Nintendo Account: website overhaul, new features (Friend Suggestions, Parental Controls)
Last year, Nintendo launched the Nintendo Account: a new cross-device account service to be used on Nintendo platforms, games, and various first and third-party services. With the Nintendo Switch, those accounts will play an even bigger role than on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, as one will be required for pretty much all online features (Nintendo eShop, online play, etc.).
And today, the Nintendo Account website received an overhaul, with a brand new menu. You can check it out for yourself by clicking here, or via the screencaps below.
But more importantly, the website received two new features:
- Friend Suggestions: a feature that allows you to “easily connect with friends across multiple Nintendo Account linked services by providing friend recommendations in one service based on your existing friends in another service”. Thanks to this feature, you can easily find your friends in games you play, services you use, and consoles you own. You can search for specific services/games individually (Miitomo and Fire Emblem Heroes, for example). Naturally, disabling it doesn’t remove friends you added via this feature, just the suggestions.
- Parental Control: we already know that the Nintendo Switch is going to get a dedicated smart device app for Parental Controls, but it looks like there will be another way to set up those controls… via the Nintendo Account website! This feature requires a Child Account, that was introduced in a previous update. The Parental Control tab allows you to do the following:
- Edit info for the Child Account
- Restrict spending on the Nintendo eShop
- Set up Age-Based Purchase Restrictions for the Nintendo eShop
- Edit various settings, such as Friend Suggestions (see above for more details), and Usage Information sharing.
NB: the Nintendo eShop restrictions only apply to the Nintendo Switch. For the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U, you still need to use the Parental Control app on those consoles.
Here’s some screencaps:
