Nintendo's censorship

Nintendo is afraid of pedophiles, bullies and stalkers. Which is understandable. But is their best route truly censorship?

The 3ds and Wii-U are consoles built on gamers socializing, yet Nintendo sets so many barriers that inhibit it.

Is there another way to keep their younger audience safe without punishing their older audience?

Improve account system thereby banning just the account of the perp instead of pulling down entire services

I really can't think of another way they can protect their younger audience without further hindering social communications on the Wii U and 3DS. This is why parents should be more involved with what their kids are doing online instead of leaving it up to Nintendo to do all the work. I'll use the Swapnote/Letterbox and Flipnote 3D fiasco as an example. Nintendo discontinued the spotpass feature of Swapnote, which was basically the main reason of having the app, and Flipnote's Friend Gallery service because too many minors were receiving offensive material, such as inappropriate drawings or photos. However, these same minors are the ones who added strangers' Friend Codes from gaming forums. Nintendo can not stop those children from adding people's friend codes, but parents can supervise who they're adding as "Friends". The internet, either on the computer or gaming online, will never be entirely safe for children. There will always be creeps, pedophiles, bullies, stalkers, and trolls in the shadows, awaiting for someone to catch their bait. It's impossible to prevent those people from buying a Nintendo console and games because any one of those can look like a normal person. I applaud Nintendo's concern, but I would rather have to look at really obvious online warnings for parents every time I turn on the system (with the option of taking it off in the System option, of course) than be punished for what a-holes are sending to little kids. Maybe also package an information booklet with every 3DS and Wii U, telling parents that online features can possibly be a bridge between their child and the cruel, disgusting people that plague the Earth and that the Parental Controls exist, in really big BOLD font, not at the end of the Operations Manual.

Nintendo actually has a conscious which is both a good and bad thing. Good that they acknowledge this negative behaviour and strive to preserve their family-friendly image which their competitors lack. Bad that the rest of us lose significant features. I understand Nintendo's concern and efforts but it is not their responsibility. Society showing their ugly side is inevitable. Leave that responsibility with the parents, which apparently is not a comforting idea these days.

Except that Nintendo takes the lazy way out and just tears everything down

Well ok, it's either laziness or incompetence when it comes to that

There are bad people in the world, and they will always find a way to do absolutely awful things when given even the slightest opportunity.

Nintendo has to find ways to make it harder for them to perpetrate their crimes.

Taking down a feature just because of an incident (as serious as it may be) is incredibly silly. It is like using a canon to kill a fly.

That takes money (which they don't have the luxury of spending) and effort (which they don't want to waste to solve this)

Nintendo is your Grandpa when it comes to these things. They get frustrated and they throw away the computer instead of getting antivirus.