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Nintendo Accounts now support User IDs and child accounts

Pokemaniac

Member
So I was poking around some stuff after seeing the redesigned My Nintendo site and noticed there are new settings on the Nintendo Account page. There are now sections for "User ID", which seems to be a login name (no idea if they're unique), and child accounts.

Notably, the User ID seems to be able to be changed freely. There's no indication that it can serve any role other than a login name, at least for now. That could easily change in the future, though. EDIT: Sounds like the IDs may be unique:
The IDs are unique, trying to enter the same one I'm already using prompts me that it can't be used (which is a bit silly).



For child accounts, it seems that you can make up to five for each Nintendo Account. The page describes them as follows:
https://accounts.nintendo.com/child said:
What is an account for a child?

An account for a child is a Nintendo Account that allows users under 13 (and up to 17) years of age to use the Nintendo Account services.

Lock if old.
 

big_z

Member
god I hope nintendos new account system for switch is like steam or youtube where you log in with an email then can freely change/use any gamertag you want. tired of locked in for life usernames.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Clicking "User ID" just redirects me to the "Change password" page. Perhaps it's not live yet in all regions.

Edit: Changing my password granted access to the page.
 

Pokemaniac

Member
god I hope nintendos new account system for switch is like steam or youtube where you log in with an email then can freely change/use any gamertag you want. tired of locked in for life usernames.

I'm not sure why you're seemingly to be thinking they're going to introduce a 3rd account system just for the Switch. Most likely it will be some service under the Nintendo Account umbrella.

Though I suppose it could still end up being NNID at this point. We still don't really know if that's been deprecated or repurposed.

"User ID" takes me to "Reset password" for some bizarre reason. Perhaps it's not live yet in all regions.

It requires you to re-enter your password before proceeding to the config screen. You may have misread the header.
 
The IDs are unique, trying to enter the same one I'm already using prompts me that it can't be used (which is a bit silly).
god I hope nintendos new account system for switch is like steam or youtube where you log in with an email then can freely change/use any gamertag you want. tired of locked in for life usernames.
You can change the nickname on your Nintendo account freely. It's a bit limited though, can't fit my usual nick (same as here) in the field.
 

bobawesome

Member
god I hope nintendos new account system for switch is like steam or youtube where you log in with an email then can freely change/use any gamertag you want. tired of locked in for life usernames.

Oh, how I regret my Tuxedo Mask inspired NNID.
 

EVH

Member
I thought this was for NNID. Still, the "Nintendo Child Account" would be a nice way to set up parental control without having to configure too much for parents. Which is also good for adults.
 

Jimrpg

Member
it would be good if the parent could turn off the 3D for the child's account. My kid is 3 and I don't want her to turn the 3D on.
 
It requires you to re-enter your password before proceeding to the config screen. You may have misread the header.

Nope, because I'm getting the exact same thing. A page that says "Change password", where it asks me to verify me email address, then sends a verification code via email, and entering said code takes me to a page with two fields: "New password" and "Confirm new password."

And I don't get what this is. Nintendo Accounts already have user IDs in the form of linked Nintendo Network IDs. If I had to guess I would assume it's for people using Nintendo Accounts with mobile apps and no NNID linked, but wouldn't it make more sense just to integrate NNIDs more directly and just continue using those?
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
It requires you to re-enter your password before proceeding to the config screen. You may have misread the header.

Nah, I had to change my password (well, "change" as I just reused my old password) to access the page. Strange.
 

Spy

Member
Nope, because I'm getting the exact same thing. A page that says "Change password", where it asks me to verify me email address, then sends a verification code via email, and entering said code takes me to a page with two fields: "Old password" and "New password."

And I don't get what this is. Nintendo Accounts already have user IDs in the form of linked Nintendo Network IDs. If I had to guess I would assume it's for people using Nintendo Accounts with mobile apps and no NNID linked, but wouldn't it make more sense just to integrate NNIDs more directly and just continue using those?
I have a Nintendo ID linked and it still gave me an option to create a user ID.
 

Pokemaniac

Member
Nope, because I'm getting the exact same thing. A page that says "Change password", where it asks me to verify me email address, then sends a verification code via email, and entering said code takes me to a page with two fields: "Old password" and "New password."

Nah, I had to change my password (well, "change" as I just reused my old password) to access the page. Strange.

Weird, maybe you didn't have a password set up in the first place. These accounts only have a password associated with them if you explicitly set one, otherwise you just authenticate through other services (NNID, Google, Facebook, etc.).

I can definitely see why they'd make sure you had a password set for this, though, as a user ID wouldn't do you a whole lot of good without one (at least right now).

If you did have a password set, then I have no idea.
 
I have a Nintendo ID linked and it still gave me an option to create a username.

Yeah, now that I'm in (apparently I did have to change my password to get through, weird) it seems like this is literally just as an alternative to logging in with your email address as far as I can tell.

Weird, maybe you didn't have a password set up in the first place. These accounts only have a password associated with them if you explicitly set one, otherwise you just authenticate through other services (NNID, Google, Facebook, etc.).

I can definitely see why they'd make sure you had a password set for this, though, as a user ID wouldn't do you a whole lot of good without one (at least right now).

I did have one, because I setup the account the moment the site went live, and then linked my other accounts afterwards.
 

-shadow-

Member
Change is coming for the Switch? Anyway, anything new is welcome by now.

Edit: snagged the username 'shadow', finally have that one for myself! :p
 

Pokemaniac

Member
Yeah, now that I'm in (apparently I did have to change my password to get through, weird) it seems like this is literally just as an alternative to logging in with your email address as far as I can tell.



I did have one, because I setup the account the moment the site went live, and then linked my other accounts afterwards.

I have no idea then. Maybe it just didn't like your password ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
As far as I know we've always been able to change our online username but not our account ID name.
Great find for the child accounts. I wonder if I can convert my children NNID accounts to those then? And if the coins will now be under my account while the game register under theirs?
Plenty of questions
 

Pokemaniac

Member
As far as I know we've always been able to change our online username but not our account ID name.
Great find for the child accounts. I wonder if I can convert my children NNID accounts to those then? And if the coins will now be under my account while the game register under theirs?
Plenty of questions

The Mii name has always been there, but this user id appears to be a new name you can use to log in.

No idea on the exact mechanics of the child accounts, though. The help articles don't seem to have updated yet and I don't have any reason to touch the feature.
 
D

Deleted member 465307

Unconfirmed Member
Well, claimed the name I use for all of my online gaming so it was consistent with my NNID and in case it ends up being what people see. Very curious where this is all going for Nintendo... The online features of Switch is one of the things I'm most interested in learning about.
 

Jackano

Member
Ok so that's an unique user ID different from your NNID and from the nickname.

I claimed "Jackano", because there's only one Jackano. There is an "8bits Jackamo" on twitter who is into Nintendo gaming, but he's just a copycat.
 
Why the need for a separate User ID? Wouldn't the NNID suffice? Those are already unique.

I managed to claim mine to be the same as my NNID (Poltergust), but it'd be really annoying for anyone who can't do the same.
 

Stop It

Perfectly able to grasp the inherent value of the fishing game.
Nope, because I'm getting the exact same thing. A page that says "Change password", where it asks me to verify me email address, then sends a verification code via email, and entering said code takes me to a page with two fields: "New password" and "Confirm new password."

And I don't get what this is. Nintendo Accounts already have user IDs in the form of linked Nintendo Network IDs. If I had to guess I would assume it's for people using Nintendo Accounts with mobile apps and no NNID linked, but wouldn't it make more sense just to integrate NNIDs more directly and just continue using those?
Same here.

Bloody weird that. I now have a user is but no caps allowed? That's a pet hate of mine.
 
Why the need for a separate User ID? Wouldn't the NNID suffice? Those are already unique.

I managed to claim mine to be the same as my NNID (Poltergust), but it'd be really annoying for anyone who can't do the same.

You can create a Nintendo account without an NNID. They are separate systems.
 
Bagged my username, plus a couple of others in case they come in useful. Suspect this is for the web front end only and they are not going to replace the NNID system any time soon?
 

Stop It

Perfectly able to grasp the inherent value of the fishing game.
Aaah crap, logging in doesn't work when you capitalize the first letter. That's gonna get annoying.
Even more annoying.

Caps are good Nintendo you bastards! Having an all lowercase username is so 1999.
 

Pokemaniac

Member
Sweet. Claimed my first name as my username. That's something you never would expect on an online service.

Yeah, I was kinda surprised I managed to get my username here as an ID. Usually it's taken.

Though, I guess I did kind of get in before most people noticed this was a thing. This was added with basically 0 fanfare, and I claimed mine before posting the thread, just in case.
 

Stopdoor

Member
If you can't update a child account to an adult account this is still Nintendo being years behind, unfortunately.
 
Thanks for the heads up OP, was able to claim my first, very basic nickname "bumble" as my ID. I get the feeling Nintendo is slowly setting the stage for Switch with these small, seemingly unnoticeable updates to My Nintendo.

Bagged my username, plus a couple of others in case they come in useful. Suspect this is for the web front end only and they are not going to replace the NNID system any time soon?
I feel like they may just axe NNID sooner rather than later. If Nintendo's plan is to offer a more convenient, organized online account system, then they could just keep updating My Nintendo, like what we may be seeing here.
 
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