It seems like barely a week goes by without a UK tabloid attempt to create mass hysteria about our hobby. This time, it’s The Sun and the Nintendo 3DS.
In a brief article which could be used to teach prospective tabloid scribes how to make a sensationalist story out of barely any substance, The Sun has highlighted some problems for the Nintendo 3DS. Yes, it’s the headaches and dizziness thing again.
The tabloid alleges that there are record returns of the new handheld and that “thousands” have “been left with dizziness and headaches after just 24 hours.” They’ve even got a quote from one of the “thousands” who bought the console, seemingly without any research or testing in one of the many stores who have had demonstration models available. He says it made him ill after playing for three minutes.
[drop]That’s all well and good. We’ve also heard reports of people who are less able to cope with the 3D effect (which can be switched off entirely). We’re not sure we’d allege “thousands” without more tangible facts but the ethics put into practice at The Sun are their own business.What is of more concern is that The Sun also seems to be alleging that GAME and HMV are offering partial refunds on returns. This is, of course, not the case. We assume that GAME and HMV are merely offering to buy back the consoles in order to sell them as pre-owned. This is because there are no grounds to return a product simply because you think it gave you a headache.
While it’s certainly possible that people might experience problems playing with Nintendo’s newest handheld, the product has been passed for sale within the EU. Presumably it has been tested and no ill side-effects have been discovered. The much publicised age rating applied to the device has even been touted as a measure to counteract the 3D effect on younger children (we assumed it was because the on-device game, Face Raiders, features very moderate violence, as the PEGI symbol suggests).
So it would seem that The Sun’s story is actually something more like this: New handheld console launches, with a month of easily accessible demos in store, a whirlwind of publicity (some in this same publication) about the 3D effect and how it might be a problem for some. Man ignores all of that and buys one for his “young son” anyway (under 7? There’s a story in that…). Man plays console for three minutes with his son. Man feels a bit ill. Man assumes it was the three minutes of looking at the screen and demands his money back on a used product. Store says no, but we’ll buy it from you second hand.
Of course, telling the facts of a story doesn’t give scope to insinuate that the problem is much bigger than the evidence suggests, much more dangerous or something your readers should be panicking about. And people who aren’t scared of anything might stop buying tabloids.
Update: MCV has been speaking with GAME, HMV and Nintendo about this. Here’s the quote from a Nintendo UK spokesperson:
The number of calls and emails with queries on Nintendo 3DS is in fact well below the rate experienced during past hardware launches and having spoken with our retail partners there are only a handful of people who have actually gone into stores to request a refund.
So, it seems like The Sun’s article was worked up from very little (or no) substance. Are you surprised?
Source: The Sun Thanks, hazelam
Paranoimia
I’d return it, too. Not because the 3D is a problem – that can be turned off. But the current games are all very average, and there’s no switch to improve them.
OneShotWook
I just read this article in the sun,i imagine it’s no worse (and possibly alot better) than most of the sensationalist crap they print on a daily basis and even this article falls behind todays usual Jordan/Cheryl Cole/Cher Lloyd ‘news’ in priority.
Regardless i was offered a chance to try one of these things out last week,i realised long back that these things aren’t aimed at the likes of me but gave it a shot.I was amazed really,it felt very much like wearing someone elses glasses (big fkers at that),even a slight tilt made the image distort so i can understand why these complaints came about.
I definatly agree with the post above telling folk to try before they buy and i see(as a result of those articles?)Nintendo are installing 3ds’s into Game and Gamestation.
I expect these reports to continue long into the 3ds’s lifespan unfortunatly,but there it is.
Dexter17
Newspapers are all the same. The majority of content within the (mostly quality) writing is sensationalist rubbish.
hazelam
the thing with this article is, the sun one that is, they don’t even seem sure of who they’re attacking.
firstly it’s nintendo for making people sick then it’s game for not giving a full refund.
not to make light of the issue for the few people for whom this is a problem, the sun have just turned what is really a relatively minor story into into some sort of scandal, or at least they’ve tried.
as for whether game or whatever shop, should have refunded them.
well that’s a more complicated issue, the machine itself isn’t actually faulty, it’s just what it does affects you badly, it’s like buying a bike when your sense of balance is terrible, only with less chance of permanent injury.
there is the law that it has to be suitable for the purpose it was sold for, but i’m not sure the machine giving you a headache when it doesn’t for most people, would qualify.
i’d have taken mirror’s edge back if it did because i can’t play that without feeling sick, the difference being that unlike the 3ds, mirror’s edge doesn’t give any warnings that that might happen.
mind you though, the “turn the 3d slider down” suggestion, seems to kid of defeat the purpose of the machine, and despite what anybody says, that is the primary selling point of the machine, it is called the 3ds after all.
without 3d it’s just a slightly more powerful, way more expensive ds.
gazzagb
One of my mates said it made his eyes hurt after about 20mins, but apart from that, he said the 3D was great, he was just missing some decent games to play.
So I guess this is just the typical crap The Sun turns out.
quinkill
as usual, the sun sensationalises everything
The Mysterious Phantom Bear
The S*n as I like to refer to it as would never let the facts get in the way of a good story. It should come as no surprise with their journalistic history, something like this is pretty tame for them.
It is the preferred source of research for the producers of Loose Women and Alan Tit-schmarsh.
I played a 3DS over the weekend and contracted syphilis immediately. I should tweet that and see if it gets used as a source.
In all seriousness though, I didn’t find the 3DS comfortable for a short game so I doubt I’d play it for long periods. I can inform you however that I safely walked away from the display unit with no brain tumour or blindness.
hazelam
3ds syphilis? ooh, nasty.
hazelam
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3511602/Sun-tests-sickly-Nintendo-3DS.html
and now they’ve got a “doctor”
i swear from the pictures you’d think it was a joke article, but they seem to be serious.
hazelam
you’d never guess the sun was part of the same media empire as fox news would you? >_>
3shirts
I think perhaps people are returning them because they don’t like it or the 3D doesn’t work for them, they are using this as an excuse and then getting upset when the retailers (quite rightly) say that is not a valid reason for a refund but they will buy it back as pre-owned