This looks like it's going to be one issue that doesn't go away, at least, not for a while. Since the advent of the Wii browser, some sites have taken it upon themselves to provide Wii-optimized content, and shockingly, some of those sites specialize in adult content. Some individuals have made the point that this content is directed at children. One site initially posed this theory last month and has (unsurprisingly) been deluged with comments. The folks at The Porn Talk keep reviving the issue, and they even made a page dedicated to the porn threat in living rooms around the world. In the wake of the backlash following that move, they've asked a question of gamers: "So what advice would you have for parents that don't understand technology? What advice would you give to Moms and Dads in regards to internet porn and Wi-Fi devices like the Wii? Is porn exposure to kids even an issue in your opinion?"
Well, let's see if we can't provide a few answers.
Let's start with the last question first, because the rest seems to hinge on that. Do we think kids and porn are a good mix? The short answer is no, we think that adult material should pretty much be for adults (see what we did there?). Of course, it's up to parents to decide how and when to educate their children, in most cases, and we're not trying to tell anyone how to raise their kids. In general, however, we do think that pornography should not be readily available to children.
Now that we've established that we're on the side of the good guys here, we can discuss issues that are important to parents before making any major entertainment/electronics purchase for their child or children. There are a few important questions parents should ask themselves about any form of entertainment -- specifically, questions about where boundaries are drawn. This seems to come easily for most parents with movies and television, it's almost as though there is some sort of disconnect for many parents when it comes to gaming and computers. Web content, gaming, music -- these forms of entertainment are really no different from movies. If you don't allow your child to watch R rated movies without supervision, the same should probably apply to other forms of electronic entertainment, particularly when they have online content. Supervision is good. Be involved with what your child is taking in.
Many parents do try to take an active role when it comes to such boundaries: they set up parental controls on their cable units, disallow certain kinds of rentals at the video store, and limit the types of television shows children are allowed to watch. Setting up a filter on a PC or parental controls on the Wii (or any other system that features them) is really no different. Sure, maybe some parents are a little shaky with the technology ... but isn't it worth the twenty minutes it might take to figure it out if it protects your child? The Wii is designed to be simple, and this simplicity extends to the parental controls.
In fact, we tested the parental controls settings to see how difficult it might be for those who aren't so tech savvy. It's an extraordinarily simple interface, and twenty minutes was a generous estimate of the time it might take a parent to set up filters. Simply open the Wii menu in the lower left corner of the starting screen, choose settings, and then parental controls. Everything from there is explained, screen by screen, and restricting the Internet Channel completely is as simple as clicking a "yes."
So what would we tell Moms and Dads who are concerned about the Wii? We'd tell them to research anything that might allow content they're not sure is right for their children. They need to be able to take an active role in establishing what's okay and what is not.
While we're on the subject of what should not be okay -- it's important for people to remember that the Wii is being marketed for everyone. Everyone is not limited to "children" or "families." Everyone includes just that: everyone. This includes adults who have every right to browse pornographic material from their computers, their cellular phones, and yes, even their gaming consoles. It's time we got past the idea that gaming is a children's hobby -- because that simply is not the case. In trying to demonize the Wii, it seems that people are asking the world to tailor itself to children. Should we ban all movies that are not PG? Should we scrap the Internet all together? Certainly, the 24 hour news channels will have to go, because images of violence, war, and general poor taste are probably not healthy, either.
Just as broadcasting pornographic material on a public billboard would be in bad taste, so too is asking that everything be dialed down to the level of a child. And that is what we would tell mothers and fathers about the Wii. Enforce standards in your homes that are best for your families. Don't ask the world to enforce those standards for you, not when it's so easy to do it yourself.
[Thanks, Jon!]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-28-2007 @ 6:12PM
Bruce Deschacht said...
I'll be honest, I have looked at porn a couple of times on my wii :)
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2-28-2007 @ 6:40PM
Gym said...
Linky?
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2-28-2007 @ 7:11PM
(01) said...
Why doesn't anyone think of the children?????
Oh wait, probably because, as a parent, you should be teaching your kids that it may not be acceptable to be viewing porn in the living room while holding your wii in your hand (sorry, the puns will neve end...) But seriously, it's the parents that are buying these systems for their kids and then not taking the time to understand the device or even how to talk to their kids about stuff like surfing porn on the TV.
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2-28-2007 @ 7:23PM
Mr Khan said...
I'm with #1 (don't tell my parents)
The trick is my TV's picture-in-picture, allows me to route the sound from a Cable Channel, and none is the wiser
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2-28-2007 @ 7:37PM
Barry said...
porn + wii = AWESOME lol
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2-28-2007 @ 7:51PM
Rubang B said...
We've already seen how the Wii remote's motion functions are revolutionizing "murder simulations" via Godfather: Blackhand Edition, Scarface, and Manhunt 2. Now I think we need some interactive Wii porn. How many things can you think of that twisting, tilting, and thrusting would benefit sexually?
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2-28-2007 @ 7:56PM
Billy_McBong said...
"I think that parents only get so offended by television because they rely on it as a babysitter and the sole educator of their kids"
Kyle Broflovski on south park.
i think the same concept applies to the Wii, if the parents used the Wii some they might find out it is easy to set up the parental controls
or if you dont want them to have the internet unplug the cable line from the router
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2-28-2007 @ 8:21PM
adam said...
If your child is looking at porn from the Wii's internet browser, then it is completely the parents fault.
There are ways to block sites from your router, plus if its that big of a problem then disable connect 24 and put parental controls on the Wii. Oh and disable the wii's internet access from the router. Extremely easy.
People trying to complain about this "problem" have a problem themselves, they cant take responsibility for their own actions. Im talking to the parents that dont supervise their childs internet activities.
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2-28-2007 @ 9:34PM
Paynekiller 2000 said...
OKAY, for the people who say that they didn't mention the Wii's parental controls:
""This makes it very difficult to monitor as a parent. You can easily put safeguards in your house but it's impossible to monitor in a Wi-Fi world," says Foster. "Even though the Nintendo Wii has parental controls, parents don't see a need for them because they are unaware of the porn capabilities."
Just getting that out...*shifts eyes over to Kotaku*
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2-28-2007 @ 11:55PM
Johnny said...
NO parent is going to be able to monitor what a kid is doing on the Wii every second that he is on it. So saying that they should supervise only shows that you have NO idea what it takes to be a parent. You said they should educate themselves..well...what do you think they are TRYING to do by asking in the first place?
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2-28-2007 @ 11:57PM
Johnny said...
And by the way, I hate to break it to you, but to people with actual LIVES (I means, ones that are not spent solely on the internet) it is NOT common knowledge that video game consoles can be used to surf the internet.
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3-01-2007 @ 12:07AM
mjen said...
Here's something I don't understand: how can anyone not understand that on the Internet, there are web sites that have porn? Check out "internet porn" on Google NEWS on any day and you will see hundreds, maybe thousands of major news outlets reporting on internet porn. It's in newspapers, both major metro papers and smaller local papers. It's on CNN and on local news. The dangers of the internet are a given.
If parents don't know that the Wii can access the internet, then they need to research what they buy for their children. So maybe every parent isn't internet or tech savvy but they don't have to be. If their kids are, maybe they should try to learn and understand what their children are doing. If a child suddenly develops a desire to go to a summer camp that the parent has never heard of, or knows anything about, probably they'll check into it before simply sending the child. Why is buying something that costs hundreds of dollars be different? Must be nice to have that kind of money to spend on just anything at all!
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3-01-2007 @ 12:16AM
hvnlysoldr said...
I agree with Wii Fanboy. If the parents can go on a crusade they could have spent that determination and energy to help their children in the first place.
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3-01-2007 @ 12:41AM
Max said...
whats so bad about porn again? oh yeah, nothing..
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3-01-2007 @ 2:36AM
dville said...
free wii points from amazon http://sternclips.blogspot.com/2007/02/free-wii-points-via-amazon.html
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3-01-2007 @ 3:54AM
smart said...
Cool post!
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3-01-2007 @ 5:00AM
Marc said...
I think we can thank your president for abolishing the .xxx TLD, making porn that much harder to block for parents. :-)
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3-01-2007 @ 6:59AM
Jonxman said...
Hmm, I can't even find one wii-optimized site..?
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3-01-2007 @ 8:55AM
Fishy said...
@Jonxman
Sites like MiiTube.co.uk are practically optimized porn sites, even if porn isn't *strickly* allowed on Youtube
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3-01-2007 @ 9:11AM
wahahahaha said...
Fishy,
Is this what u r taling about ;-)
http://www.miitube.co.uk/search.php?search=boobs
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3-01-2007 @ 11:06AM
Fishy said...
@wahahahaha
I'm not sure that qualifies as porn once you're over the age of 12...
Maybe this...
http://www.miitube.co.uk/view.php?video_id=jhTxRssxfuI
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3-01-2007 @ 2:44PM
Zan said...
Seriously it's extremly easy to find porn elsewhere too. I don't think Wii makes it easier.
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3-01-2007 @ 3:19PM
ManekiNeko said...
It's the 21st century. If you don't understand today's technology, it's time to start learning. Ignorance is no excuse.
JR
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3-01-2007 @ 4:09PM
Return_of_Banjo said...
This is a true question. Then again, we have parental controls. Funny, I'm writing this... on my Wii! Bum bum bum! *thunder crash*
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3-02-2007 @ 11:32AM
Sherry said...
Alisha, I am proud to have you for a daughter. You can thank me for your brain power later.
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3-04-2007 @ 1:54AM
xntrk said...
I've got 2 issues with this article and any point anyone can make about Wii and access to porn.
1. Internet = Porn. It's a proven fact that porn is accessible online more than any other medium because of the "wireless age" we live in (http://www.thestar.com/News/article/184711). It's not anything new and by all means not the fault of the "porn industry" to publish such material on the web because the internet, just like life, is a society with access to all information. Leave it up to the "corrupt" to add adult content to those who are looking for it. That MiiTube site (http://www.miitube.co.uk/)is a good example of those who take access to the web over the top. You can't help it but you can educate. Stop burning others for your stone-hard values. If the web is this so called "devil's playground" ... Bible thumpers , anti-porn and PC tree-huggers can do two things about it. SHUT UP and GET OFF THE NET!! Hypocrites.
2. Wii = Entertainment. This doesn't directly mean access to porn. Don't let your kids (or yourself) set up wireless connectivity if you feel this is the case. The Wii provides access to a wireless portal that one can use to access information. If this information happens to be naked ladies, then it's the choice of the user. Just like all the adult sites and magazines, and movies, and other printed, filmed, or documented presentation of the mature (naked or sexually explicit) material - It's on the user-end to agree or disagree to the terms. Don't blame Nintendo for this, blame your debauched minds. Point fingers on society if you have to but leave the gaming consoles out of this.
END OF DISCUSSION.
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3-21-2007 @ 5:26PM
Jarrett Kaufman said...
Forget porn, the Wii can get you laid! Do you have any idea how may girls find out I've got a Wii and instantly want to come to my house to play it?
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