World

Health warning for young children using 3D games

09:45 am on 1 January 2011

Japanese electronics company Nintendo has issued a health warning about its new hand-held games machine.

The company says there is a risk that playing 3D games on the machine could damage the eyesight of young children, the BBC reports.

The warning comes as Nintendo prepares to launch its next big thing: the hugely-anticipated 3D version of the DS - its top-selling games machine.

The selling point for the new device is it allows users to see images in three dimensions without special glasses.

But the company says children under six years old shouldn't use it - at least not to play games in 3D.

Nintendo says some experts believe there is a possibility that 3D images, which send different images to the left and right eyes, could affect the development of vision in small children.

The company is advising parents to adjust the settings of the 3DS console, so that young children only see images in two dimensions.