Wii almost had parental control timer

by Chris Greenhough { Feb 28th 2008 at 10:30PM }

Speaking at the recent Game Developers Conference, Nintendo's Takashi Aoyama revealed that the Wii very nearly shipped with a tantrum-inducing, Xbox 360-style parental control timer, designed so that our mums and dads could make sure we weren't getting square eyes.

In fact, one of the biggest supporters of this feature was supposedly Satoru Iwata himself, who was keen for Nintendo's console not "to be seen as an enemy in the household." Eventually, however, an alternative way of monitoring use was found: the play history list that we're all now familiar with.

Said Aoyama: "Instead of instituting some play limit ... this allowed parents to monitor and discuss how much their children were playing ... this is why you can't erase the play history on the console."

Interesting! Any parents/kids out there who care to give their opinion on which they think works best? Also, does this mean that Iwata is something of an authoritarian with his own kids? It's difficult to imagine him being so strict and ruling with an iron fist -- just look at his happy face!

Tags: children, parents

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Wii60 @ Feb 28th 2008 11:02PM

I like the play timer idea better. Its a fair and effective way for parents to monitor their children's play time. If a parent doesn't want a kid to play for more than an hour a day, then why not give the parent the option?

It certainly is a better choice than the Wii Sports messages that say go outside and play. I'd take the option to turn off and on a play timer over that any day.

Besides, if I pause and walk away from a game, that play timer is still going. It's not very accurate.

Sonic_13 @ Feb 28th 2008 11:09PM

I don't really understand what you are saying.

You first mention that you like the play timer idea better because it is effective, but then conclude your post by saying that it is not very accurate.

I also don't your point about the messages in Wii Sports...

Wii60 @ Feb 28th 2008 11:11PM

Right, my bad, somehow the concepts got mixed up in my head.

The play timer I like is the one that limits the time you can play.

The play timer I don't think is effective is the one that keeps track of your play time.

I just got back from the bar....haha

Sonic_13 @ Feb 28th 2008 11:15PM

Ah, ok. Now I understand you.

But won't both the play timer and the play history recorder both be equally affected by pausing and walking away?

Scorched @ Feb 28th 2008 11:13PM

Parental controls allow parents to set it and forget it instead of actually interacting with their kids. If you keep looking at what their kids are doing and how long they're doing it for, you can ask them about it, get involved, etc.

mian @ Feb 29th 2008 1:16AM

I wish they took this kind of approach to comm access and multiplayer connectivity.

The same principle applies. The Wii does not and cannot protect children. At its best, it can only provide active parents with information that will allow them to protect their own children. When it institutes an absolute protection system (for everyone 2-92), and assures parents they don't need to worry about it, it actually puts children at more risk than systems which would encourage active monitoring. How many locations on the 'net to complete strangers go to share FCs (including NWF and DSF)? How long until pervs start using the promise of FCs to lure kids into internet conversations (if they haven't already)? In the meantime, the millions of adults who like Nintendo games aren't allowed to benefits of now-gen multiplayer (cause you know, we have jobs and can't spend hours mining FCs just to use these friggin games) for the sake of making Nintendo kids less safe.

Nushio (NDF - Blue) @ Feb 28th 2008 11:18PM

Iwata is an ass. 'Nuff said.

I want an online experience similar to the DS. Is that really too much to ask?

Sonic_13 @ Feb 28th 2008 11:29PM

Definitely not "'Nuff said".

What exactly makes him an "ass"? The fact that he wanted an extra feature to help parents control the amount of playtime their children get? It's what every responsible parent should do anyway.

Oh, yeah that reeaalllly makes him an ass.

Nushio @ Feb 28th 2008 11:49PM

Alright, allow me to expand that "'Nuff Said'" then.

Every time I turn on my DS and Wii, I get an annoying "Health and Safety" message. There's no longer a boot screen on the Wii.

The online experience on the Wii is lame. Very lame." You get what you pay for" is incorrect, since they've proven that you can have an enjoyable online experience with the DS.

Paying for Virtual Console titles hasn't really bothered me, but what has bothered me is that games like Contra 3 are unplayable with the Gamecube pads, they have no way of configuring the controls. While I should blame Konami for not playtesting with the Gamecube pad, Donkey Kong Country 2 and Super Mario World are games that I've bought, and have issues with the Gamecube pad, along with Sega's Gunstar Heroes.

While I'm talking about VC Titles, and seeing how the launch of the Wii Ware is so close, Nintendo's continued response to the "No Wii HDD" is extremely annoying, but then again, 640k should be more than enough for everybody, right?

While I'm already venting off, I might as well add that the lack of downloadeable content for Guitar Hero 3 is very annoying, and its entirely Wii's fault. I'm tempted more and more to buy an Xbox just to get songs from groups I like. Also GH2 had better song selection.

And just to finish off this rant, There was once a meaning behind the "Nintendo Seal of Quality", currently it means that they bought an SDK and produced cheap garbage with it, or ported a PS2 game.

After reading these words, I bet I will no longer be considered a 'Wii Fanboy', but you won't find a more passionate fan than one that can see the Flaws in his own console of choice.

Sonic_13 @ Feb 29th 2008 1:07AM

I'm interested in hearing more about why you think the Wii's online pales in comparison to the DS's.

I personally like both experiences and don't see much of a difference. If anything, I feel that the Wii's is a little better because of WiiConnect24 and all the online, constantly updated channels.

Undead Priest @ Feb 29th 2008 9:34AM

The Health & Safety message is a result of a bullshit lawsuit, and is in no way fault of Nintendo. It was a court order.

The Wii has 512 MB of onboard memory. Not 640K. Unless you're referencing the false claim that Bill Gates said 640K of memory was all anybody would ever need on a computer.

The Nintendo seal has ALWAYS meant that the game was licensed by Nintendo and would run on the hardware. It never meant the game was any good. Guess what the seal means today? The same thing it did in 1986. That the game is licensed and runs on the hardware.

hvnlysoldr @ Feb 28th 2008 11:24PM

Iwata made this clear during the first sessions of Iwata Asks way back when.

StrangeAxel @ Feb 29th 2008 1:16AM

Nushio, if you hate the GameCube pad for VC games, why the hell don't you use the the damn classic controller?

Nushio (NDF - Blue) @ Feb 29th 2008 2:18AM

I bought one, it isn't as enjoyable as you'd think, but gets the job done.
Now Its either Zapper, another Nunchuck, another Classic Pad...

Besides, I find the Gamecube pad a lot more confortable than the classic pad.

Just_a_guy @ Feb 29th 2008 1:44AM

the timer would work better if there was an "off limits" time, and that if your wii was connected to the internet, then you coudln't change the internal clock no matter how hard you tried......

ssuk @ Feb 29th 2008 8:56AM

It doesn't count from the internal clock, it would count on it's own independent counter.

ExMegalomaniac @ Feb 29th 2008 1:28PM

hmm, if i'm not mistaken
if you hold - and + down when you're at the Health/Safety screen.
it puts the Wii in a type of 'maintenance mode' and tells you the wii message board can't be used, thus not entering any game play data. and i just tested this out to see if it still works, which it still does....not? i'm fooling with it as i type this, and scratch everything i said about game play not being recorded, one of the patches must've fixed that because now once you enter a channel, any channel, you come back and the system is no longer in the 'maintenance mode'

Mr Khan @ Feb 29th 2008 2:10PM

Plus, Wii functions turn off in GC mode, so all play time is totally deactivated, and even a system timer would probably be foiled by that later on

Jayenkai @ Feb 29th 2008 6:46AM

http://wii.nintendo.com/iwata_asks_vol3_p3.jsp

^ This was mentioned AGES AGO.. It was in the original Iwata Asks stuff..
Geeze, everyone's going nuts over this.. It's OLD NEWS!!!

"I think it's best if I give a little background for this one. I've said this countless times already, but when developing Wii, I thought constantly about what we could do to stop games being regarded with hostility in the family. So I came up with a suggestion, perhaps a rather outlandish one! (laughs) What I thought was that if a parent said that their child was only allowed to play games for one hour a day, how about making it so the console actually turns itself off after an hour? I realize the head of a games company shouldn't think things like that! (laughs)"

TheOverlord#2 @ Feb 29th 2008 6:48AM

I think the timer is better for parents and the messages are better for kids.

Mr Khan @ Feb 29th 2008 9:08AM

Timer would damage the integrity of certain games (and here i'm thinking Metroid because i'm playing through MP3 right now) where you just can't save at any given point and drop the title. Super Paper Mario would have the same problem with its save blocks, To either have to backtrack when you know its about to turn off, or to just lose a bunch of progress desperately seeking the next save point is totally counter-intuitive.

James @ Feb 29th 2008 9:16AM

I think having the *option* of enforcing a limit is best, but I also like having a play history -- not only do you get to see how long they played, you'll notice if e.g. Resident Evil found its way out of Dad's desk drawer while Junior was playing.

This is what I said when the Xbox timer controls were announced, and I still think it makes sense: having a hardware-enforced timer takes the emotion out of it, and frankly I think that if you have tween or teen kids, that can only be a good thing. The console is impartial; your time runs out, and you're done. End of story. People who say "Just be a parent and enforce it yourself!" haven't thought things through. Think about it -- if you have a choice between setting a timer, then having to fight with your kids to stop playing, or just setting a policy and having it enforced by an unfeeling third party, I'd rather that the unfeeling third party gets to be the bad guy.

One thing I don't like about the current implementation of the History list on the Wii (and I think this applies to the 360 timer control as well) is that when a game is paused, the timer keeps counting down (or up, in the Wii's case). I've had hour-long Metroid sessions show up on the list as 4 or 5 hours, because I played for 10 minutes, then had to pause it and go run errands, and don't get back for a couple of hours. I think forcing kids to take their game time in big chunks runs counter to the expressed purpose of the timer. If I want Junior to take out the trash, the last thing I need is for him to tell me that he can't right now, because even if he pauses his game the timer keeps going. In the Wii's case, I can time him and subtract the difference from his final tally, but if I'm going to be timing him anyway, what's the point of the History board? With the Xbox, it's even worse, because AFAIK there's no way to add extra time to the "bank" while still in-game.

I'm just saying that if people are going to implement things like this, more power to 'em, but don't do it half-assed.

eason @ Feb 29th 2008 10:14AM

The messages are sufficient. The timer would be for parents that aren't involved in their child's life enough to even monitor their habits at home. Make parents ACTUALLY parent their kids... crazy concept, I know.

Rocketboy @ Feb 29th 2008 10:20AM

I just wish you could turn off the play history. I don't care about what games I played when. It's not like I'm going to look up last year in the calendar and remember the good old days when I spent an hour playing No More Heroes on a Tuesday.

Sisyphus @ Feb 29th 2008 11:34AM

I love the Play History messages. I'm neither a child nor have any, but I get a kick out of seeing how much I've played something recently. I've played far longer than I intended on multiple occasions, and then there's been days when I went back and noticed I hadn't even turned the Wii on. I'd actually like the messages to incorporate some kind of line graph so I could see my game play times and total powered on times over the course of the week and month.