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The Nintendo 3DS, Headaches, and Bad Journalism
brumgrunt writes "A British paper is claiming that the Nintendo 3DS poses some kind of health risk. The claim sounds interesting, until you see how that conclusion was reached. 'On the 6th of April, the paper conducted a scientific experiment in which a 22-year-old member of the staff had his blood pressure and pulse taken after playing the 3DS in different situations – at rest, while walking, or while taking a ride in a car. The Sun came to the startling conclusion that the man’s pulse and blood pressure were higher while walking than while sitting down, yet concluded, apropos of nothing, “Children should not be left to play on it for hours.” The article neglects to point out that a raised blood pressure and pulse is perfectly normal, and you’re as likely to experience such a physical response while walking and reading a book as you are when playing the 3DS.'"
Pocket Gamer posted a humorous follow-up, using the Sun's own methods against it.
Please stop calling The Sun a newspaper or it's contents journalism.
It's stories (when not just crap about celebs) are written so that the brit sheeples can feel 'informed'.
They believe anything written in there because its the best selling rag and it leaves them a few more brain cells free to update twittle or facebook pages.
Nothing to see here, it's just The Sun, another celebrity and scandal obsessed tabloid paper, full of yellow journalism at its worst.
this just in. climbing stairs will raise your heartbeat and bloodpressure. Also just in. Breathing uses up calories.
Look, of course you are "likely to experience such a physical response while walking and reading a book" - because if you think about it, both ALSO involve looking at 3-D objects, just as with the 3DS!!
So in fact if you are concerned about your child's health, you should in fact make sure that instead of interacting with 3D objects they are safely positioned in front of a flat 2D screen. 3D glasses should be hidden (even the Red-Blue kind) and just to be safe, you should make sire that at least four hours of the day are spent playing 2D platformers.
If you have any reluctance in following this plan, remember - it's for the children.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
That entire piece is crap...anything which raises adrenaline will increase heartbeat and blood pressure. Gaming is an activity that some people really get into so of course its going to have that effect. Show me a gamer playing a fps or racing game that doesn't get higher blood pressure and pulse and I'll show you a gamer who's doing it wrong.
That said, sadly this is the first generation I have completely skipped a handheld release with no real intention of getting one at all. While I think the 3d thing is interesting and fairly innovative, I've been spoiled by iOS and Android and just cant see paying $40 for a game again. The counter to that is generally an uneducated response that android and ios games lack the depth of the Sony and Nintendo offerings but they are there if you look for them even in the RPG genre that Nintendo is famous for. I really do think Nintendo is going to be a world of hurt when it comes to handhelds, the price model myth has been disproven, look at World of Goo and Plants vs Zombies and its easy to see high quality games can sell and be very lucrative even at a lower price. Never underestimate the power of discreet gaming, you can carry around a phone or handheld as an adult and get in a few minutes of gaming here and there without so much as a glance, but employers tend to frown on adults bringing their DS or PSP to work with them.
See my post's title.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/
Newspaper! Riiiiiiight
I went to battle M.C. Escher, but drew a blank.
There was nothing scientific and any idiot knows that because it has The Sun written across the top in big letters.
If it had been done by the Weekly World News instead of The Sun, the test subject would have been Bat Boy and the conclusion would have been that the 3DS helps Satan in escaping hell to take over South America or somesuch. And it would have been an hilarious read.
I recently did a similar study, using my girlfriend as my sample, to prove that 100% of humans have a vagina.
Fascinating. They also appear to be inflatable.
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett