Nicola Wright is a Director at Nintendo of America focused on how their products are used by kids and parents. She’s also a parent, a gamer, and, luckily for me, incredibly easy to talk to.
While I was in NYC for Nintendo’s Holiday Showcase—and when I wasn’t playing Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, marveling at the Ocarina of Time remake, or trying to talk myself out of buying a Donkey Kong-themed business suit—I had a chance to sit down and chat with Nicola. A longtime industry professional with deep ties to Nintendo and a real passion for video games in the family space, she’s exactly the kind of person you’d want helping parents find the resources they need to feel good about how their kids game.
Nicola said a key focus of her job is what information is shared with parents. Helping them feel supported and empowered to make choices that are right for their families is of paramount importance, especially as there’s never a single, one-size-fits-all solution. “What’s right for someone else’s family might not be right for mine (and vice versa).”
In short, she sees her role as “helping parents have tools in their kit so that they can decide if there are parental controls they want to put in place, or conversations they’re having with their kids. Deciding what games they should be playing, what features of those games, all of that.”
I couldn’t help but bring up the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app. Well, more specifically, I couldn’t help but bring up the video shorts featuring Bowser and Bowser Jr. explaining how to set up rules and restrictions within said app.
That’s sort of top-tier content here at GeekDad, as the campaign (like Jack Black’s portrayal in the recent Super Mario Galaxy Movie) paints the otherwise diabolical King Koopa as a concerned and rather doting father. It also ably accomplished the goal of demystifying parental controls, explaining the ins and outs of app functionality in under three minutes.
It turns out, not only was Nicola Wright involved in the project, but there’s now a new version updated for the Nintendo Switch 2 and GameChat.
Yet the app, as helpful as it is, is only one component of a much broader strategy for player safety that extends from ratings and content settings into the very heart of Nintendo’s first-party offerings. Nicola elaborated, saying, “Being family-friendly is not something new to Nintendo […] it’s always been part of what we’re focused on. It is really deep in our soul, and creating those smiles is really at the core of everything we do.”
She pointed to evidence of this culture of care across Nintendo’s own development teams. These are the creators working to dial in features and content to help craft memorable experiences for all members of the family, regardless of age or skill level.
“Especially with something like GameChat, just trying to recreate that living room [in an online experience]. So, if your friends and family are not close by, you can still connect with them in a way that is meaningful, and be able to play games together, or even play different games, but be able to communicate and have fun, but really focusing on that friends and family.”
For the more tech-savvy among us, this likely makes perfect sense. Nintendo leverages both software and hardware to create gameplay experiences that are flexible, manageable, and secure. For those less comfortable with technology, however, it can certainly seem intimidating. So, what’s an uninitiated caregiver to do?
A good place to start, Nicola said, is the Play Nintendo website.
When I share links to Play Nintendo, it’s generally to point out its various rainy-day activities for your little ones. There are player personality quizzes, printable paper crafts, and cute videos.
However, there’s another side to the service I often forget to mention: a parents’ portal. Here you can learn about Nintendo’s current hardware lineup or explore online safety and privacy, with everything offered in the simplest and most straightforward terms. You can even use a handy game finder. Choose your system, age range, genre, and preferred character to receive a list of titles tailored to your specifications.
Simple, right?
Nicola suggests, however, that there’s an even easier way to ensure that your children access age-appropriate content in the safest way possible. That’s through the age-old art of conversation.
Obviously, this is easier said than done, and some kids, regardless of age, are apt to clam up around their parents. In those cases, Nicola’s advice as an industry pro and a mother was music to my ears:
“My biggest recommendation is grabbing a controller and playing together. There are games that are not so complicated and not so intimidating. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, turn on smart steering so you don’t go flying off the course and you can race. Animal Crossing just brings such a cozy game where you can create and invite people that you know to your island and share. I mean, there are so many opportunities for co-play and connection to be made, and I think that’s the best way for parents to understand more about games and what their kids are interested in and being able to understand what they’re comfortable with their child doing and then being able to decide what those perimeters are.”
She even used the example of her own son saying, “He’s a teenager, so oftentimes it’s, ‘How’s your day?’ ‘Oh, fine.’ And then, we’ll start playing, and then the conversations just start flowing.”
Special thanks to NOA for inviting me to this year’s Nintendo Holiday Showcase event, and to Nicola Wright for sharing this conversation with me.
Z
Z. is a proud father of two, Managing Editor of the GeekDad blog, a multiple Parsec award-winning podcaster, and a lover of nerd music and culture. At this moment, he is likely thinking about clothes or playing video games. Possibly both.
