Nintendo UK has released a free Parent’s Guide to Gaming with Confidence, timed with new research showing that 68% of parents don’t feel fully informed about their child’s gaming.
The same survey found that 71% of parents rely on their children to explain gaming terminology or related issues, a role reversal that plenty of households will recognise.
What the Nintendo research found
Nintendo commissioned a study of 2,000 UK mothers and fathers with children aged seven to 16. More than two thirds, or 68%, said they make decisions about their child’s gaming without always feeling fully informed.
Gaming also came out as the hobby parents understand least. 28% of those surveyed picked it, ahead of watching online content (16%), social media (15%) and sports (10%).
Screen time topped parents’ worries (35%), ahead of inappropriate content (28%) and who their child talks to while playing (25%). 32% said help setting up parental controls would boost their confidence.
What is in Nintendo’s Parent’s Guide to Gaming
The guide was written by family gaming expert Andy Robertson, with contributions from child psychologist Dr Amanda Gummer, games journalist Ellie Gibson, psychotherapist Dr Catherine Knibbs and Digital Schoolhouse’s Shahneila Saeed. It covers age ratings, choosing suitable games for the family, online safety, screen time and parental controls.
It is free and available through the Family Gaming Database.
Why it matters for Nintendo players
Nintendo’s consoles sit in a lot of family living rooms, and the company already offers a free Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app that handles play time limits, age rating restrictions and communication settings, while eShop spending limits sit in the parent’s Nintendo Account. The new guide adds plain-language advice for the parents who are still catching up on how it all works.
