European Wii U owners only able to download mature-rated titles at night [Update]

Just when we thought Nintendo was beginning to ease up on mature-rated content, it’s been discovered they’re actually taking the whole child protection safety lock thing to new heights with the Wii U.

European Wii U owners are reportedly unable to access or download mature-rated games from the Nintendo eShop during certain times of the day.

This new policy came to light when a NeoGAF user attempted to access a particular section of the Italian eShop only to find out it was unavailable during the day.

He then went to the extent of contacting Nintendo directly about the matter and was fortunate enough to receive the following reply:

[quote]Dear customer, we would like to let you know that Nintendo has always aimed to offer gameplay experiences suited to all age groups, observing carefully all the relevant regulations regarding content access that are present in the various European countries.

We have thus decided to restrict the access to content which is unsuitable to minors (PEGI) to the 11 P.M. – 3 A.M. time window.[/quote]

Website Eurogamer attempted to access mature-rated content themselves on the eShop and received a similar message explaining viewing hours had been restricted.

So there you have it, if you’re a European and get the hankering to download ZombiU during the day, you’ll actually have to wait until night or head down to your nearest video game retailer and pick up a physical copy of the game.

Update: Nintendo of Europe has explained the situation with the eShop in Europe. Since they’re based in Germany they have to apply these restrictions or they’re actually breaking the law, sucks to be the rest of Europe.

These rules do not apply to the Australian and New Zealand eShop.