Does Nintendo know something we don’t?
Despite a slew of eye specialists stating there’s no evidence that 3D imagery is harmful to young children, Nintendo continues to bang the “no 3D for the kiddies” drum. In fact, at this weekend’s Nintendo World event, Nintendo only allowed small children to play its 3DS demos in 2D. It enforced this rule by having parents mark their children with a Toad character sticker. (AE: Um, okay...)
Nintendo CEO, Satoru Iwata addressed the 3DS warnings in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. As many of our readers have speculated, Nintendo’s simply covering its butt against potential lawsuits.
“They're not meant to mean that game systems are dangerous, said Iwata. Rather, Nintendo hopes to give its customers adequate information and protect against lawsuits. Nintendo very actively attempts to share information with its customers, Iwata said. Outside of this goal, it would never issue a warning that would not lead to a plus in sales.”
Iwata noted that some parents use video games as surrogate babysitters so the 3DS has the potential to be used for longer periods of time then other 3D products. As such, “some specialists believe that extended viewing of 3D video has the possibility of leading to negative effects on vision in young children.” Who these specialists are, Iwata didn’t say.
Both the 3DS packaging and instruction manual will carry warnings informing parents of the potential harm of 3D on their young ones’ eyeballs.
Via: Andriasang.com
-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Correspondent Andrew Eisen
