As said earlier, Nintendo is serious about making Miiverse into an elegant online service for a more civilized age. They want to keep it safe, too, and make sure some adult in the house is aware of what the kids are doing on it.
https://lastchance.cc/nintendos-miiverse-dreams-of-a-civilized-spoiler-free-5961532%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The best way to accomplish that seems to be requiring a nominal fee, payable by credit card, to register a minor on Nintendo Network. The price is $0.50.
We put this to the test at Kotaku and while there is a means of lying about your age to get a Nintendo Network ID, Nintendo has at least tried to weave things to catch junior in a lie.
This is what happens:
When creating a Nintendo Network ID, the first thing the system does is spit out a warning that says if you are under 18 years old, you have to get your parent or legal guardian to approve your use of the service. OK. Sounds good. You button âyes,â whether Mom or Dad really have said âyes.â Either way, youâre then taken to a profile screen asking for your birthday.
Answering that honestly then triggers the consoleâs parental controls, if they arenât already active. This can be fine if a kid is creating an underage profile with his parentsâ consent. For those who arenât, they now have to either defeat the parental control or, if that hasnât been set yet, create the PIN and security question answer that establishes them.
Letâs say junior then decides to set up the parental controls (which could, down the line, result in a parent asking why parental controls had been set on the machine already.) Heâll still have to follow that up with the 50 cent credit card payment to create his profile on Nintendo Network, on the assumption most minors donât have a credit card.
Ah, you say. What if Iâm 14 years old and just lie all the way through, and put in my birthday as 18 years old? You can do that. And youâve created a profile that says youâre 18.
Itâs not a perfect system, and can be defeated early on by a child determined to lie. But as I learned when I was a kid (well, I wouldnât say I learned as I persisted with the behavior) a second lie doesnât eliminate the chance to be caught, it multiplies it. And Nintendoâs still performed its due diligence.
And, yes, you still need a credit card to buy something from the eShop.
Nintendo charging 50 cents to register minors on Nintendo Network [GoNintendo]
