Nintendo Wii Fanboy

At first, we weren't going to post about Shigeru Miyamoto's Wii Fit interview with The Times, as it seemed fairly unremarkable. There are the usual platitudes from Shiggy about reaching out to all ages, and some tiresome examples of how mainstream press outlets still expertly patronize gamers (according to the article, the games industry "has long been the preserve of obsessive, nerdy teenagers, mostly called Alan"), but there's actually some interesting parts there also, tucked away amongst the fluff.

For starters, it appears that Miyamoto is an absolute hard ass when it comes to parenting. Well, not really, but the Nintendo legend does reveal that he's always nagging his kids to get off of their backsides and go outside when the weather is good. And this guy is trying to sell videogames?

More intriguingly still, the Nintendo legend speaks about how he hopes Wii Fit will have an impact on family life. As Miyamoto puts it: "In Japanese households, suddenly new conversations are springing up between fathers and mothers, fathers and daughters, talking about Wii Fit. We would love that to happen in Britain."

Can you folks envisage a day when your family time is dominated by talk of your BMI and hula hoop personal bests?


[Via videogaming247]

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!

A new site, What They Play, launched yesterday, and it's geared at explaining to parents just exactly what the ESRB ratings are all about, in simple terms, when it comes to the games their children are stuffing into those mystical boxes attached to the televisions. The brainchild of former 1UP/Ziff Davis employees John Davison and Ira Becker, What They Play hopes to cut through parents' confusions and offer not reviews, but simply information about exactly why games get certain ratings. How much blood is there? Nudity? Language? They also warn about future downloadable content and how it could change the gaming experience.

Of course, there are two early issues with the fledgling site. The first, and most important, is that right now, it's getting noticed in the gaming community -- and parents within are usually already informed about what games are or are not appropriate for their children. The second is that the facts are written with the humorous, down-to-earth tone that categorizes so many gaming sites. Again, this is great for gamers, but what about older parents, who are mystified enough by the technology their children so effortlessly wield? Will this quote cut through the generational barrier?

"Furthermore, Guitar Hero III offers some visual themes that parents should be aware of. For one thing, all the characters tend to be of comic-book proportions, with the women dressed in torn shirts, low-cut pants, and/or bikini tops (outfits that are emphasized by the game's, ah, lifelike physics)." (emphasis in original)

There are boobies in them there hills, guys. Bouncing cartoon boobies, which, from all the rock videos we've seen over the years, aren't a bit out of place, even if they are sometimes a little eyebrow-raising. However, a lot of the language is very simple, the site is easy to navigate, and each game's page includes a rating provided by parents with the recommended age-level. It looks like What They Play is on the right track, and with time (and with some carefully placed advertising and widespread marketing), could help to inform parents about the games their children play.