Travicity
01-10-2011, 10:55 PM
Iwata Says 3DS Warning is to Fend Off Lawsuits
Nintendo president says the device isn't dangerous...but suggests potential lawsuits are.
Last week, a number of leading eye doctors expressed their confusion over Nintendo's warning that kids under six years of age shouldn't play the Nintendo 3DS with the 3D effects turned on. Now Nintendo president Satoru Iwata seems to have admitted what was already pretty obvious -- that the warning is more about protecting Nintendo from any potential lawsuits, however legitimate, than about any real dangers to child eyesight.
Speaking to the Japanese edition of the Wall Street Journal (via Andriasang), Iwata stressed that just because Nintendo issued the warning doesn't mean they actually think the 3DS is dangerous. Rather, he said it's only to give customers "adequate information" and to "protect against lawsuits."
Nintendo has been serious about the warning, though, even keeping children under six from playin the 3DS with the 3D effect on at the Nintendo World event in Japan over the weekend (kids were given a Toad sticker to indicate they were too young to play with the effect on). Iwata also went on to defend the warning to the WSJ, mentioning that "some specialists" believe extended 3D viewing could be harmful to eye development in kids -- although he didn't mention which specialists, or any specific studies showing that could be the case.
In fact, leading ophthalmologists disagree with the notion, saying exposure to the 3D effect "should have zero deleterious impact whatsoever" to children.
1UP
Nintendo president says the device isn't dangerous...but suggests potential lawsuits are.
Last week, a number of leading eye doctors expressed their confusion over Nintendo's warning that kids under six years of age shouldn't play the Nintendo 3DS with the 3D effects turned on. Now Nintendo president Satoru Iwata seems to have admitted what was already pretty obvious -- that the warning is more about protecting Nintendo from any potential lawsuits, however legitimate, than about any real dangers to child eyesight.
Speaking to the Japanese edition of the Wall Street Journal (via Andriasang), Iwata stressed that just because Nintendo issued the warning doesn't mean they actually think the 3DS is dangerous. Rather, he said it's only to give customers "adequate information" and to "protect against lawsuits."
Nintendo has been serious about the warning, though, even keeping children under six from playin the 3DS with the 3D effect on at the Nintendo World event in Japan over the weekend (kids were given a Toad sticker to indicate they were too young to play with the effect on). Iwata also went on to defend the warning to the WSJ, mentioning that "some specialists" believe extended 3D viewing could be harmful to eye development in kids -- although he didn't mention which specialists, or any specific studies showing that could be the case.
In fact, leading ophthalmologists disagree with the notion, saying exposure to the 3D effect "should have zero deleterious impact whatsoever" to children.
1UP