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8-Year-Old Girl Racks Up $1,400 Bill After Playing 'Smurfs' Village' iPad Game
That's what Stephanie Kay received, after her daughter Madison spent her winter break playing the 'Smurfs' Village' game on her family's iPad. The second-grader from Maryland apparently wasn't aware that the Smurfberries she collected cost real money -- a detail that, according to her mom, should've been better explained. "I thought the app preyed on children," the mother told the Washington Post. "Note that the Smurf app states it is for ages 4-plus."
'Smurfs' Village' is one of several smartphone games that are free to download, but allow users to collect additional tokens or services via so-called "in-app purchases." Apple has implemented safeguards to prevent kids from making unaware purchases. For example, users are prompted to enter their iTunes passwords before making a purchase, and parents can adjust settings on their iPhones or iPads to limit downloads and purchases. Capcom, the company behind 'Smurfs' Village,' 'Top Zoo,' and 'Bakery Story,' has even introduced pop-up warnings in many of its games, in an effort to alert users whenever their actions will require some sort of purchase.
Kay eventually received a one-time refund from Apple, and quickly changed her iTunes password. But she and other parents still argue that games explicitly geared toward children shouldn't tempt players with purchases to begin with -- and especially not at exorbitant prices. In the Smurfs game, for instance, a wagon of Smurfberries costs $99, and a virtual bucket of snowflakes is priced at $19. Even Apple's password protection isn't entirely foolproof. Once a user types in a password, he or she can continue to purchase items without re-entering the password for 15 minutes -- enough time, apparently, for kids to do plenty of damage.
Others, meanwhile, maintain that it's ultimately a parent's responsibility to monitor the games their children are playing, and to watch out for potential pitfalls -- however well disguised they may be. "Parents need to know that the promotion of games and the delivery mechanism for them are deceptively cheap," said Jim Styer, president of Common Sense Media. "But basically people are trying to make money off these apps, which is a huge problem, and only going to get bigger because mobile apps are the new platform for kids."
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Comments
10
Subscribe to commentsTKFeb 9th 2011 2:11PM
Dick move Capcom, dick move.
NemephosisFeb 13th 2011 1:11PM
@TK It isn't Capcom's fault the mother isn't watching her kid and teaching her about things like this. She's 8, she will understand the word "no".
VidiotzFeb 14th 2011 2:29PM
@Nemephosis Yes, the parent can tell the child "no", but the last time I checked, children do things even when they're told not to do it... it's called being a child. If you didn't do the exact same thing when you were a kid, I suggest reliving your childhood and trying again. Constantly looking over a child's shoulder while they're playing not the answer, either. If you do that, the child will tend to rely on you, and not actually learn or act independently (which is what every parent should want for their child, IMO).
The fact is, the only person one can monitor 24/7 is themselves.
BTW - I'm not condoning the parent's behavior in letting the kid go without supervision (I always play a few rounds with my kids before letting them loose, and they do a pretty good job of not charging things up because of it), but you've got to be aware that someone was selling the hell out of using Smurf Berries to unlock the bestest thing ever, at a low price of $100/bushel to a child that probably has no concept of how much $100 is or what it means to type in a password that they were probably given to be independent, even if it's told to them many, many times.
Kids will usually willingly listen to a parent, but it's foolish to expect them to practically apply the knowledge or understand its impact after one, two, of three sittings when they're that young. If every child was able to do that, we'd have been overrun by child overlords long ago, and you probably wouldn't be making this post...
LucaMar 6th 2011 1:32PM
@Nemephosis. A detail left out of this story (but in other articles) is that the girl was only able to do it because Mommy gave her precious the password. Which is why she had to change it.
So yeah, stupid move Mom. Don't explain it to your kid. Don't lock the ipad if you aren't going to watch her. And tell her the password. You should have been stuck with that bill.
lucaMar 6th 2011 1:34PM
@Nemephosis Forget saying no. turn on the restrictions that even Capcom tells you about. Then even if she doesn't want to listen to you say no, she'll have no choice.
And don't tell her the password to the account or make the restriction pin something stupid easy like 1111
fake nameFeb 17th 2011 5:48PM
@Vidiotz
It is 100% the parent's fault. They should have taken the time to explain to the child what not to do. Plus as already stated in the article, Apple allows you prevent in-app purchases with a password lock. If they didn't use this or if they gave the children the password. It is their fault. Not Apple or Capcom. You don't need to check 24/7 but checking in every couple of hours isn't that much to ask. It's no different than if you gave a kid an XBOX Live account linked to your credit card, so they can just add MS points whenever they want. Parents now days are just lazy, they like to blame everyone but themselves or their children. Children does bad in school? Blame the teacher. Children gets into fight? Blame videogames and tv.
fenceriderFeb 23rd 2011 11:56PM
I think a few are missing the point. Whether or not it's the parent's fault is not the issue. As a parent of 3, I'm aware that I make mistakes in childrearing that cost money. That's part and parcel of being a parent. If there is anyone out there that doesn't, I'd like to meet them. The REAL issue here is corporate responsibility. Whether it is intended for an adult or a child, charging $99 for a wagon of imaginary smurfberries is just blatantly usurious. It's kind of like ToysRUs deciding to charge $1000 dollars for the latest action figure that every kids wants just because they can. What parent wouldn't be angry at that? I might want my 8 year old to surf the net and gain internet skills. I might even just want a way to get some peace and quiet by letting her use my tablet. If that makes me a bad parent then so be it...but DON'T try to tell me that usury is a legitimate business practice or that preying upon inattentive parents and the innocent desires of children is somehow related to anything but greed.and avarice. I know the difference between shit and Shinola.
LucaApr 1st 2011 9:40AM
@fencerider. You might want to learn your words before you use them to try to sound smart.
This has Nada to do with usury. that is the term for leading money at way high rates. This isn't a loan. It's a purchase.
And if you hand your kid the keys to the car and look away, don't be surprised when your precious decides to try it out.
glassde2Apr 1st 2011 12:18PM
@Luca My usage of the word usurious was just fine. Check a dictionary. While usury is the noun form of the word and it has nothing to do with this story, Usurious is an adjective that carries a different connotation (and therefore definition) in this context.
The comment about the car doesn't even speak to the same argument; I'm not handing my child a dangerous vehicle, I'm handing them a source of information that they will need to be able to use responsibly into the next century. It's the corporations who create these traps for children and ruin the experience for everyone; them and the pedantic trolls.
LucaApr 2nd 2011 11:54PM
@glassde2. I have a dictionary. The Oxford English in fact. And usurious means pertaining to usury. So try again.
As for your whole evil corporations bit, you are the parent. Do your job. Then you won't have your kids playing with stuff from those nasty companies, sexting her tits to the boys at school who will then take it as permission to sexually abuse her, or going to meet up with a pedophile posing as another kid.