‘Mario Wonder’ Latest Mushroom Power-up for Nintendo Switch 

An employee wearing a face mask stands next to a screen displaying characters from the Nintendo video game Super Mario at a store for Japanese games giant Nintendo in Tokyo on February 3, 2022. (AFP)
An employee wearing a face mask stands next to a screen displaying characters from the Nintendo video game Super Mario at a store for Japanese games giant Nintendo in Tokyo on February 3, 2022. (AFP)
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‘Mario Wonder’ Latest Mushroom Power-up for Nintendo Switch 

An employee wearing a face mask stands next to a screen displaying characters from the Nintendo video game Super Mario at a store for Japanese games giant Nintendo in Tokyo on February 3, 2022. (AFP)
An employee wearing a face mask stands next to a screen displaying characters from the Nintendo video game Super Mario at a store for Japanese games giant Nintendo in Tokyo on February 3, 2022. (AFP)

Nintendo made a pitch for the ongoing match fitness of its aging Switch console on Wednesday, as the Kyoto-based gaming company continues to churn out hits even as the market debates the timing of a successor device.

The Japanese firm said it sold 4.3 million copies of "Super Mario Bros. Wonder" - the first entirely new instalment in the almost 40-year-old side-scrolling series in a decade - within two weeks of its Oct. 20 launch.

That is the best performance of any "Super Mario" title, Nintendo said, as it takes advantage of the Switch install base of more than 130 million units and interest generated by a barnstorming animated movie featuring the moustachioed plumber.

"The Switch will enter its eighth year from March 2024 but we will continue to develop new titles without being bound by previous platform lifecycles," Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told a strategy briefing.

The comments come a day after Nintendo reported it sold 6.84 million Switch units in the first six months of the financial year that started in April, a slight increase on the same period a year earlier.

Sales of first-party Switch games were the strongest of any year over that period other than 2020, Nintendo said, boosted by bumper titles such "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom".

Nintendo also announced on Wednesday "Super Mario" creator Shigeru Miyamoto is developing a live action adaptation of the "Zelda" franchise.

Games slated for release next year include "Mario vs. Donkey Kong" and "Luigi's Mansion 2 HD".

The timing of a successor to the hybrid home/portable Switch device will depend on the strength of Nintendo's hardware and software sales, wrote Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal in a client note, flagging March and October as possible launch windows.

"The stronger the sales, the later the launch of Switch 2," he wrote.



Meta to Introduce Teen Accounts for Facebook

Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Facebook logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Facebook logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Meta to Introduce Teen Accounts for Facebook

Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Facebook logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Facebook logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. (Reuters)

Meta on Tuesday announced that it was extending its teen accounts to its social network Facebook, after recently introducing restrictions on Instagram.

The accounts were brought in for 13- to 15-year-old users of the company's popular photo-sharing app last September as part of moves to shield vulnerable underage internet users from online harms.

Teens are immediately placed in such accounts, with those under 16 unable to change settings without parental permission.

In a statement, Meta said it was expanding the restrictions in the coming months to stop teens from going live or turning off protections for unwanted images in direct messages on their own.

"Teen Accounts on Facebook and Messenger will offer similar, automatic protections to limit inappropriate content and unwanted contact, as well as ways to ensure teens' time is well spent," it added.

The accounts will initially be available in the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, then other countries at a later date.

At least 54 million teenagers currently have a teen account, which also limits overnight notifications and have reminders to leave the app after an hour.

Users can only be messaged by people they follow or are already connected to.

Adolescent use of social networks has prompted concern in recent years, notably about the amount of screentime and lack of moderation on some platforms.

In November last year, Australia's parliament voted in favor of a ban on under 16s from using social networks.

TikTok recently launched a function in the European Union allowing parents to limit the amount of time that teenagers spend on the app.