Parent/Adult Perspective

The person that was interviewed is Maria Anderson's father, George Anderson. He is a 45-year-old white male. He works at Bank of America and was the one who purchased the Nintendo Switch for his daughter. George is familiar with video games, and has been playing them since he was a kid with his own father. 

Description

The app he was referring to in Q4 was the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls Mobile App. It is something that parents can download on their phone and by linking a user profile to it from the Nintendo Switch it allows parents to keep track of how much time a user spends gaming and what games they have been playing. They can also set time limits and schedules for how long a user can play on the Switch. Once the time is reached it will pause the game and have the user put it in sleep mode. Parents can also restrict certain games that children can or can’t play. This is useful if there are multiple users on one switch of differing age groups and can keep out younger kids from playing games that the parents deem as too mature. Lastly, parents have control over limiting social and online features a child can have, keeping them from interacting with strangers or posting things for games that have image-sharing features.  

For more official information on the app here is the link below:

• https://www.nintendo.com/switch/parental-controls/ 

Within this interview I found that the Nintendo Switch has been a great tool for this father to be able to interact with his daughter and while also helping her interact with friends in a new way.

It was found that a great motivator for what drove George Anderson to get his daughter a Switch was to help alleviate the isolation that Maria experienced during the Covid lockdown. From the observations and how she was able to create a stronger bond with her cousin and friends it shows that it was effective in doing so even after the lockdown was over. In addition to this it is also pointed out that a great strength of the Nintendo Switch over other video game consoles is the assistance it provides parents in being able to monitor and regulate their child’s use and playtime through the Nintendo Switch Parental control app. This app allows Maria to have her freedom in using the Switch and her father's relief in knowing what his daughter is doing on it at all times. 

One criticism that was mentioned in this interview was the lack of educational application that this console would have in an environment such as a school. This is understandable given the function is to play games which vary in educational value greatly. In spite of this, George Anderson does highlight that it is still helpful in how it has allowed his daughter to learn responsibility which is more demanding than an average toy given how it is more expensive and more fragile than something like a doll or a toy car. This can also be seen in the observation with all the accessories, games, and the pieces to keep together to operate a Nintendo Switch.

Finally, one of the greatest aspects of the Nintendo Switch that was talked about in this interview was how it helps to facilitate sharing and expression of interests. The console in many ways is like a canvas to be decorated as shown from the observations, though it can also help to bridge the gap between different age groups. This is evident as Maria’s father also has experience playing games of different genres, and with his daughter having a Switch it can allow him to show her the things he enjoyed while also spending time with her as well when they get to play games like Mario Kart together. Overall, this interview conveyed that the Nintendo Switch does its function of playing games not only in a great way but also a unique one from its portability and ease of access for both parents and children to engage with and create fun experiences.