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#1
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nintendo ds
I am thinking of eventually getting my 7 yo son a Nintendo DS. I am
concerned about the feature allowing him to hook up with people through a WiFi connection. I don't mind him playing with his friend, who lives a drive away, but I don't want him playing with random people and I don't want anyone contacting him. Is there a parental control feature on the Nintendo DS? Is there a safety feature built in? |
#2
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nintendo ds
"toypup" wrote in message ... I am thinking of eventually getting my 7 yo son a Nintendo DS. I am concerned about the feature allowing him to hook up with people through a WiFi connection. I don't mind him playing with his friend, who lives a drive away, but I don't want him playing with random people and I don't want anyone contacting him. Is there a parental control feature on the Nintendo DS? Is there a safety feature built in? Hm... You know... My parents got DS one of this DS things for Christmas... He just turned 8 less than 2 weeks ago, so right around the same age as your DS. To be completely honest, I really don't know much about this thing. I've heard you can have multi-player games with others, but as far as that goes, I have no clue. To be completely honest, I don't know if DS knows about that, although he has asked for it so he can play with one friend that has a DS as well, and the friend is right next door. On a very rare occasion, I've let him take it over to the friend's house to play. Now that you've mentioned this, I think I am going to see what I can find out about it and ask around... Now I am curious as to how this thing works... Last handheld game I've touched has been a simple Gameboy ages ago LOL If I find anything out, I'll definitely post what I've found over here, but I'm also going to be keeping an eye out here just in case someone knows. That's a very good question, though! |
#3
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nintendo ds
toypup wrote:
I am thinking of eventually getting my 7 yo son a Nintendo DS. I am concerned about the feature allowing him to hook up with people through a WiFi connection. I don't mind him playing with his friend, who lives a drive away, but I don't want him playing with random people and I don't want anyone contacting him. Is there a parental control feature on the Nintendo DS? Is there a safety feature built in? Where is he going to find a WiFi connection? At your home, you can configure it so that he doesn't have access to it with his DS. Is there anywhere else that it's likely to be an issue? Best wishes, Ericka |
#4
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nintendo ds
"toypup" wrote in message ... I am thinking of eventually getting my 7 yo son a Nintendo DS. I am concerned about the feature allowing him to hook up with people through a WiFi connection. I don't mind him playing with his friend, who lives a drive away, but I don't want him playing with random people and I don't want anyone contacting him. Is there a parental control feature on the Nintendo DS? Is there a safety feature built in? I'm just talking to a friend who seems to know a fair bit about this DS... For the connection... He's telling me that you need a wireless connection. Like a wireless router to connect... With that, he tells me it's for playing games with someone that isn't within the range of the DS. Not sure how far the range is, but I believe it's not like miles away or something... fairly close range. For playing a game with someone, there seems to be a couple options. With multi player games, one DS can play off another. Like you and I are playing, you have a game but I don't - if we're together, my DS will play off of yours, even though I do not own the game. If you and I both want to play a game, but you're at your house and I'm out of the range of the DS at my own house, we can still play together - I need to have the game, though, and we both need to have the wireless connection. Also, as almost like "added security" we need to have what I think was called "player codes" - which is like a password to play a game. You and I would exchange our player codes for our game and could connect directly to eachother. There is no chatting option for a game, though. Friend said any games he's played have NOT had any type of chatting option... You just play the game together, you don't talk, and then there's also the 'player code' thing that we'd need from eachother in order to play. He said he obviously hasn't played every game out there, so maybe some games might have an option to chat, but again, with any connection to someone else, you need this code to get to eachother, so since you wouldn't be walking down the street randomly giving random people you game "code" there seems to be very little chance of Chester the Molester playing a game with a random person (child). I noticed, after pulling DS' DS out, there's this thing called "Pictochat" on it. I'm told that this is something that is a direct connection from one DS to another within the range. And for this Pictochat to work, there has to be someone else within the range on at the time. Seems the chance of Chester the Molester being within range at the same time is not very good, but I guess you can't ever know for sure. I noticed, while kind of playing around with it, that each time I've looked, these "chat rooms" for this Pictochat have always said 0/16 - meaning no one is within range. My friend said he's never really bothered with that, though, and isn't sure if this is something that you could find random people out of the DS range with a wireless connection. I think since this DS seems to be aimed very much at younger children and families, there seems like there's a fair bit of security right in it that doesn't seem to require special knowledge or equipment. I also found a bit of info on wikipedia, and I really haven't read through it all just yet. The link is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_ds if you wanted to run through that and find more info. It does seem, though, generally safe. They also seem to be very popular with the younger crowd, and Nintendo has always seemed to be fairly 'safe' (like Xbox has that Xbox Live feature, where you can actually communicate directly with people from who knows where - Nintendo doesn't do that) |
#5
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nintendo ds
Kat wrote:
"toypup" wrote in message ... I am thinking of eventually getting my 7 yo son a Nintendo DS. I am concerned about the feature allowing him to hook up with people through a WiFi connection. I don't mind him playing with his friend, who lives a drive away, but I don't want him playing with random people and I don't want anyone contacting him. Is there a parental control feature on the Nintendo DS? Is there a safety feature built in? I'm just talking to a friend who seems to know a fair bit about this DS... For the connection... He's telling me that you need a wireless connection. Like a wireless router to connect... With that, he tells me it's for playing games with someone that isn't within the range of the DS. Not sure how far the range is, but I believe it's not like miles away or something... fairly close range. Once you're connected by WiFi, it's traveling over the internet, so distance is not an issue. You can play games with people anywhere in the world. IIRC, these interactions are mediated by the specific game in use, and different games allow different types of interaction. You do have to get the other player's code and put it in your friends list (and vice versa) in order to do this. There are websites where people share their friend codes if they want to play games with other people. There is a web browser available for the DS, but of course you'd have to buy that, and if you don't buy it, he won't have access to it. Most of the games that support WiFi gameplay don't allow much interaction. For playing a game with someone, there seems to be a couple options. With multi player games, one DS can play off another. Like you and I are playing, you have a game but I don't - if we're together, my DS will play off of yours, even though I do not own the game. If you and I both want to play a game, but you're at your house and I'm out of the range of the DS at my own house, we can still play together - I need to have the game, though, and we both need to have the wireless connection. Also, as almost like "added security" we need to have what I think was called "player codes" - which is like a password to play a game. You and I would exchange our player codes for our game and could connect directly to eachother. There is no chatting option for a game, though. Friend said any games he's played have NOT had any type of chatting option... You just play the game together, you don't talk, and then there's also the 'player code' thing that we'd need from eachother in order to play. He said he obviously hasn't played every game out there, so maybe some games might have an option to chat, but again, with any connection to someone else, you need this code to get to eachother, so since you wouldn't be walking down the street randomly giving random people you game "code" there seems to be very little chance of Chester the Molester playing a game with a random person (child). A little common sense goes a long way with this one. It's possible to keep things fairly secure if you exercise some basic precautions. I'm sure if you googled around, there are probably primers on the web for how to use the WiFi and Pictochat communications safely. I noticed, after pulling DS' DS out, there's this thing called "Pictochat" on it. I'm told that this is something that is a direct connection from one DS to another within the range. And for this Pictochat to work, there has to be someone else within the range on at the time. Seems the chance of Chester the Molester being within range at the same time is not very good, but I guess you can't ever know for sure. The range is only around 65 feet, so it's not huge. I noticed, while kind of playing around with it, that each time I've looked, these "chat rooms" for this Pictochat have always said 0/16 - meaning no one is within range. My friend said he's never really bothered with that, though, and isn't sure if this is something that you could find random people out of the DS range with a wireless connection. You can stumble across others. My kids used to like playing games with friends using Pictochat, or would chat with each other. Sometimes they'd run across someone else nearby who was broadcasting. Didn't happen that often. The main thing is to make sure that their user name in Pictochat doesn't give away inappropriate information, and for them to know that it's possible for them to run into strangers in Pictochat if they're using it in a public space. Best wishes, Ericka |
#6
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nintendo ds
"Ericka" wrote in message ... toypup wrote: I am thinking of eventually getting my 7 yo son a Nintendo DS. I am concerned about the feature allowing him to hook up with people through a WiFi connection. I don't mind him playing with his friend, who lives a drive away, but I don't want him playing with random people and I don't want anyone contacting him. Is there a parental control feature on the Nintendo DS? Is there a safety feature built in? Where is he going to find a WiFi connection? At your home, you can configure it so that he doesn't have access to it with his DS. Is there anywhere else that it's likely to be an issue? If he gets it, I want him to be able to play with his friend, so no problem with WiFi. I just would like the ability to make sure he can only play with that friend and no one else once he has that connection. |
#7
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nintendo ds
"Ericka" wrote in message ... Kat wrote: "toypup" wrote in message ... I am thinking of eventually getting my 7 yo son a Nintendo DS. I am concerned about the feature allowing him to hook up with people through a WiFi connection. I don't mind him playing with his friend, who lives a drive away, but I don't want him playing with random people and I don't want anyone contacting him. Is there a parental control feature on the Nintendo DS? Is there a safety feature built in? I'm just talking to a friend who seems to know a fair bit about this DS... For the connection... He's telling me that you need a wireless connection. Like a wireless router to connect... With that, he tells me it's for playing games with someone that isn't within the range of the DS. Not sure how far the range is, but I believe it's not like miles away or something... fairly close range. Once you're connected by WiFi, it's traveling over the internet, so distance is not an issue. You can play games with people anywhere in the world. IIRC, these interactions are mediated by the specific game in use, and different games allow different types of interaction. You do have to get the other player's code and put it in your friends list (and vice versa) in order to do this. There are websites where people share their friend codes if they want to play games with other people. There is a web browser available for the DS, but of course you'd have to buy that, and if you don't buy it, he won't have access to it. Most of the games that support WiFi gameplay don't allow much interaction. So most games that allow WiFi play only allow the players to play that game and not chat at the same time? When I read about DS, it said something about being able to play people around the world, so that was the part that concerned me. If he can play others without a running conversation with them, that is fine with me. Is Pictochat something that is built into the DS? I know my son knew how to use that at his friend's house. If I buy it, I would like him to use that feature to communicate with his friend but not anyone else. |
#8
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nintendo ds
toypup wrote:
"Ericka" wrote in message Once you're connected by WiFi, it's traveling over the internet, so distance is not an issue. You can play games with people anywhere in the world. IIRC, these interactions are mediated by the specific game in use, and different games allow different types of interaction. You do have to get the other player's code and put it in your friends list (and vice versa) in order to do this. There are websites where people share their friend codes if they want to play games with other people. There is a web browser available for the DS, but of course you'd have to buy that, and if you don't buy it, he won't have access to it. Most of the games that support WiFi gameplay don't allow much interaction. So most games that allow WiFi play only allow the players to play that game and not chat at the same time? Correct. When I read about DS, it said something about being able to play people around the world, so that was the part that concerned me. If he can play others without a running conversation with them, that is fine with me. You have to check out the individual games, but I don't think my kids had any games that allowed free chatting. And, as noted before, they had to have exchanged friend codes. Is Pictochat something that is built into the DS? Yes. I know my son knew how to use that at his friend's house. If I buy it, I would like him to use that feature to communicate with his friend but not anyone else. You can't do that. But, as I said, keep in mind that Pictochat has only about a 65 foot radius for communication. Best wishes, Ericka |
#9
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nintendo ds
"toypup" wrote in
: "Ericka" wrote in message ... toypup wrote: I am thinking of eventually getting my 7 yo son a Nintendo DS. I am concerned about the feature allowing him to hook up with people through a WiFi connection. I don't mind him playing with his friend, who lives a drive away, but I don't want him playing with random people and I don't want anyone contacting him. Is there a parental control feature on the Nintendo DS? Is there a safety feature built in? Where is he going to find a WiFi connection? At your home, you can configure it so that he doesn't have access to it with his DS. Is there anywhere else that it's likely to be an issue? If he gets it, I want him to be able to play with his friend, so no problem with WiFi. I just would like the ability to make sure he can only play with that friend and no one else once he has that connection. do you have wi-fi in your home? does your son's friend? are these wi-fi connections set properly so any random stranger can't park in the driveway or street & use the connection? if so, then there isn't an issue. if not, there's a bigger issue than the kid's nintendos, like full access to all computers on the network... by random strangers. lee |
#10
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nintendo ds
I THINK that the built in wifi only connects to other DS's, you can't go
online with it searching for games or anything like that. The 2 systems have to be in pretty close proximity for it to work and one has to agree to download the game for them to play. There is also a chat program built in to the DS, but same thing, you have to be close to the other DS. There is a WiFi browser that you can buy which I think lets you surf the net with it, but it's optional. "toypup" wrote in message ... I am thinking of eventually getting my 7 yo son a Nintendo DS. I am concerned about the feature allowing him to hook up with people through a WiFi connection. I don't mind him playing with his friend, who lives a drive away, but I don't want him playing with random people and I don't want anyone contacting him. Is there a parental control feature on the Nintendo DS? Is there a safety feature built in? |
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