Nintendo Says 3DS Not Recommended for Young Children

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Nintendo Says 3DS Not Recommended for Young Children


The 3DS [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101379-E3-2010-Hands-on-With-the-Nintendo-3DS] may be the Next Big Thing in gaming but Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime says the new 3D technology shouldn't be used by very young children.

The DS games [http://www.nintendods.com/] makes it clear that it's not a system aimed at the raging hardcore demographic. Nonetheless, Fils-Aime says that while the 3DS has "no health issues," it should be kept away from very small children because the new 3D display could be hard on their young eyes.

"We will recommend that very young children not look at 3D images," he said. "That's because, [in] young children, the muscles for the eyes are not fully formed... This is the same messaging that the industry is putting out with 3D movies, so it is a standard protocol. We have the same type of messaging for the Virtual Boy, as an example."

The cut-off age would be around seven years, he said, which does represent a fairly substantial bite out of the unit's potential audience; my oldest nephew was around four when he got his and even though he's not especially bright, he handled it like a champ. Fortunately, the 3DS has a slider that can be used to adjust the intensity of the 3D display or flatten it entirely, so children can play with it in 2D mode - parentally-supervised, of course - until they're man enough to handle the real deal.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5566671/nintendo-testing-healthiness-of-3ds-advising-young-children-to-avoid-3d]



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Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
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That's kind of the opposite of what I'd think Nintendo would want. Then again, showing it to a 3 year old would blow their mind.

Calumon: What about if it was a cat looking at it?
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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Percutio said:
The 3D slider thing makes a lot more sense now.
Yeah, not for people who cant see it, but, for children.

I dont see why children cant play though with the 3D
 

SomeBoredGuy

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Nov 18, 2009
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Wait, did Nintendo just mention the Virtual Boy? I thought they tried everything in their power to make the world forget about it!

OT: Why shouldn't children use it? SCIENCE!
 

Ravek

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Aug 6, 2009
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Nintendo is just making shit up. Is there any scientific research that indicates young children will suffer from watching 3D images?
 

CJ1145

Elite Member
Jan 6, 2009
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Oh, of course, that's why the Virtual Boy blinded people, because they were too young. Riiiight...
 

Sewblon

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Nov 5, 2008
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Nintendo is warning people against letting children use one of their products... The times are changing.
 

Delusibeta

Reachin' out...
Mar 7, 2010
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Considering I distinctly recall the manuals advising not letting children under 8 play N64 games, not that surprising.
 

ultimateownage

This name was cool in 2008.
Feb 11, 2009
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I really hope this isn't too expensive, I want it so bad. Aw, who am I kidding, it's probably going to cost fuck loads.
 

dmase

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Mar 12, 2009
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Jaredin said:
Percutio said:
The 3D slider thing makes a lot more sense now.
Yeah, not for people who cant see it, but, for children.

I dont see why children cant play though with the 3D
3d is an eyestrain on anyone. Like the 3D tv's your supposed to limit yourself to only a couple hours of continuous viewing. There was a thread somewhere about that.
 

Internet Kraken

Animalia Mollusca Cephalopada
Mar 18, 2009
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Ravek said:
Nintendo is just making shit up. Is there any scientific research that indicates young children will suffer from watching 3D images?
Why would they make something up that limits the potential audience for the 3DS?
 

WaderiAAA

Derp Master
Aug 11, 2009
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This is the kind of thing the parents almost definitely will miss when they buy the console for their children, and thus their children will play it when they are 5yo and end up with messed up vision.

Still, at least they mention it. Then maybe one out of ten will be aware of it.
 

Low Key

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May 7, 2009
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Ravek said:
Nintendo is just making shit up. Is there any scientific research that indicates young children will suffer from watching 3D images?
Because there isn't any scientific research that says it doesn't harm a child's eyes either. Better safe than sorry when you are a multimillion corporation.
 

Lvl 64 Klutz

Crowsplosion!
Apr 8, 2008
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I just hope they change the name when this thing is launched. I don't have a problem with it, but from a business perspective, they're going to get a lot of this from out-of-the-loop parents:
"Mommy, I want a 3DS!"
"But I already bought you a new DS!"
 

Ravek

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Aug 6, 2009
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Internet Kraken said:
Why would they make something up that limits the potential audience for the 3DS?
Because what Furburt said:

"they just want to make sure they're immune to lawsuits"

Low Key said:
Better safe than sorry when you are a multimillion corporation.
Sure, but that doesn't change the fact that they're making it up.
 

JediMB

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Oct 25, 2008
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Makes sense to me. Today's 3D imaging isn't exactly perfect, so it puts some strain on the eyes. This glasses-free 3D potentially puts even more strain on the eyes, if the viewer isn't holding the device at the correct distance.

So consider if a child, whose eye muscles haven't fully developed, starts playing on the 3DS and keeps it at the wrong distance. Its eyes will try to compensate, and if this continues for an extended period of time it could very well affect the development of the child's eye muscles, and afflict it with some permanent eye defect.