Playing with a 3DS may damage the vision of small children. We are not kidding.
The rather surprising note comes courtesy of the manufacturer of the 3DS - Nintendo. The company recently posted several warnings about the potential effect of the display on human eyes when three-dimensional images and video are viewed. Every user is advised that "fatigue" and "discomfort" may be more likely than it is the case with 2D images and video. The company recommends a break every 30 minutes and asks users to stop using the device immediately when they feel sick.
And you thought playing 3D games would be fun.
The 3DS is even less fun for kids under the age of 6, as Nintendo tells parents that viewing 3D images/video can impact the "growth of children's eyes." There was no more detail offered, but it appears that this statement is scary enough. To prevent kids from playing in 3D on the 3DS, Nintendo protects such content with a PIN code, which basically works as parental control feature. For kids under 6, the 3DS will be a 2DS.
We assume that Nintendo will be adding a clear warning about this issue to the packaging of the 3DS, which will probably not help to alleviate existing consumer fears that 3D is a general health risk.
So, what about your average naked-eye 3D TV, which we will be seeing at the upcoming CES? Is that for adults only as well?
Disease from Wii is called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Seriously, your comment is uncalled for
I think the age of 6 is just them trying to play on the safe side. Stereoscopic vision is actually fully developed by the age of 5 and also very hard if not impossible to fix past that age if something is wrong. This "damage" not to the eye themselves, but the brain's visual cortex.
Having the visual cortex adapting to this "fake" 3D prior to the full development of stereoscopic vision could therefore teach it "false" adaptive mechanism that you won't be able to change later on.
you know all those awkward kids out there? that's the result of letting your kids play nintendo games
I don't see a great problem in all of this - they provide the 3D lock to disable playing in 3D.
When the time comes, I'd prefer to just have the 3D turned off. Only time I'll have it on is when people want a demo of it.
Anyway, a parent getting a portable console for his 6- (minus) years old son/daughter is pretty dumb IMO. That warning SHOULD BE redundant, but since Nintendo believes in world/parents stupidity and lawsuits, there you have it. They also say it only applies to 3D, not "regular" play.
Cheers!
My 5 year old nephew loves to play Postal 2 on my desktop PC.