On its Japanese website, Nintendo has issued a warning for children about the upcoming 3DS handheld.
"Vision of children under the age of six has been said [to be in the] developmental stage," Nintendo posted on its site. According to the company, the 3DS "delivers 3D images with different left and right images, [which] has a potential impact on the growth of children's eyes."
Nintendo recommends younger kids turn off the 3D effect, and that everyone take a break every half hour when using the device.
The 3DS doesn't even go on sale until February in Japan, so this is a bit of a preemptive strike, but you have to wonder if it indicates an actual problem with eyestrain and using a 3DS, or whether it's a bit of prevention aimed at staving off later criticism of the device. I don't think anyone can really tell the effect (if any!) the 3DS will have on kids' eyesight, so I'd imagine Nintendo is just being overly cautious. I suppose we'll find out when the device is widely available. Although, I still remember the horrible, piercing headache I suffered from the first time I used a Nintendo Virtual Boy, so I'm a little scared of the 3DS.
Source: WGNTV
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slapmeorelse
Ha. Good thing no one is at that age at my household
Peragulator
Not for young children and you must take a break from the screen every 1/2 hour. Yeah that makes sense to me and I cannot wait to spend 329 bucks on this thing.............not! Enjoy!
2great4u
This is pretty much like putting drunk goggles on
subduel
I still am planing to buy one.
F1MX
Make mostly mature games (no sex involved, I'm talking about complex stories with more realism) and you'll see that the people who buy this thing will be over 6YO
dailyartist4
what is a Nintendo virtual boy? also i think this 3d stuff is going to take a long time to be perfected so ima stay clear from that stuff until i can watch 3d without my eyes straining.
jdawghatesyou
I am glad they said something, I was wondering if they would or it would come out after
Tsuiyo
This could indeed be a problem. Although, I do remember playing Mario Tennis on the Virtual Boy when I was a kid (it was the only game I had for that thing :P), but I never suffered from any eyestrain or headaches.
However, the 3D of the 3DS could cause eye problems, especially since it doesn't use glasses but instead uses some kind of trick to make you think it's 3D.
But we'll just have to wait for the first kid that shows up on GMA with his eyes burned out of his skull or something.
crocodilius
the effect it has on your eyes cant be any worse than that Val Kilmer movie where he plays a blind guy who pretends to see
ps: hilarious scene when he runs through a pane of glass
Ozl
I just dont want this warning in the boot of the 3DS like the Wii Health Warning drives me crazy, so much i had to use the Auto Press A from Start Patch Homebrew App xD
Good day people!
Connor53
This is the problem I have with the whole 3d craze everyone is going through right now. It really hurts my eyes to watch anything in 3d. When I watched Avatar in 3d I thought my head was going to explode. I just hope that we can eventually go back to 100% 2d. I know we can watch films and video games in 2d even if they are out on 3d, but you must admit, there are some shots that are there just to show how awesome their 3d effects are that just look ridiculous in 2d.
zenmastersamuraimonk
the kids can still use the system but parents are going to have make sure that they don't use the 3d. whats odd is that nintendo says 3d movies are going to be available, are we supposed to watch movies one half hour at a time.
ssdanku
i read this article earlier and thought " well its only a matter of time before parents start rioting about it" then i turned on my local news station tonight and guess what the headlines was " WARNING NEW NINTENDO SYSTEM COULD MAKE YOUR CHILD BLIND!" i had a major face palm moment there
euchre01
I don't doubt that this is true since Nintendo has always covered themselves by warning about possible known medical issues at the beginning of the game's instruction manual (yes, I read them).
I logged into my ISP yesterday and saw this...
http://www.comcast.net/video /nintendo-game-system-warning/ 1715476509/Comcast/1715396409/
Its 2 women from Fox News talking about this issue. As usual, FN showed they couldn't get 2 people who actually knew what the hell they were talking about. The 'doctor' (read: more T&A) looked like she was reading from a prompter. It was rather odd hearing such big medical words coming out of her mouth. Not only that but I don't even think they even showed the 3DS at all, they kept showing the DS LiteXL or kids playing with such.
Just the usual scare tactics to 'warn' idiot parents who don't know a flip about gaming...
RockieOllie
I think this is a possible issue with 3D glasses and TV's i think that those companies are just not telling us...
Apsalus07
Medically, I don't think there is a way that 3D could affect development of vision. I mean the surrounding world is already in 3D, after all. About the only thing that can happen is eye strain or temporary vertigo, but that's hardly going to cripple you - only put you off. Just one med student's opinion.
And yes it's true your occipital cortex (i.e. part of your brain responsible for vision) is still in development until age ~6, so you 27 year-olds don't need to act like sissy's. The 3DS will not make your head explode.
Admiral_Ackbar
This warning is for the same reason plastic bags say "not a toy", Preparation H says "Don not ingest", and my favorite it McDonald's having to warn people on the cups that "Coffee is hot." Some people do not have common sense, and their idiotic and litigious behavior is forcing responsible people to suffer because of them.
Every system currently out has a disclaimer somewhere (instructions, in game warning, on the box) to use in moderation because it may cause seizures, headaches, etc. They have to cover their ass so some idiot doesn't play for 8 days straight and die. Like the WoW player who played for 24 hours straight and dies. Then the family blamed the game. Yeah it's the games fault because you couldn't parent.
OtherL
There is a lot of 3D movies that are targeting at children. And I don't hear any problems from them.
sonicwind510
soooooo wuts the point of getting the 3ds for kids? now i'm afraid it might mess up my eyes and i'm 27..... yeah i think i'll wait.
Wrathofsauron
the only time a video game affected me physically was The Legend of Zelda: oracle of ages (Game boy color). every time i use the magnet glove (or something like that) it made a super high pitch ringing sound, that would give me a headache that lasted for up to a half hour. it was a good game, but that thing alone kept me from ever finishing it ='[
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