Nintendo recently caused a stir when a NeoGaf thread revealed that ZombiU, an 18+ rated game, couldn't be purchased digitally on the Wii U during the daytime in Europe. Most theorized that this was due to German restrictions on violent content, and as it turns out, they were right on the money. Nintendo has now confirmed that the restriction is indeed due to German decency laws, releasing a statement to Eurogamer saying:
“At Nintendo we always aim to provide a safe gaming experience for fans of all ages and ensure that we comply with applicable legal age restriction requirements across Europe.
“Legal age restriction requirements vary across a number of European countries. Since Nintendo of Europe is based in Germany, Nintendo eShop is complying with German youth protection regulation which therefore applies to all our European markets. Under German law, content rated 18+ must be made available only at night.
“Therefore the accessibility of 18+ content in Nintendo eShop is limited to [USK: 22:00 UTC until 4:00 UTC] [PEGI: 23:00 UTC until 3:00 UTC].”
Are you an adult European Wii U owner who has run into this problem? Do you anticipate it being an issue or does it even really matter? On one hand, Nintendo doesn't publish 18+ games. On the other, it makes little sense to restrict the purchase of an adult game to late hours when that adult can then turn around and play that game any hour of the day, right in front of the child the restriction is meant to protect. Here in the U.S. we have laws about minors purchasing violent video games, but anecdotal evidence of adults buying the games for their children abounds. Can a limit on the hours a game can be purchased actually keep them out of the hands of kids?
