Nintendo has stepped in to make its store a safer place, but has done so in an authoritarian manner. Its
European Wii U eShop has an age restriction imposed on it, regardless of if you have a child account or not. No matter what your age, you are unable to purchase 18+ rated games until after 11pm. This restriction was never explicitly announced by Nintendo, but was spotted by customers who attempted to purchase games such as
Zombi U. The error page does not inform customers as to when they can attempt to purchase games. The issue first came to light after a
Neogaf user experienced it first hand and attempted to contact Nintendo of Italy.
According to an e-mail from Nintendo, the watershed has been put in place in order to observe regulations in European countries. As a result, those who wish to purchase content that is unsuitable for minors must do so within the 11pm to 3am window. The regulations that Nintendo appears to be governed by relate to Germany’s television laws, but unfortunately they have been passed on to the entire region.While this law doesn’t apply to digital distribution, Nintendo appears to be playing it safe. We’re sure that many players would have preferred if it avoided living by the mantra of “better safe than sorry.”