Nintendo of America

Information for Parents

Welcome to the Parents' section of Nintendo's website! This area of our website is dedicated to addressing the specific questions parents may have. In this section you will find detailed information about:

Buying Nintendo products
We'll help you understand the ESRB rating system, know how to select accessories for games and systems, as well as help you find where to go to buy products.

Support After You Buy
This section provides links to our technical self-help, information on game play services, and ways you can contact Nintendo.

Website Parental Controls
This section outlines how you can control the activities your child can participate in when visiting Nintendo's web sites.

Wii Console Parental Controls
The Wii system has its own built in Parental Controls that let you manage what Wii content is accessible to the console users. For more information on this feature, please click here.

Wireless & Online Gaming Security/Privacy
This section contains information about your family's privacy and security when playing with or otherwise using your Nintendo DS or Wii console online.

For Nintendo DS specific information click here.
For Wii console specific information click here.

Website Privacy Policy
This section explains, in detail, Nintendo's website privacy policy and the steps we take to protect the information you and your child provide to Nintendo.

Wii User Agreements
This section provides the privacy policy, end user licensed agreement, and code of conduct information related to the use of your Wii console.

Health & Safety Precautions
While playing video games is generally a safe and fun activity, there are some precautions parents should be aware of. This section provides you with the Health and Safety Precautions manuals for Nintendo's systems.

If at any time you feel your questions have not been answered, please feel free to email us at: Nintendo@noa.nintendo.com or call us at 1-800-255-3700.

Buying Nintendo Products

Making informed decisions about what you purchase is always important. Nintendo's Buyer's Guide is designed to assist you with making these decisions by providing information on such things as game ratings, researching game content, and determining which accessories you might need for your systems and games. Use the links below for information on selecting the right Nintendo products for your family.

Once you know what Nintendo products you want to buy, link here for information on where they can be purchased.

Before purchasing a Nintendo video game system for your child, we would suggest reviewing the precautions booklet for the system or accessory you wish to purchase.


Support After You Buy

Nintendo's quality service doesn't stop once you've made your purchase. Whether you need assistance with system setup or repair, want to know how to get help beating a game, or just need information about your purchase in general, our consumer service pages can provide you with many answers.

Website Parental Controls

Nintendo.com offers Nintendo customers and fans the opportunity to learn more about Nintendo and its products while participating in fun activities and interactive features. Some of these activities and interactive features include My Nintendo membership, the Nintendo Support Forum, game reviews and product registration. Participation in some of these activities may require customers to provide certain personal information to Nintendo such as their name, home address and email address.

Nintendo takes the privacy of all its customers very seriously. We have strong privacy practices which are explained in our privacy policy. We strongly recommend that parents review the Nintendo privacy policy before allowing their children to share their personal information online or participate in interactive features such as the Nintendo Support Forums. In order for children 12 and under to become a My Nintendo member or otherwise participate in the above activities, Nintendo requires a signed parental/guardian permission form. The form authorizes Nintendo to collect basic information from the child online, and also allows the parent to select which activities are okay for their child to participate in.

Attention Parents!

My Nintendo is being replaced by a new online program called Club Nintendo before the end of 2008.

Before completing and sending in your My Nintendo parental permission form, we want to let you know that Club Nintendo will have a new parental permission process and this form will no longer apply. If you sign yourself up for a My Nintendo membership today, we will notify you when Club Nintendo is available. You will then be able to follow the online parental permission process and add your child to your account at that time. Our new Club Nintendo program will have some of the same features of My Nintendo (product registration, exclusive Nintendo related newsletters) as well as some new and exciting benefits.

If you wish, you may still send in a permission form for My Nintendo so that your child may enjoy the program for the next few weeks. Please be aware, however, that the online parental permission process for Club Nintendo must still be completed when the Club Nintendo becomes available.

For information on the parental permission form process, including how to obtain a permission form, click here.

Once the initial parental permissions have been established, we also have an online program available that gives parents the ability to view the information we have on file, update and change the permissions that have been established, and add additional children who might also like to participate in our web site activities. For information on this program, click here.

Parent Controls Frequently Asked Questions


Wireless & Online Gaming Security/Privacy

This section contains information about your family's privacy and security when playing with or otherwise using your Nintendo DS or Wii console online.

For Nintendo DS specific information click here.
For Wii console specific information click here.


Website Privacy Policy

Nintendo is committed to protecting any personal information you provide on our web sites. Nintendo's Privacy Policy explains in detail what information may be gathered and how that information is used. With the Privacy Policy, you can have a complete understanding of how your privacy is protected.

Health and Safety Precautions

We know that your child's safety and well-being are very important to you. While playing video games is generally a very safe activity, it's a good idea to be informed of the precautions you and your family should take while using your Nintendo system. Use the links below to read the Health and Safety Precautions manuals that are included with our systems (you can even download a PDF, to printout, for the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy systems).