Iwata: "We Must Continue to Combat Negative 3D Rumours"

You know, the 3D can be turned off, lol.

As a 3DS guinea-pig, I can confidently report that I have not, as of yet, been blinded by the 3DS. During the first couple of weeks, I did, however, experience "light" headaches before the 3D effect become somewhat unnoticeable. In this respect, at least during the short term, I can deduce that the 3DS has not damaged my tender, developing eyesight. Having said all that though, my research alone isn't going to be enough to persuade people and neither is Nintendo. They need the backing of some world-renowned optician (apart from me) to dispel these rumours. Of course, there's always the possibility that in two years time my sight will have been damaged beyond repair by the 3D, but at least I'll have played Luigi's Mansion 2.

I reckon the hardest thing is that now there are at least two groups of people. If i had a child of that age i don't know if i would have gotten a 3DS until it's old enough to see the 3D itself. Because you know there will be questions about playing themselves. And i'd want it to be able to experience the games the way i experience 'em.

But okay what could they do ... I think the best thing were to have people play the system in popular edutainment TV shows. That way it would seem less like a biased promotion.

The first time I played the 3DS, my eyes started to hurt after about 15 minutes or so. But after that, it's been fine. I think it might be just having time to get used to it.

They can't just say "turn the 3D off", because 3D is included in the (high) price of the console.

I experienced a slight out-of-body/floating experience after playing Augmented Reality games for about an hour with an oversized AR card. But I didn't mind, if anything it was a bonus! (I don't need drugs any more)

The first week I had my 3DS I had some little issues, like occasional light headaches, but to me it's just like when the Wii first launched and my arms got sore from playing Twilight Princess and Wii Boxing. It's new technology, and our bodies are going to need a bit of time to catch up.

I've never had any problems due to the 3D. I get just as much eyestrain as I do when I'm playing any video games, 2D or 3D, and I quite often accidentally go over the recommended 30 minutes. If Nintendo had not marketed the 3D as much, and maybe given it a different name, this never would've happened.

as a guinea pig and unconfirmed tester, i can say that my eyes are ok with the 3d. they can now shoot lasers and doubled in size, but its nothing alarming, yet.

most gamers will get it and play anyway it would take a lot to stop a fan playing games 3d or not my eyes went funny to start with because there not sure what to focus on with certain pictures not sure how to sell it to non gamers its probably a slow burner in that respect

Its pretty much the same principle as 3d movies. I haven't heard any negative issues with 3d movie viewing. Also I wish nintendo would advertise the 3ds at the start of 3d movies. I cant think of any better way to explain the 3ds than to experience it.

I think people mistake "3D" with "You always have to have 3D on".

I think most people want a 3DS, but they want a lower price, longer battery life, and more games.

I'm still adjusting to the 3D. I usually play with it off as it tends to give me headaches, but over time it has affected me less.
I really like the 3D effect when I can play with it on, which, at the moment, is about 10% of the time. I'm hoping I'll get more used to it with time.
(notably I have trouble with lots of 3D games even on consoles I get headaches & motion sickness with many 3D games - for example in Portal 2 I limit my playing to ~30 minutes to avoid illness)

As far as people who haven't bought it yet, I hear complaints about it being just another DS with 3D more then I hear complaints about people being worried that the 3D will hurt their eyes. It's rather annoying, the system is more powerful, has a lot more features and better controls but people get confused because it has DS in the name.

Well, that's from people who don't really follow games that much. From people who actually do, they say there aren't enough games yet. Which is true. Really true, actually.

Many of my friends have tried the 3DS, either my console or another, and the reactions have been pretty consistent.

"Wow... Cool..." then play from a minute to ten and say "it hurts my eyes/head though."

It did it for me too, with SF4. At the beginning I couldn't play longer than 20min straight. But within a day or two, my eyes began to get used to it and now it feels quite normal and I've began to understand more about "what it is that I'm actually looking at".

Now it's just a piece of sweet cake with the OoT

I have found that people that can easily see stereograms (AKA: Magic eye pictures AKA: those pictures with a mush of dots you stare at and 3d pops out) have no problems. I guess peoples eyes aren't used to defocusing on a flat surface without training.
either keep at it, or go learn to see magic eye pictures. I swear it'll help

@Marioman64 I can't even see those things and I'm fine with the 3DS. I see why people don't buy it. (bad pun) On all the displays it's too low for anyone with money to see it normally. Pilotwings resort just doesn't look right when it's 3-4 feet below you.

I first played the 3DS at Best Buy about a month before launch. With my bad eye sight I have to keep the slider at about half way and sometimes I still get headaches. Either way, I still love the games, and for some reason Capcom games do not give me a headache.

I first played the 3DS at Best Buy about a month before launch. With my bad eye sight I have to keep the slider at about half way and sometimes I still get headaches. Either way, I still love the games, and for some reason Capcom games do not give me a headache.

My advice is never to look directly at 'the Sun', it may hurt you eyes and your ability to make critically informed decisions.

3DS is not good for the eyes, that's a fact, the risks are advertised in the manuals by Nintendo. Basically, if it is not recommended for kid's eyes, why it should not be harmfull for mature ones?

@Mandoble Because kids eyes are still in the stage where they can be influenced easily. At a "mature" age level eyes are pretty much stable unless you do some pretty extreme things. For example (I'm a bad role model okay), I play games late at night for prolonged periods without any lights on. As of now, my eye doctor still tells me that my vision hasn't changed much when I go to see him.

However when I was a young child, I did that for only a day or so and my vision pretty much needed some heavy correction.

The 3D being bad for your is variable. It depends on who is playing it. Some people can take it as if it were nothing, others have adjust to it first, and a few get a migraine frome it. I can't speak for everyone, but this is the case for me. When I first tryed the 3D, it looked like nothing I had seen before. It made my eyes feel weird the first few minutes, but they adjusted. After those few minutes, it was all good. My eyes went back to normal, and i kept on playing. Now, whenever I play a game in 3D, its as if I'm playing a normal video game- But that doesen't mean the 3D effect isn't noticeable anymore. Its still awesome.

What I think Nintendo should do to bust these myths is to put a demo station in the majority of electronic and department stores. That way people can get a hands on experience with the 3D and see that it isn't harmful. Or have a portable Nintendo 3DS station brought into schools and other public places. I suggest schools because kids compose a large portion of the gamer community. If they can get a hands on experience at school, that would reach a large amount of kids and show them that there is no harm in 3D. Preferablly Middle schools and high schools due to the age restrictions of the 3D. It would be good, because people have to go to school 5 days a week, for most of the year, and video games in school for a day or 2 on breaks and such or in an assembly, would be many kids dream come true! lol. A little out there, I know, but I used to dream of getting a chance to play video games in school all the time.

I think that Nintendo needs to focus less on the 3D, as everyone knows about that, and they need to address that it doesn't hurt the game to not play it in 3D, I mean i have friends that won't buy the system because they don't want the 3D, and they feel it will be wasteful if they don't use the 3D, when in fact, it is better than the previous versions in nearly every way, and the DS is dying, not nearly as fast as the Wii, but it doesn't have long left, so 3D or no 3D, it's still next generation.

I have never had any headaches or illness or anything

@MarioMan64

I love those! I have a book of the 3D pictures, "Magic Eye II," and Ive "trained" my eyes to be able to recognize those types of images and adjust to them in seconds. I even do it in regular day scenarios when i see repeated patterns just to see what it will look like, like my sheetmusic in band lol maybe thats why ive had no problem at all with the 3DS; ive been properly trained!

I would have done the same.

A real killer app would most likely help motivating people to overcome these first issues.

I have the 3D on my 3DS turned all the way up all the time and it doesn't hurt my eyes or a anything ever, so when I here people complaining about it, I block it out cause they're stupid

I honestly don't think 3D is a health problem

I think their taking all of the right precautions between the depth slider and parental controls.