Much has been made of Nintendo's 3DS warning that the six-and-under crowd should probably stick to 2D mode, and while CEO Iwata has consented that "being proactive about informing our customer.... may not necessarily be positive for our sales," the American Optometric Association has put an interesting spin on all this. The group released a statement last week -- yes, during CES madness -- asserting that 3D viewing "may actually help uncover subtle disorders that, left uncorrected, often result in learning difficulties." Not only that, but the 36,000-strong group suggested "children younger than six can use the 3DS in 3D mode if their visual system is developing normally." So yeah, Little Timmy's Christmas 2011 isn't ruined just yet, but that leaves plenty of time for a competing study to come out confusing everyone even further.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/11/3...defends-ninte/ ...

There's no company in the industry that's better at consistently having confidentiality come off its products in the FCC's database right on time better than Apple -- and indeed, the CDMA version of the iPhone just hit the filing system. Model A1349 (as opposed to the GSM version's A1332) has the expected test results for CDMA / EV-DO Rev. A on the 850 and 1900MHz bands along with Bluetooth and WiFi without a whiff of GSM support for global roaming -- not to say Verizon gave any hint that you might be able to roam outside of CDMA countries anyway.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/11/i...right-on-time/ ...

There's no company in the industry that's better at consistently having confidentiality come off its products in the FCC's database right on time better than Apple -- and indeed, the CDMA version of the iPhone just hit the filing system. Model A1349 (as opposed to the GSM version's A1332) has the expected test results for CDMA / EV-DO Rev. A on the 850 and 1900MHz bands along with Bluetooth and WiFi without a whiff of GSM support for global roaming -- not to say Verizon gave any hint that you might be able to roam outside of CDMA countries anyway.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/11/i...right-on-time/ ...

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said that the company is planning a more consistent release schedule for the 3DS, hoping to avoid gaps in the portfolio that could harm momentum.

He admitted that with past DS and Wii launches hardware sales slowed when the release schedule thinned out, and he doesn't want a repeat of those problems when the console begins shipping in Japan next month.

"It's important that you be able to supply software with no pause," said Iwata to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, as reported by Andriasang.

"With the DS and Wii, following the titles that were released at launch, the momentum dropped when there was a gap in software releases. We're making plans so that this type of thing won't happen."

Over the weekend Nintendo revealed that of the 4 million units it intends to manufacturer for the financial year ending March 2011, 1.5 million are earmarked for Japan, while the other 2.5 million will be split between Europe and the US.

The system will cost ¥25,000 (£194) in Japan, with European and US prices and dates to be announced next week.

On launch week in Japan there will be only one first-party game for sale - Nintendogs/cats - with more releases staggered through the spring including updates in the Zelda and Pilot Wings franchises, Star Fox and Kid Icarus in summer and Mario Kart, Paper Mario and Animal Crossing later in the year.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...leases-for-3ds ...

Sony UK boss Ray Maguire has urged the government, educators and the private sector to adopt games into the national curriculum "relatively quickly."

"The time is right now to do it," he told the audience at the Learning Without Frontiers conference in London today.

"We shouldn't wait too much longer. A collaborative effort is absolutely required, it needs endorsement at the highest level, it needs someone in government to say we will do this."

Maguire was concerned that austerity measures and the recession might slow down technological progress in schools, which he felt games could contribute usefully to. "We are deflated after the cuts," he claimed, [but] "we're looking for relevant opportunities for students and the teachers."

While predicting that 50 per cent of UK homes would have a 3D-enabled device by 2014, he argued that "adoption of technology is constrained by how much we can spend. The delta is getting bigger, which is why we need to do this stuff relatively quickly."

He felt that "There has to be a public and private partnership. Promote digital content creation as a career choice – it shouldn't' be 'I want to be a doctor or a lawyer', it should be 'I want to be game designer' as well."

Earlier in the day, there had been surprise that the government's education department had not appeared at the conference. While culture minister Ed Vaizey was in attendance and emphasised his support for the games industry, he did not give a reason for the no-show of Michael Gove's office.

Observed Maguire later, "What body is ultimately responsible for the introduction and delivery of a digital national curriculum? I don't know."

He also claimed that Sony was actively in discussion with Westminster on how to improve games' standing in the UK. "We're doing work with government to help make game design courses for universities."

He also added that "we're clearly still in discussion about tax credits, it's a conversation that still continues." This is in stark contrast to EA's argument on government tax relief last week.

Maguire felt that becoming more ensconced in the education sector could also be to game technology companies' direct financial benefit, observing that if progress could happen rapidly enough there may be "the ability to make revenue out of this in the same way a textbook manufacturer does."

Sony is hoping to employ Move and PSPs in schools, as well as creating teacher packs for LittleBigPlanet. "We've already started courses for teachers, student side and school side," he said. "We want to hear from schools and local authorities interested in tackling the issues in front of them."

Earlier in the morning, Nintendo UK general manager David Yarnton had been less sure about active involvement in education. While he hailed the adoption of DS and Wii in some classrooms and quasi-educational titles such as Brain Training, he claimed that "We do not produce products designed for education."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...s-to-education ...

Nintendo has denied reports that it is to cease manufacturing the DSi range of home consoles due to the imminent release of the 3DS in February.

In a statement issued to press including GamesIndustry.biz, a representative for Nintendo said there are still DSi products to be launched in the UK throughout this year. An earlier report translated by Kotaku claimed the system would be dropped - although the larger DSi XL was still to be manufactured.

"We plan to still manufacture and supply DSi consoles in a range of colours in the UK in 2011," said Nintendo.

"On an on-going basis, continuing supply is based on retail and consumer demand."

The 3DS is released next month in Japan on February 26, priced ¥25,000 (£194). European and US details are to be announced next week, with a launch window of March. Nintendo is manufacturing 4 million units for the two month launch period.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-dsi-phase-out ...

Elite creator David Braben has strongly criticised the current digital national curriculum in the UK.

Referring to his own self-taught programming skills on Acorn Electrons and BBC Micros, he worried that today "the equivalent kid to me would probably hate ICT and therefore probably be put off computers for good."

He told the Learning Without Frontiers conference in London today that "every kid I talk to says ICT is dull. They hate it. The majority is learning how to use certain MS tools and how to find the on and off switch.

"That is such a far distance from what I'm talking about, where self-driven learning happens. I think it was very well meaning to try and make ICT universal but I think it's backfired." He called for computer science teaching that "actually taught programming and all the things which are exciting about it."

The problem was particular acute, he felt, for those children who could not use PCs at home. "For those who didn't have access to computers it just confirmed the fact that they weren't interested."

With this in mind, Frontier Developments had created a self-contained miniature computer prototype which pupils could take home with them.

Known as the Raspberry Pi and potentially being trialled later this year, the device is "Really really small, a complete computer, everything you need to program. It can run all sorts of things from project canvas to programming language. It's very, very cheap to distribute."

The unit includes wireless networking, Linux, an ARM processor, an HDMI output and is "utterly indestructible."

The scheme is a not for profit venture which Braben felt could feasibly become widespread. "Imagine if everyone had one at home. It could be something that could be used as a vehicle, because the important thing is to have the feeling of ownership when you get home."

Braben also argued that games themselves could be an effective learning tool. "Games are a great weapon for education. Have you ever heard a kid say 'can I stop playing Mario and go do my homework?' You have to tear them off it. It's a very, very powerful thing.

"There's the huge feeling of progression, there's a lack of criticism or failure, there's huge easy steps. What games do is these very small incremental steps, each of which is motivational – for that reason kids love them, love the worlds represent in them. Ironically they are doing those days and weeks of hard slog. And dare I say it, they can often learn in the process, so long as it's secret."

Key to adopting such methods, he felt, were "great teachers."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ys-ict-is-dull ...

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is to keynote GDC 2011 with a presentation entitled 'Video games turn 25: A historical perspective and vision for the future', discussing what he believes are the most important industry trends, past and future.

2011 is the year of the 25th anniversary of GDC, with Nintendo's poster boy Mario having enjoyed the same celebration last year. Iwata is a regular speaker at the conference, having appeared first in 2005 to discuss what would later become the Wii, then in 2006 and again in 2009.

"We are honoured and pleased to welcome Mr Iwata back to the keynote stage for our 25th conference," said GDC's director, Meggan Scavio.

"Nintendo continues to innovate and captivate developers and gamers alike, and we're looking forward to their unique insights into both the history and future of the game business."

GDC 2011 takes place in San Francisco from February 28 to March 4, 2011. Tickets are available now from the organisers' website.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...g-presentation ...

Yarnton positive about 'multitude of game systems and tools that can help stimulate development'
Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton believes rival firms Sony and Microsoft are as equally important in promoting the industry to the next generation of game development hopefuls.
Speaking at the Learning Without Frontiers event today, Yarnton set aside old rivalries to say the arrival of both Sony and Microsoft in the console business has been beneficial for the industry as a whole.
He said all three platform holders were crucial “to promote game development, providing the extra tools for developers and help them experiment and explore new ideas and concepts”.
“As an industry we can provide people with a lot of different options across formats with the view of having something that can appeal to everyone,” he said.
There are “really powerful programs and games that come from Sony and Microsoft” that can both help developers and encourage industry growth, he added.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...e-of-diversity ...