T.V. Ratings vs. Truth in Sensationalized Nintendo DS Report

February is a sweeps month for American television stations. Perhaps that helps explain why one local news program in Philadelphia hyped the Nintendo DS handheld as a potential tool for online predators.

But is the DS a lurking threat? You might think so if you caught this story aired by Channel 6 Action News.

The ABC affiliate reported that an 11-year-old girl was harassed while using Pictochat (seen at left), a simple program built into the Nintendo DS which allows users to send messages and doodles to their friends. Thankfully, the girl had the presence of mind to turn off her handheld and tell her mom when someone with an obscene screen name began pressing her for personal information.

"But it was scary to me as a parent that someone I don't know is talking to my child over what I consider a toy," said the girl's mother.

Internet safety expert Keith Dunn fanned the flames by suggesting that children are at risk when playing with Nintendo's WiFi-enabled handheld.

"Predators are using Nintendo DS anywhere in the world," said Dunn. "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. Or if they're in a wireless environment, say a coffee shop or whatever, they jump on the wireless network so now you have predators who are trying to get at our kids."

Internet safety expert Dunn seems to be under the impression that the DS' WiFi capabilities are equivalent to those of a PC. They're not, as 6-ABC should have made clear.

In preparing her report, Action News Reporter Nydia Han called upon someone who, unlike Keith Dunn, actually understands the DS - David Long of GamerDad. Long explained in advance of Han's story how the DS actually works, including the handheld's built-in Pictochat application and WiFi. According to Long, none of what he told Han appeared in the report.

"I was at first sort of dumbfounded by the idea of a child being contacted by someone through Pictochat because it's not Internet enabled in any way," said Long. Pictochat users, he explained, must be within 65 feet of each other. (GP: and, Pictochat doesn't require a hotspot) "The most important point is that you have to be in that range, meaning you could probably see whoever it is you're talking to if you just got up and walked around looking for someone holding a Nintendo DS."

"Unfortunately, the story is written in such a way that nothing I said is made clear at all. The story essentially makes it sound like your kids can be contacted on the DS by anyone at any time and that you should beware of predators with Nintendo DS lurking on every corner and on the Internet... I'm both angry and disappointed... I'm glad my name wasn't included to bolster the ignorance in the article in any way."

Long also let Han know that Internet-enabled DS games ensure gamers only play against who they want by requiring players to exchange individual "friend codes" outside of online play. "I also explained that (online playable) Mario Kart DS doesn't even have the capability for chat of any kind. You simply connect to the game, race against the other people, and that's it."

"I wish the truth of how the DS works were correctly stated and the 'threat' of predators using it [to] contact your kids were explained properly."

Although Action News apparently did ignore key information in order to present a more sensational story, at the end of the day, a little girl was harassed by another Pictochat user. Is it a concern? Yes. Is it a very likely event? No. Did Nintendo - cognizant of its generally younger customer demographic - take significant steps to prevent harassment? Yes. Did Action News report any of this? No.

Hey, it's sweeps month.

-Andrew Eisen