Nintendo has firmly retained its position as the most family-friendly of gaming companies – the Disney of video gaming. With their new upcoming console the Nintendo Switch, parents can use a new smartphone app to help monitor and control their kids’ play time. It’s called Nintendo Switch Parental Controls. It’s introduced in the adorable video above starring Bowser and son Bowser Jr.
The smartphone app syncs up with the Nintendo Switch system, allowing you to track playtime hours and monitor which games your kids are playing. You can set time limits in 15 minute increments. When time is up you can set either an on-screen warning or even an alarm to notify the little ones. Different time limits can be set for each day of the week.
As an extreme measure, the app lets you force the console into sleep mode at any time. Though as the video playfully shows, that will probably just cause further problems.
The Parental Controls app also monitors and tracks total playtime by individual game. Though like the time limit feature, it’s system-wide rather than tied to accounts. If you’re playing a lot of games on the Switch you probably already know which games your kids are playing.
The app also includes more standard parental controls, such as online communication and social media restrictions. You can also completely restrict software that is below whichever ESRB rating you choose.
It’s nice to see Nintendo with intuitive and robust parental controls. Putting them on an app is a brilliant way to make less-gamer inclined parents much more involved. Nintendo is already a big seller among families and the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app could help seal the deal.
The Nintendo Switch launches on March 3.
