Nintendo DS Hurts The Children!

GameSetWatch has a humorous lampoon of an ABC-6 Action News report on the dangers your child can face in the seedy world of Mario Kart. From the article: "We've been struggling in trying to figure out how kids can be 'lured into dangerous chat rooms' while using the Nintendo DS, considering that the DS's chat program, PictoChat, can not be used over the internet, and also keeping in mind that the only way to interact with a living being over the internet through your Nintendo DS is to do so through a game that supports Nintendo WiFi Connection, all of which require both parties to input 'friend codes' before they can play with each other."

Comments

Oh somebody!

[Dr. Eggman]

Won't somebody please think of the children!

Re:Oh somebody!

[Spy der Mann]

Won't somebody please think of the children!

Trust me, in Feb 14, that's the LAST THING the couples want to think about! (But just wait 9 months... :P )

Re:The report hasn't actually happened yet.

[SetupWeasel]

Oh yeah, here is the offending ABC 6 website.

I love the picture of the evil pink DS with the subliminal dollar sign.

Understandable.

[cgenman]

The article is right. This is completely preposterous.

BTW, anyone who wants to win a free Nintendo DS* just visit AOL Teen Chat and send me your A/S/L.

*Free Nintendo DS not guaranteed

Children First!

[tirefire]

This silly news station has an entire section devoted to children (http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=childre n_first&id=3297128). After browsing through it for a moment I found this little gem:

"I have a friend of mine who told me that his son was on-line when he was thirteen, and a sexual predator had wanted him to send nude pictures of himself to them, and my friend sent him a major virus for his computer."

This is from a *Police Chief* who doesn't seem to realize that he incriminated his friend. But then again, his friend probably wasn't l33t enough to send him a "major virus", so two wrongs might have made a right :P .

Perhaps stupidity is infectious in this community?

Re:Children First!

[Shadows]

That police chief might sound kind of shady, but it's okay, they got a serious "Internet Saftey Expert" Kieth Dunn to weigh in on the matter. I mean, he's a proud proponent of eBlaster Spy Software -- software that "records ALL emails, chats, instant messages, web sites visited, keystrokes typed, programs launched and peer-to-peer (P2P) files downloaded - then sends it to you via email in the form of a detailed Activity Report" -- so you can not only spy on your child but betray their trust at the very same time!

All for the low price of $99.95. ... If only there was a "Report Spam" key for people.

Complaint form

[Omega697]

Go here: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=stationi nfo&id=3293957 To file a complaint. I did. We need to hold these reporters' feet to the fire. Insiste they cease their fearmongering and shoddy journalism.

Re:Complaint form

[some guy on slashdot]

I sent them a "compliment" with a "tip" to the concerned mother, telling her to call the police or inform a manager if her child is meeting predators in Pictochat, because they have to be close by to communicate in that program. I also told her to tell her kid not to give her friend code out. I was cheery and "helpful" so maybe that'll help them realize what a bunch of idiots they are for running that story.

I honestly can't believe they found a "security expert" who was willing to ignore the fact that it was technically impossible for someone to incite the described scenario over the internet. He lied to get on TV, so, shame on him.

Also, I wish they'd stop saying that the DS is intended to be a childrens' toy. It certainly is something small kids would enjoy, and it certainly is a toy, but a lot of adults have them and enjoy them and get together at PAX to draw penises at each other while getting smashed. It's not like a Leappad or something.

Re:Uh... Foot Icon?

[barawn]

I mean, reading the article, it's obvious it's a parody.

I think they know.

lampoon (lm-pn') pronunciation
n.

      1. A written attack ridiculing a person, group, or institution. See synonyms at caricature.
      2. A light, good-humored satire.

However, the original article from ABC is, in fact, serious. It's also so ridiculously inaccurate, it's scary. Quoth I: "Predators are using Nintendo DS anywhere in the world. And it's going to be really hard to track down those individuals because of course, they're on a wireless network from a hotspot such as a coffee shop." which is totally false - as PictoChat only works DS-to-DS, which means the person they're talking to is a few feet away.

I dunno about you, but I think I can track a DS user who's a few feet away. I'm probably going to look for the guy holding a Nintendo DS who's not me.

But then again, this is why I don't watch local news. To paraphrase the Daily Show, "Is the media too sensationalist? Find out tonight, in our no-holds-barred expose that just might save your family's life."

Re:The report hasn't actually happened yet.

[Loconut1389]

I left them a nice comment via their contact us link:

Regarding the Nintendo DS story- the 3 lines at the bottom of the story from Nintendo invalidate the entire premise of the story- yet parents won't notice it and will either boycott the DS or potentially write Nintendo letters. While I am routinely disgusted to see the kids that ride my bus glued into these things 24-7, this story either has an ulterior motive to malign Nintendo, or is truly just misinformed and not listening to the people who would know - Nintendo. If someone is within 65 feet of your child, you've got bigger problems.

Re:The report hasn't actually happened yet.

[SetupWeasel]

You are way more mature than me. I asked them if there weren't any pretty missing white women they'd be better off covering.

Re:The last part...

[Taboam]

The PSP has VoIP to anywhere in the world in some games yet they target the system that has to be within 65 feet to send messages.

Re:866-639-7749

[earthbound kid]

Unlikely. There's no real precedent of Action News channels admitting how full of crap they are. And why would they? They have no incentive to do so as it stands. They must have known the story was garbage when they made it. Any idiot can tell that the DS only chats locally. So they willfully overlooked the truth to get ratings through sensastionalism. Pointing out their error won't cause them to correct their mistake, because it wasn't an honest one, it was a willful deception. What are they going to do, go on TV and say, "Oh our bad, we lied right through our teeth the other day, but we got some polite calls, so we'll retract what we said now." Not going to happen.

Basically our only realistic hope is to annoy them so much that they (and other TV news shows) realize that if they libel video gamers again it's just going to clog their phones and email boxes and make their lives miserable. The other options are to complain to the FCC about the blatantly misleading nature of the program and hope that they threaten to pull their license and to encourage Nintendo to sue, but neither is that likely to happen given the spinelessness of the FCC and the difficulty of proving libel in America. There's not really much hope for justice. All we can do is annoy them and hope they learn their lesson.

No one figure the range on these things yet?

[forgotten_my_nick]

I can see it now on pictochat...

"Princess Peach! GET OUT NOW! The signal is coming from within the Castle!"