One of the complaints parents often levy against videogames is the amount of time that children spend playing them. Now, when I was a kid, my parents set clear boundaries as to when it was appropriate for me to play and for how long. But for some parents who may not choose to take full responsibility for the proper raising of their child, Nintendo is considering some new options.
A recent investor conference call with Nintendo has revealed that the company has considered taking steps to allow parents more control over the amount of time games are played. Satoru Iwata explained that such features as an automatic shutdown of the system after a pre-determined length of time were considered for the Wii but decided against to prevent interrupting the experience should the player be at a particularly dramatic moment and opted instead to simply display usage data.
Iwata went on to say that Nintendo is looking into more parental control options in their upcoming handheld 3DS system, but have yet to decide on whether to incorporate the Wii’s time-logging system or something more direct.
I want to say that having more options is a good thing. I just hate the idea it represents, that parents need technological solutions to control their children’s behavior. Whatever happened to a nice birch switch?
Nintendo considering parental lock for 3DS [CVG]
