Nintendo to Bar Children From Playing 3-D Games at Event

Nintendo Co. will bar children ages 6 and younger from using the 3-D functions of its new handheld game machine at an introductory event for the device.

“Looking at 3-D images for a long time may harm the growth of children’s eyes,” Nintendo said in a note to visitors coming to the event next month, posted on its website. The company’s new 3DS players will be promoted at the three-day event in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo.

The handheld, which can show 3-D images without using special glasses, is Nintendo’s biggest portable product debut since the 2004 release of the touch-screen DS player, which sold more than 132 million units worldwide. The world’s largest maker of video-game players will start selling the product in Japan on Feb. 26 and in the U.S. and Europe the following month.

Nintendo, based in Kyoto, also said users should take a break every 30 minutes when playing games in 3-D format or stop playing immediately if they feel ill.