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I think it's worth taking a look at the parental controls that Nintendo put in for the Switch. They have a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03bAayB

I think it's worth taking a look at the parental controls that Nintendo put in for the Switch. They have a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03bAayBtcb0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03bAayBtcb0 I think it's worth watching, if for no other reason than to see Bowser & Bowser Jr.. iOS app link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1190074407 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1190074407 Play store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nintendo.znma https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nintendo.z... For me, the only annoyance is that the controls apply to the entire console, not to individual users of the console. But, that makes sense as things are today, since I don't think there's any way to authenticate individual users every time someone wants to use the console. Also, that may conflict with the way that games stay "running" most of the time, even when you come back to the console later.

thalesmello 9y ago
I was delighted to find out Nintendo took the care to approach this issue the way they did. If I had children, I would definitely buy a Nintendo Switch for them because of their focus in this aspect. Since I don't have any, I bought the Switch for myself instead. =)
- SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
  Its also the most pro-social council out there and its just fantastic all around. Its like they took all the greatness that was budgeted for the WiiU and pushed it off on the Switch.
- Pigo 9y ago
  I bought the switch for my 6 year old son for Christmas, his first console, because it was geared for younger kids and had these controls. <s>Unfortunately</s> it seems most of the games are really still aimed at 10+, so I've had to start playing the games with him.
  - parasubvert 9y ago
    My 7 year old finished Zelda several times without a lot of help (mostly early on we helped to show how to cook, etc) ... I do recommend Super Mario odyssey or Lego City though - may be more age appropriate.
    - Pigo 9y ago
      Odyssey is what we just started playing, the two player is perfect because he can just control the hat, and we work together. He's just never played many video games before, apart from some Roblox. Lego is what I probably should have gotten. I bought the Pokemon game because he liked the fighting, but there's way more to it than I thought.
      - parasubvert 9y ago
        The Pokémon game is fun but yes, I’ve heard a lot of screaming over it :)
mistercow 9y ago
While there are obvious concerns about the effects of spending too much time playing video games, it doesn't seem like people are focusing much on the possible psychological impact of the kind of surveillance that modern technology affords parents. Kids need some privacy to explore and express themselves, and I'm worried that as we try to let parents take their natural risk aversion to further and further extremes, we're going to hamper that.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  Limiting device usage electronically or physically is a far cry away from snooping on your kids’ browsing or messaging histories. As far as intrusions go, this is a level 0. As a kid, we were limited by technology, so no limits were needed (SMB just wasn’t that replayable, and the TI/99 was even worse). Perhaps the solution to creativity here is to simply give your kids older computers to play with.
  - thomastjeffery 9y ago
    If my parents had limited my amount of time spent using a computer or paying video games, I would never have gone down the path that led me to here. I have extended family who have done this, and the difference is palpable.
    - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
      Me too, but back then, computers required much more intellectual work to get some satisfaction out of them. Today, you can just consume intensively on an iPad, and never learn anything about computers.
      - scotty79 9y ago
        I have a childhood friend who played as much on the computer as I did. He even wrote some simple games himself (as I did) but he is not a software developer now and I am. You can give hundred kids lego technic and most of them won't become engineers.
drivebyops 9y ago
Silent FaceID can be used to auth every X mins with as a config tbh. Could even work as a blacklist
- edwinyzh 9y ago
  Wanted to try, but it's not available in the Chinese app store for both iPhone and iPad
brightball 9y ago
IMO the biggest difference is the style of games. Switch games are much more comprehensive like Zelda. iPad games are geared towards button mashing and showing ads for other games that do the exact same thing. A switch game will be $30-60. An iPad game will be “free”. Subjecting your kids to advertising driven games which aim to have them play much as possible to drive revenues is noticeably different. I’ve taken away the iPad entirely after seeing how my kids respond to it. Contrast it with the WiiU or Switch that we’ve had and it’s a totally different experience. Right now I TRUST Nintendo with the game experience that’s best for my kids.
- tlrobinson 9y ago
  I don't have kids so I haven't looked into it, but I assumed there would be more games with educational value on iOS than Nintendo. Is curating your kid's apps to only allow such games an option?
  - astura 9y ago
    What's the point though? The app store is 99% low quality garbage. Sure, you can spend your time and effort searching out the 4-5 high quality gems that may exist and configuring the ipad but it's 10x easier just to buy a Nintendo game and call it a day. Nintendo's first party games are almost always very fun, always high quality, ad free, and always(?) kid friendly. When you buy, for example, a Zelda, Mario, or Kirby title you know exactly what you are going to get. Not all entertainment needs to be "educational" and we are talking about entertainment here.
    - oneeyedpigeon 9y ago
      The Switch offers digital downloads too, some of which are pretty low-quality (and the number of these will only increase this year).
    - tlrobinson 9y ago
      Maybe "educational" isn't the right word, but as a kid I mostly played games that, in retrospect, had some sort of value beyond pure entertainment (Sim City, The Incredible Machine, etc) Surely there are blogger parents who do the work to find decent games for kids, educational or otherwise?
freeflight 9y ago
> For me, the only annoyance is that the controls apply to the entire console, not to individual users of the console. You might consider it an "annoyance" for quite a few other people it's simply yet another sign of Nintendo being stuck somewhere a decade ago. Every other console manages to allow parental controls on the account level, in addition to having login authentification. But with the Switch there's nothing like this, in that regard, the "console wide parental controls" feel more like the result of not having individual user login authentification than being an actual "feature". The lack of login authentication also comes with its very own set of issues: Like Kids playing on their parent's accounts, overwriting their savegame progress or vice versa.

thalesmello 9y ago

I was delighted to find out Nintendo took the care to approach this issue the way they did. If I had children, I would definitely buy a Nintendo Switch for them because of their focus in this aspect. Since I don't have any, I bought the Switch for myself instead. =)

SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
Its also the most pro-social council out there and its just fantastic all around. Its like they took all the greatness that was budgeted for the WiiU and pushed it off on the Switch.
Pigo 9y ago
I bought the switch for my 6 year old son for Christmas, his first console, because it was geared for younger kids and had these controls. <s>Unfortunately</s> it seems most of the games are really still aimed at 10+, so I've had to start playing the games with him.
- parasubvert 9y ago
  My 7 year old finished Zelda several times without a lot of help (mostly early on we helped to show how to cook, etc) ... I do recommend Super Mario odyssey or Lego City though - may be more age appropriate.
  - Pigo 9y ago
    Odyssey is what we just started playing, the two player is perfect because he can just control the hat, and we work together. He's just never played many video games before, apart from some Roblox. Lego is what I probably should have gotten. I bought the Pokemon game because he liked the fighting, but there's way more to it than I thought.
    - parasubvert 9y ago
      The Pokémon game is fun but yes, I’ve heard a lot of screaming over it :)

mistercow 9y ago

While there are obvious concerns about the effects of spending too much time playing video games, it doesn't seem like people are focusing much on the possible psychological impact of the kind of surveillance that modern technology affords parents. Kids need some privacy to explore and express themselves, and I'm worried that as we try to let parents take their natural risk aversion to further and further extremes, we're going to hamper that.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago
Limiting device usage electronically or physically is a far cry away from snooping on your kids’ browsing or messaging histories. As far as intrusions go, this is a level 0. As a kid, we were limited by technology, so no limits were needed (SMB just wasn’t that replayable, and the TI/99 was even worse). Perhaps the solution to creativity here is to simply give your kids older computers to play with.
- thomastjeffery 9y ago
  If my parents had limited my amount of time spent using a computer or paying video games, I would never have gone down the path that led me to here. I have extended family who have done this, and the difference is palpable.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    Me too, but back then, computers required much more intellectual work to get some satisfaction out of them. Today, you can just consume intensively on an iPad, and never learn anything about computers.
    - scotty79 9y ago
      I have a childhood friend who played as much on the computer as I did. He even wrote some simple games himself (as I did) but he is not a software developer now and I am. You can give hundred kids lego technic and most of them won't become engineers.

drivebyops 9y ago

Silent FaceID can be used to auth every X mins with as a config tbh. Could even work as a blacklist

edwinyzh 9y ago
Wanted to try, but it's not available in the Chinese app store for both iPhone and iPad

brightball 9y ago

IMO the biggest difference is the style of games. Switch games are much more comprehensive like Zelda. iPad games are geared towards button mashing and showing ads for other games that do the exact same thing. A switch game will be $30-60. An iPad game will be “free”. Subjecting your kids to advertising driven games which aim to have them play much as possible to drive revenues is noticeably different. I’ve taken away the iPad entirely after seeing how my kids respond to it. Contrast it with the WiiU or Switch that we’ve had and it’s a totally different experience. Right now I TRUST Nintendo with the game experience that’s best for my kids.

tlrobinson 9y ago
I don't have kids so I haven't looked into it, but I assumed there would be more games with educational value on iOS than Nintendo. Is curating your kid's apps to only allow such games an option?
- astura 9y ago
  What's the point though? The app store is 99% low quality garbage. Sure, you can spend your time and effort searching out the 4-5 high quality gems that may exist and configuring the ipad but it's 10x easier just to buy a Nintendo game and call it a day. Nintendo's first party games are almost always very fun, always high quality, ad free, and always(?) kid friendly. When you buy, for example, a Zelda, Mario, or Kirby title you know exactly what you are going to get. Not all entertainment needs to be "educational" and we are talking about entertainment here.
  - oneeyedpigeon 9y ago
    The Switch offers digital downloads too, some of which are pretty low-quality (and the number of these will only increase this year).
  - tlrobinson 9y ago
    Maybe "educational" isn't the right word, but as a kid I mostly played games that, in retrospect, had some sort of value beyond pure entertainment (Sim City, The Incredible Machine, etc) Surely there are blogger parents who do the work to find decent games for kids, educational or otherwise?

freeflight 9y ago

> For me, the only annoyance is that the controls apply to the entire console, not to individual users of the console. You might consider it an "annoyance" for quite a few other people it's simply yet another sign of Nintendo being stuck somewhere a decade ago. Every other console manages to allow parental controls on the account level, in addition to having login authentification. But with the Switch there's nothing like this, in that regard, the "console wide parental controls" feel more like the result of not having individual user login authentification than being an actual "feature". The lack of login authentication also comes with its very own set of issues: Like Kids playing on their parent's accounts, overwriting their savegame progress or vice versa.