30 Dec, 2010
Mere weeks away from the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, health warnings pertaining to the autostereoscopy technology used, allowing the player to game in 3D without glasses, have appeared on Nintendo’s Japanese website.
Advising players to take regular breaks during gaming is nothing new. However, Nintendo are recommending taking a break from using the 3DS every thirty minutes – as opposed to the general rule of taking a fifteen-minute break every hour. They also recommend ceasing play should you begin to feel unwell or tired.
More importantly, Nintendo have also revealed that the optional 3D effect is not safe for very young children. In an official statement posted on the website they said, “The vision of children under the age of six is in the developmental stage. Nintendo 3DS, 3D, including 3D movies and television, delivers 3D images with different left and right eye images. This has a potential impact on the growth of children’s eyes.” For that very reason the 3DS will reportedly feature a parental control limiting the use of the console to 2D images only.
The Nintendo 3DS launches in Japan on February 26th priced at ¥25,000. A March release is currently pencilled in for the rest of the world.
This could be a useful way for me to actually be able to play the console without it making me feel nauseous. The fact that it needs to be in place at all is slightly worrying to me, and I wonder how many under 6′s would actually play on one?