18-Rated Content on Wii U eShop Only Accessible for Four Hours a Day

Alright. I'll all about keeping kids away from stuff they shouldn't be around. Honestly. I don't think kids should be playing Zombie U anyway. But I'm not so sure this is the way to do it. probably going to make people mad.

Well, it makes some sense, but I see how it could be a hassle. If you change the time on your system to 11, would you be able to download stuff then?

Haha, Nintendo continues with "kiddy image".

It seems like a good idea to me. Here in NA, parents readily buy M-rated games for their kids and personally, I think that is despicable. I say good job, Nintendo!

@Ideal_Hero No, the shop server would have a clock to regulate this.

I appreciate that they care about this, but it's going to irritate a lot of people.

@pixelman - Thanks. That's interesting to know. I'm not sure if it's in effect in the U.S., though. I'll check later.

"Well, it makes some sense", "It seems like a good idea to me".

Are you people INSANE!? It's the most ridiculous idea I've heard yet for this new console, how can you possibly defend it? You know you can still love Nintendo more than anything in the world and still think things they do are absolutely ridiculous.

I mean I'm an adult and I'm generally asleep by 11pm anyway! They can't dictate to adults when they can buy something. It's just crazy.

Hehe... this is hilarious. They couldn't have the eshop check a parental setting on the console to verify what content is allowed?

This is so stupid.

I love Nintendo but this is crazy, so say I want to dowload one of those games ive got to wait till after 11pm.....they need to change this and change it fast......they aint gonna win over hardcore gamers pulling crap like this......like bezerker99 said they are keeping this kiddy image.....I can understand the reasons behind it but they need to find a different sloloution to the problem!!! Nintendo needs to grow up I think...

@photofool83 I agree and honestly what 18-30 goes to bed before 11pm? Seriously it's 3:00AM here and I'm just going to bed. I really don't see an issue with this. If you want the game buy it at 11pm and let it download overnight, it's going to take a while anyway. The only problem is kids know how to use the internet better than their parents so they probably have already read this article and will just download the game at 11pm.

Also for all the adults who go to sleep before 11PM go to the local store and buy the game. How hard is that? People are having a fit and this really doesn't affect that many people. The eshop sales in Europe are abysmal anyway because you can get the retail versions of most Wii U games considerably cheaper anyway so for the people that really want to pay more for ZombiU to have it on their HDD having to purchase it after 11PM will hardly be the deal breaker.

I said it made some sense, not that I agreed with or enjoyed it. I believe that that type of control could be better handled than with time constraints. I mean, some dorky 12 year old is going to go to a friends house for a sleepover, and stay up and download games like this. A better system should be implemented.

unnecessary

Clever thinking Nintendo. Most people can make that hour, start the download and go sleep if they are old enough for the rating. Some might get by sure but it should block a lot of people who are below the rating.

"I mean, some dorky 12 year old is going to go to a friends house for a sleepover, and stay up and download games like this. A better system should be implemented."

Yep, it's called parenting.

I give Nintendo credit for having a family friendly system but isn't the perantal controls enough? Anyway, doubt this is a system that is going to be there for long.

@madgear - Exactly! If parents watch what video games their children buy or receive, there shouldn't be a problem.

Absolute madness. The system already has perfectly good parental control facilities in place, this adds nothing except irritating a lot of potential customers. The sooner they get rid of this, the better.

i love nintendo, but this is so stupid
oh no.. a 13year old could look at trailers or purchase 18rated content
but theres so much blood in them, that's horrible...

sigh get over it, it's just a video game, who cares
i dont even have kids and i want to be able to download/view content whenever i feel like it

you know actually all of this is the fault of dumb parents... trying to "protect" their children from playing violent video games, or from preventing their 14+ year old kids from watching porn

"oh no... if my son plays these violent video games.. i think it'll affect his life.. i have to protect him"
"oh no.. my 14 year old son/daughter mastrubates to porn....... that's so horrible"

get the fk over it, you know what time we're living in?
also there are so many parental controls in Nintendo systems, so whats the problem anyway?

at least we can play our (downloaded) games whenever we want to..
sigh

I agree with Nintendo's goal, but their means is going way too far.

Too bad for people with night jobs...

But this isn't just downloads. It's any content that is rated 18. No looking at the information page. No watching the videos.
It is nannying. Parents should be responsible for their kids, not Nintendo.

Let the parents do the parenting Nintendo

Sorry Stu, but while you make your chocolate pudding at 4 a.m. in the morning, you can't download 18-Rated Content on the Wii U eShop.

Wow, this seems a little extreme, but wii don't want kids downloading 18-Rated Content, parents should be looking at what there kids play, but this doesn't apply for me luckily.

You know who I feel sorry for? Those poor people who are so up Nintendo's ass that they're trying to defend this policy.

It is absolutely insane that NOE would try, as @madgear puts it, to dictate when grown men and women can purchase certain games. Absolutely bonkers!

unless your 7, this won't work they will just downlad the game within the proper time. And I agree with those who say that parents should just do parenting. My parents do it, I need to ask about every game I buy. I've met kids that aren't older than 10 who are telling me about Mortal Kombat and Black Ops, and I just find it rediculous that their parents let them play those games

The is just getting ridiculous now, Nintendo.

The VERY LEAST you could do is make it clear that it's restricted because of some kind of watershed, explain why and give people an indication of when it is available for download.

I mean COME ON!.

This is nothing more than Nintendo covering their own ass because they've realized that no matter how many parental control options they put on the system, lazy parents that don't know how to do that pesky parenting thing will buy their kid any electronic babysitter they want, and then later lash out at video games when their kid starts saying things from said babysitter because heaven forbid they take any responsibility.

The simple fact that Nintendo felt the need that it HAD to do this says worlds about the issue, and yes, this is incredibly stupid and most spoiled kids will find a way around it eventually anyway. So hopefully this nonsense goes out the door soon. I just wish Nintendo had the balls to address the issue rather than come up with solutions that make it seem like they want to be a more responsible parent than the actual parent.

It's funny because we are all blaming Nintendo but it is obviously a response to the individual classification authorities of a variety of European countries. Obviously Nintendo have taken a more hard line approach than their competitors but this isn't happening in America or Australia so there must be a specific reason why it's happening in Europe. It could have something to do with Anders Breivick who knows? Australia's videogame classification board have only recently implemented an R18+ classification, before that certain games weren't even released in Australia. Even DOA: D was removed from shelves to be reclassified because the Australian classification board thought you could look up Kasumi's skirt and that was pornographic! I'm not saying I agree with it but it is obviously Nintendo trying to avoid a lawsuit.

@akabenjy

Yes but it's Nintendo's fault that it looks like an error. The least Nintendo could do is make it clear why the content is restricted and when people will be able to access it.

Even when I was 3 I was often staying up long after my parents had gone to bed, so I think this is a pretty useless restriction. Kids will be more likely to figure out how to download these games than adults will.

@Kirk Yeah that is fair enough. Shibata should have mentioned it in the NOE Nintendo Direct.

OK - big stupid question, you can only DL this from 11PM - 4AM, but can you play it all day right? If so, what's the point?

Here's my PS3 parenting - all my games are in a folder marked "ADULT", the kids don't play those. And if they did, so what, they're playing video games. Playing video games of any kind is the least of my worries, I'm too busy dealing w/ CO and WA pot laws. Which I happen to personally agree w/, but it's difficult explaining "Don't drive while you're stoned" to my kids.

Well they should have an age verification system.

This is LAME. People who have kids can use parental controls, this is why the console comes with parental control in the first place. And, it really doesn't stop kids from viewing the games, actually, if the parents are so lazy that they don't bother with the parental controls anyway, the kids probably can play the mature games their parents buy whenever they want. And what is up with not being able to view it or buy it between 3 am and 6 am? Really? Kids should absolutely be sleeping at that time of night.

Nintendo, that's why parents are there.
My parents don't let me buy games without checking it themselves first. Nintendo shouldn't put restrictions like these.

But on the other side, if you want a 18+ game, just walk to the store and get it.

I think this is half-right and half-wrong.

This seems a little over the top to me. If it were X-rated, OK. But as others have said, a 17-year-old could just as easily walk to GameStop and buy the retail copy.

This is stupid. Parental controls are already fine, no need to add any more arbitrary restrictions that can easily be bypassed.

But it's the same with 3DS where I couldn't download or even open the folder with MGS 3D Snake Eater on normal hours, but after 11pm a miracle had happened and everything was fine. I don't understand Nintendo at all...in the future they're gonna force us to send them e-mails or somethin, just to be able to watch trailers or download games from eShop....=_=

Oh come on Nintendo, this is just ridiculous. No wonder Nintendo still can't be taken seriously because of cr*p like this. At least NOA is not that stupid.

Wow. That's actually a really clever idea. Inconvenient, sure, but still pretty clever. I mean, kids willing to lie about their age would probably also be willing/allowed to stay up that late, or sneak a quick purchase on the Wii U while their parents sleep, but younger kids will have more difficulty with this.

I can see where this is coming from, but I think even a 9pm-5am window would be an improvement. It's a wee bit parochial for my liking, and surely it falls to the parents to ensure they're happy with what their offspring are downloading, but like I say, there is merit to this.

edit: I suspect this is a temporary measure until more robust controls can be brought in place. Actually, scrap that — this is Nintendo we're talking about.

Drastic, but since parents dont seem to GAF about parental controls its probably a necessary procedure...

This is absolute garbage. Why even put accounts asking your age into place then? Isn't it the responsibility of the PARENTS to check what their children are accessing?! That's really awesome. So little Johnny cannot download Zombi U he rather goes to bed watching porn on his iPhone...

Sorry Nintendo but this is just pure bullcrap and since it isn't in all countries, just europe I bet it's due to the rediculously strong regulations in germany.

People, parents, GROW UP. That's YOUR job to do, not Nintendos.
And as someone commented about me, here goes all that KIDDY IMAGE again. In a year 3rd party support will drop, we will drown in shovelware and cannot download the 10-or-soish mature games online, even if we're a 40 year old male locked into a basement.

Awesome.

And another thing, people with a slow internet connection won't even be able to download big games during that 4 hours. Thats just pure bull. Whats wrong about parental controls, they work on all other consoles as well...
.. oh yeah right it takes parents actual giving a poop about their offspring.

This is ridiculous! I guess they just see how loose parenting is these days.

When I was a kid, I had to ask if I could play Nintendo. And I was limited to my time as well.

But, times have changed. And it's our decisions that affect these type of factors.

At least I can say Nintendo cares more about the children then some parents do in terms of desensitizing.

@akabenjy
PS3 and XBOX are just fine, even in european countries. What's even worst is, I'm living in austria and we don't have as strict rules to who buys/watches what but often we're getting thrown into the same pot of worthless minor-protection-laws of germany.

Don't get me wrong. I'm 30, I want to buy/access whatever I want, WHEN I want and not suffer because Nintendo has to take a step back to "care" for the children of iresponsible crap parents, basicly doing their job just to not piss off germany.

@bezerker99
Well, would you like to see kids playing highly violent games and cursing each other out online in others?

And on another note, I still doubt that "mature" games can damage a well educated and well cared-for child's mind. But besides, like what many of you already commented on, sick pricing, no manual/box, restriction on mature games downloadability, lol that's pretty laughable for 2012 on-demand gaming service.

Hm...this seems to be a problem specific to Nintendo of Europe, hardly the whole company itself. Nintendo of America and Japan have no such problem. I know they have to be given a bit of free reign for their on region but this does seem redundant.

I have to agree on the parenting aspect, though I have very little faith in that idea by itself.

@Koto He's joking. Frankly, if he was serious (or trolling), he wouldn't have bothered with the "haha"

Some parents have no clue when it comes to parental control let alone how to work a console. "WiiU? That's nice dear." "ZombieU? Play nice now dear"

This still seems very excessive to me. I think the option should be available should parents choose to use it, but it should be a parental control option, (such as "Allow this console to view mature content? Yes/No"). You could have it set to No by default. Personally I would find adjusting the options far less irritating than only being given a 4-hour window to download. Although you can just go a store and buy a game, my concern is for future demos.

Though this line "observing carefully all the relevant regulations regarding content access that are present in the various European countries" leads me to believe that Nintendo is only conforming to regulations. I'm not familiar with European laws, but I'm assuming there is something like a product or service that is targeting towards children can only provide mature content at specific hours?

"Videogames are violent" quote, here we go again. No, seriously, I think this is just a load of bollocks. I thought Wii U had a parental control system built-in... Same deal with the 3DS. And I don't think keeping 18+ from accessing content during specific hours is going to help. It's proper censorship that. But yeah, there are not many M-rated games specific to Nintendo platforms, so I'll just stick to the PC with all my violent and gory needs. Kthxbai!

@Klinny Well, neither XBLA nor Steam have to adhere to any stupid rules.

@photofool83 I don't think certain M rated games horrible for children. It really depends on the maturity of the child and the adult. Also, it's been proven that first person shooters can help correct medical conditions such as Amblyopia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbwHsYExpho

@akabenjy What about those of us who have to wake up early to go to work?

@Klinny as a European, I know the majority of countries don't have any kind of restrictions like that in place for any of the other major download services. Even among the minor players, I can't think of a single other service that limits viewing that way.

Seemingly what's happened is that they've had to do this to comply with laws in one of the more censorious countries (Germany maybe? I don't think even they do that), but have decided to apply those restrictions to the entirely of Europe when they have no need to do so. Restrictions like that certainly should not apply to Europe as a whole.

I had to enter my date of birth for a reason, therefore I should be entitled to access 18+ content on the eShop whenever I feel like it.

Another funny thing that just occurred to me - Nintendo didn't have a problem streaming this week's 18-rated EU edition of Nintendo Direct at 5 in the afternoon. Make up your mind guys!

@akabenjy You pretty much said almost everything I was going to, well done.

Most parents imo are dumb when it comes to parenting there kids when it comes to technology. Many of them give their kids these type of devices without setting parental control or even watch how they use it. An 7 year old can say he's 18+ and have access to all the adult contents on the internet and no one would be the wiser. It's that easy. That why parents got to be more involved with their offspring(s) gadgets.

I think this is less for underage gamers and more for the parents who don't know how to do their jobs but blame others if something goes wrong and sue as punishment. Anyone still remember the parents against GTA a long time back?

I partially agree. But perhaps they could check your offline settings first. For instance, if your account is listed as 18+, requires a password to log-in, and your system has adequately-set parental controls, then that account should be able to download these type of games whenever they want.

To be honest, these style of games really don't interest me, and. . well, . it's Europe's problem. Either way, I'm unaffected.

The principle is sound(that under 18's should NOT be able to access the content) but the application is 100% wrong.

In any case, I believe the law in the UK prevents the purchase of an age restricted product by a minor, however there is no law against them actually playing it. At least that's how it was when I was growing up.

Now I'm not for one minute saying that children should be playing ZombiU or any other age restricted title, but they cannot have a method to stop them that involves restricting those that are age-appropriate for the material.

I fully expect this to be fixed sooner rather than later.

This is a useless feature if Parents are stupid enough to let their kids play M-rated games than so be it.

This isnt really a big problem, just think about it. its just in europe, its only digital games, you can easily just go out and buy the game digitally if you just cant wait to play it, and this can EASILY be fixed in an update... i doubt they will keep it for long, but it seriously isnt that big of a problem. (i live in europe btw so im not bragging)

Whats next, gamepad camera scanning your face to ensure your over 18 this is really silly

lmao, I expect no less from Nintendo. This company is utterly out of touch.

This is pretty pointless, people under 18 can still buy retail games from stores, and some hardcore gamers will actually stay up beyond 11pm, but I suppose it's a start...

I see why they do this. They don't want children and pre teens to be playing these titles and respect the PEGI. But there should be some sort of way people should buy it out of those 4 hours. Perhaps using a parental controls/Nintendo Network password?

I doubt this will stop the most determined. Although I suppose it will stop curiosity purchases.

It seems like the negatives far outweigh the positives though.

Totally ridiculous on Nintendo's part. At least in the US is fine.

What a ridiculous idea.Not sure publishers are going to be pleased with this small 4 hour window to sell their games! And I thought the benefit of digital downloads was the convinience of it.this store has worse opening hours than the high street.On the plus side though while your waitin for the eshop to open u can watch plenty of hardcore p0rn on the browser

The Playboy channel is less restrictive.

That's ridiculous... NoE's really dropped the ball on this one.

The only thing i'm really curious about this is why it's only like this in the EU. Usually it's my fellow foolish Americans that encourage a company to do something like this ... there must be some reason why this policy is limited to the EU.

What happened to to that lost art, what was it called again......oh yea, PARENTING?

Who lets their children (or anyone, for that matter) have that much access to their credit card in the first place without so much as asking permission before buying anything?

Growing up my parents understood they were just games and didn't care what I played but I couldn't get away with staying up to watch anime on weekends let alone anything else. Any minor downloading 18-rated games is either already allowed to play them or knows how to sneak them.

This is the funniest, stupidest, and saddest thing I have seen in a long time.
I'm simultaneously laughing, facepalming, and crying.

Ok I completely respect the concept of restricting content to certain hours. The problem is that I'm a bouncer & my wife's a nurse. I'm at work during these times & my wife does 13 hour shifts 7.30-8.30 ( know way she's awake at 11pm). I've also got two young kids, so I understand the need for parental controls on games. This situation has completely negated my ability to download adult rated items on the Wii U eShop. Though I have to admit I'm in a rather unique situation, still I'm a bit gutted.

If I can quote this post from GN, as taken from a Nintendo email:

"Legal age restriction requirements vary across a number of European countries. Since Nintendo of Europe is based in Germany, Nintendo eShop is complying with German youth protection regulation which therefore applies to all our European markets. Under German law, content rated 18+ must be made available only at night."

Nintendo would have to either move their offices or their servers - or both - out of Germany in order to avoid this. It might be possible to lift the sanction in all EU countries excluding Germany, or it might not. We don't know, but to place all blame on Nintendo is unfair - though unsurprising, given how many people take so much pleasure in attacking it.

This is so effing awesome and I love Nintendo. If the gamer is really "hardkore" they shouldn't have trouble staying up till 11:00 to buy real games. Nintendo is the best

This is borderline ridiculous.

It's up to parents to decide what kids can download. My kids have a 3DS each and both have parental locks, both my kids have an account on the eShop and they both have parental locks and they work like a charm (tested playing Darksiders II under their accounts to make sure it works).

The two other reasons this is ridiculous:

PEGI vs OFLC (not called this anymore but just for arguments sake)
ZombiU is rated 18+ in Europe, we don't have an 18+ rating so it's rated 15+ here. Not sure if this affects us at all but my second point is that Australia is generally run by Nintendo of Europe and it's letting me access all the ZombiU content with no problems whatsoever.

This is stupid.

This doesn't affect me considering I don't live in Europe. But anyway, there's a bigger issue at hand here! With the steadily increasing availability of the internet, it's really hard to censor what you or your children play/look at. Many parents don't realize that porn is a huge problem, especially with adult males, and many teens as well. If you buy your kid an iPhone 5 or some other web-enabled mobile device/gaming system, they have constant access to whatever they want, and it's easy to hide what they've been looking at. Many people don't intend to become addicted to bad stuff on the internet, but once they experiment with it or happen to stumble upon it by chance, it's hard to stop, and as with any addiction, it can destroy your life. And concerning the Wii U, kids can just buy the 18+ rated games at a retail store, or have a friend buy it for them if they're too young. This can only be prevented by the parents. If they use strict parental controls on ALL electronic devices in the home that can access mature content, then their kids will have a much better chance of not being exposed to all the filth online.

Boy, am I glad this doesn't affect America.

Can't you just change the Wii U's internal clock and/or your location in Miiverse? The block sounds like it's tied to one of those...

Just a thought

Europeans can set their console to be "Australian" upon initial setup right? Wouldn't that be a work around?

Errm I have a question...
Don't you need a debit card or something similar to download these titles? Do 12 year olds actually have the means of buying these games anyway? Granted a parent might set one up for them but you'd think they would have to see what they were giving their children => make their own call...
I'm not exactly against the idea as it well intentioned and would have been easier to ignore but it is a massive restriction on other people.

This isn't a Nintendo problem, it's a PEGI/European problem.

I go to sleep at 10:00 every night because I have to wake up really early. I don't have a Wii U... or live in Europe for that matter, but what are people like me supposed to do?

@AJWolfTill

They have Wii U cards out just like for the Wii and 3DS, but I've only seen $50 ones. That would mean as of now the child in question would have to either buy two or use a debit or credit card. Unless their parent(s) let them buy whatever whenever they would need to ask permission for whatever 18-rated game they want which means its up to the parent.

Guys, this is only an european PEGI regulation, they think that Nintendo is for kids, not Nintendo itself.

That's even worse.

Nintendo apparently has to do this for legal reasons.

It's still stupid, though. Yes, this blocks children that go to sleep at 11PM on weekends from buying CoD: Torture Scene Ops. Yes, most people old enough to play the games will be up at that time. At the end of the day, though, it's not doing much except preventing people from buying games when they want to. It's also lowering sales. Every step you add makes some customers decide to not go ahead. That includes telling them to screw off and come back some time near midnight to get their game when they try to impulse-buy it.

Do I have to say "Yes, Daddy" at checkout too?!

I'm 15, but I usually don't get to sleep until 2-4 am anyway, so it doesn't bother me much. Still, it is pretty lame.

I think people should be more concerned about the kiddies getting on the Internet Channel and watching filth at any time of the day or night (it's out there people, and a lot of streaming sites don't even have any filters or age restriction popups on them), as opposed to restrictions to mature games content between 11-3.

Pfft, Nintendo never ceases to amaze me with such archaic restrictions,
Anything Nintendo does is ok to the Nintendrones I guess.

"Only accessible for four hours a day"? Does that mean once downloaded, they're still unplayable outside that time frame? Either way, it's really stupid. That's what Parental Controls are for! I'd be shocked if a future patch doesn't change this. There's gotta be enough outcry before too long to pressure Nintendo to do something. I love Nintendo, but there's no excuse for this.

And I question the "blame PEGI" or "legal reasons" defense. Are there similiar things blocking under-18 purchases on XBox and PS3? I'm sure I would've heard about it by now, and there'd be a similiar outcry if that was the case.

This is just stupid. I cannot see any rational defence for this. There are parental controls for playing the games, so why not leverage that for the eShop: prompt for PIN just like when I fire up Samurai WarrIors 3 in Wii mode.

Which brings me to another reason this makes no sense: it only applies to 18-rated games - 16-rated titles have NO RESTRICTION. What's rated 16 in eShop? Call of Duty Black Ops. So I'm supposed to believe that it's okay for minors to view trailers or download demos (the only reason to have this restriction in the first place) for games in which you routinely blow people's heads off in a simulated war, but zombies and simulated 18th century warfare isn't?

I'm sure despite the BS explanation the real reason is that nobody bothered to implement parental controls for simply viewing content in the eShop, only for making purchases of it. I'd wager if I wanted to purchase a 16-rated game I'd get prompted for the PIN I set, but I can watch all the trailers I want for said content without. The real solution then would be to patch the eShop.

Really this is the stupidest thing I've heard of in a long time.

@evildevil97 Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Microsoft Studios Europe are both based in the UK, so don't need to apply German laws to their online stores as Nintendo apparently does (if that is indeed the explanation).

Next step for Nintendo is to work with PEGI and possibly even consult with German courts to try and lift this restriction elsewhere.

This is beyond stupid. Why in the world would they do this? Kids could just, oh I don't know, stay up late. It wouldn't be uncommon. All this is doing is making the convenience bad for consumers that just want to get a game.

That's disgusting. Poor show Nintendo, poor show.

question: does this include RETAIL purchases? You CAN still buy these games in stores, correct? cause I know there's that ZOMBIIU Wii U bundle, right?

This DOES suck--but it's no where NEAR as bad as the PS3 being ILLEGAL to buy/sell in Europe last year--due to it infringing on LG's Blueray patent--and at least the games ARE still available...

Doesn't matter to me, but then again I live in US

Another mess up from Nintendo regarding the Wii u! Parental control (like on the Wii) would have worked just fine!!

Huh... That's odd. You would think that Parental Controls were used to address this situation. This certainly isn't helping Nintendo's claim to support more mature audiences. Some people do work night shift too, so they can't just access this any time either. Well, I'm hoping this does stop for Europe soon, and that it doesn't come to America.

I think this Nintendo is just following advice from their legal department. For example, in Germany it is not allowed to ship 18 rated content to customers by mail unless customers are present at delivery, show their ID to the delivery man and sign the reception of the goods. In some European countries certain content is only allowed to be broadcasted on television after certain a time. Nintendo Europe as a Germany based company is just trying to find a way to include these regulations into their shop system in order to avoid any legal trouble.

@akabenjy "honestly what 18-30 goes to bed before 11pm? Seriously it's 3:00AM here and I'm just going to bed."

Who goes to bed at that time? How about responsible adults who work early next day? If you have a different job schedule (heck, if you even have a job), then good for you, but the great majority of people who keep a country running do it because they rise early, and they don't have the luxury of staying so late.

I really think this is dumb behavior. Not only it does absolutely nothing to prevent minors downloading a mature game (specially since an adult was needed to purchase it anyway), but it's a hindrance on working adults. It's like DRM, it only hurts legitimate users while doing nothing to prevente illegitimate use.

I love Nintendo, but I refuse to defend this practice, because it's stupid.

Nanny Nintendo.

Third party sales will just be skyrocketed by this tactic. Come on guys, it makes total sense to do this. #sarcasm