IW: Friend Codes and other limitations will obviously affect the end result of The Conduit. I ask since youve been working with them - Why in your opinion does Nintendo insist upon such rigid online restrictions even though the Wii has an extensive built in Parental Controls feature?
RN: I think theyre just very concerned - I mean weve had lots of conversations with Nintendo. Theyve been very open with us, and are very sensitive to our needs. So theyre more than willing to work with us, but I think its a combination of:
1. Theyre very concerned about the people playing their console, because many Wii gamers tend to be much younger than 360 and PS3 gamers. So they are concerned about that.
2. Is that I think the online component of the Wii has caught them off guard a little bit and they didnt expect consumers to want to use it as extensively as, for example, we intend to make our system. So weve noticed in our development that their servers seem to work much better for small numbers of people, but when you start getting up there in higher numbers, things become more problematic.
But like I said, theyve been very sensitive and very helpful. I mean, we ask them questions all the time, were still asking them questions, and were working out the details, but those are the two reasons that I feel are the case.
IW: Obviously the issues with online gaming are bigger than Nintendo alone. Do you feel as though the Parental responsibility aspect is being lost in gaming due to catering to uninvolved or quote/unquote Lazy parents?
RN: As a developer Ill say that personally speaking it would be nice if parents were more involved. Games are not meant to be babysitters, and its very ironic for me that theres all this talk of: Oh, weve got to put warning labels. Weve got to make the stores responsible for who they sell to. Then we go to a career night at a middle school and we find these 10-13 year olds playing Halo. That their parents bought them.
So obviously I guess my opinion is, if the parents are letting their kids play these games, thats their choice. Let them play. I think the industry does a pretty good job of monitoring itself and labeling products.
But its like anything else. This enforcement comes down to: are you going to card somebody at the counter? Well hell get his friend or his big brother to buy it for him and circumvent the system. Ultimately it does end up as the responsibility of the user, and its entirely up to them. If the parents are cool with their kids playing these games, then let them play.
