Many gamers are waiting anxiously for the new Nintendo 3DS, the 3D portable gaming device which is set to take the portable gaming market by storm. Strangely, Nintendo have issued a warning that the device should not be used by children under 6 when in full 3D gaming mode.
Nintendo posted an advisory on their Japanese language website which says that the eyes of children under 6 have not yet fully developed and that 3D viewing on the 3DS could ‘disrupt' that development. Nintendo are recommending that adults protect young children by using the parental controls to block the 3D functionality of the device, forcing it into standard 2D mode.
The statement also says that older players should take regular breaks, after 30 minutes of 3D gaming and after 1 hour of gaming in 2D. Players should also stop playing immediately, if they begin to feel ill. We can only guess what has been happening during play testing of the new device. We also can't imagine that young kids will even have parents who are aware of this, and they will be regularly gaming in full 3D mode and certainly for longer than 30 minutes at a time.
Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has already told the press that health concerns related to ‘childrens eyesight' have been an integral reason for using a 2D fall back mode on the 3DS.
KitGuru says: Is this concerning for you, or do you not really care?