Wii U's European late-night eShop restriction due to German law

Last week, European Wii U owners discovered to their horror â€" or lack thereof, if they were trying to buy ZombiU â€" that sales of 18-rated games on the eShop are restricted to a four-hour window between 11pm and 3am. Nintendo of Europe explained the restriction in a statement to Eurogamer, asserting that NOE's location in Germany is the cause.

"Legal age restriction requirements vary across a number of European countries," a Nintendo rep told the site. "Since Nintendo of Europe is based in G ermany, Nintendo eShop is complying with German youth protection regulation which therefore applies to all our European markets. Under German law, content rated 18+ must be made available only at night." The rest of Europe just suffers from collateral youth protection.

Nintendo of America is subject to no such legal concerns, and thus there are no timed content restrictions on the eShop.