much as they're letting on. Or maybe someone did want to download ZombiU for £55, I don't know.

[khilafah]

why do nintendo love giving themselves bad press?

 

keep making it harder for 360/PS3 gamers to switch over!

 

Honestly I dont understand what happens at Nintendo HQ's..