Reports Suggests Nintendo 3DS Gives Users a Headache

A while back we mentioned how the people at Nintendo had advised that young children should not use the new Nintendo 3DS gaming system because of potential dangers to their eyesight. Any thoughts that this was an overreaction on part of the Japanese firm appear to have been dispelled by the initial reports of gamers suffering from headaches after just a few days using it.

The 3DS has now been on sale in Europe and the US for a few days and it seems that a significant number of users have already complained about having sore eyes and headaches after playing on it.

The official word from Nintendo in the UK comes from their head of PR; Rob Saunders. He stated that they have had “very few” negative comments” following the presentations of the 3D machine which they have made in different parts of the world.

Of course, potential problems don’t arise after just seeing a short presentation as part of an exhibition or show, but after hours of use in your own home. To counter this Nintendo have reiterated two common sense factors which they believe show that it is possible to use the machine as intended and that they have taken all of the necessary precautions to keep their customers safe and happy.

Firstly, there is the 3D depth slider which can be used to adjust the intensity the 3D image on the screen. Early indications are that this needs to be adjusted each time a different game is put into the console.

The other issue which the Nintendo spokesman covered is the need to take a break now and then, just as when you use a PC or anything else which needs you focus on it. It seems that they expect some people to suffer “minor discomfort” when viewing the 3D image but it is not yet clear how often breaks need to be taken in order to avoid the sorts of eye strain and headache problems which have already been reported.

Have you used the Nintendo 3DS yet? If so, how did you find it affected your eyes after a spell of playing on it?

Via: T3