One of the most significant data breaches in today’s business news has to do with one of the most annoying interfaces ever dreamed up by video game console makers.
The Verge reports that after 160,000 Nintendo accounts were possibly compromised, the company is changing its relationship between two separate identification schemes that have confusing ties to each other.
The Nintendo Network ID or NNID, previously used for platforms like the Wii U and 3DS, has been previously tied to Nintendo accounts. Now Nintendo will not allow verifying a Nintendo account through a Nintendo Network ID.
That’s in order to deal with ramifications of security breaches like this one.
“Affected users will also be notified via email,” writes Tom Warren, “and the company is warning that if you’ve used the same password for an NNID and Nintendo account then ‘your balance and registered credit card / PayPal may be illegally used at My Nintendo Store or Nintendo eShop.’”
There’s already a lot of complexity in registering, downloading games and otherwise administrating access for the Nintendo Switch console, which is supposed to be a user-friendly portable device.
Now Nintendo is suggesting that users should put in place multifactor authorization, which may actually streamline things a bit, in comparison to using multiple passwords to try to manage one account.
That’s just one way to improve the original Switch interface design. Then there’s this call for a Nintendo Switch E-Shop overhaul from Ty Davidson:
“Nintendo could … see a benefit in overhauling the eShop software, improving the overall user interface to allow for ease of access and more streamlined usage. Similarly to the Wii, the Switch has seen massive increases in ‘shovelware’ style third-party titles because of its bestselling status, making its shop incredibly hard to navigate. When the console was first released, the slow publishing of games made the eShop easy to shift through but a modern release schedule makes it hard to keep up. … Nintendo could increase the power of the search function and add additional genre tabs to connect players quicker to the titles that they would enjoy. With stronger filtering effects and more menu options, the interface would encourage fans to search more thoroughly and ultimately spend more time shopping on the platform. This would even improve the overall ‘deals’ page of the site and help connect bargain shoppers to the sales that they want.”
That, plus make it easier to handle logins.
Take note as we experience a lull in the video game wars. It’s likely that, with coronavirus concerns here to stay, online gaming is due to become a bigger part of financial stocks and fintech.
