Skip to main content

Nintendo makes little effort to police use of “conflict minerals” in Nintendo 3DS, Wii U

nintendo wii u
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Shocker: All the parts in your iPhone and your Nintendo 3DS come from somewhere. They are not, no matter what Apple’s shiny commercials tell you, magic. People dig metals, minerals and other goods out of the ground, refine them, and they are used in the production of electronic products. Many of those minerals like tin and tungsten are cultivated in the war ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo and the ceaseless conflicts in that nation are over control of those resources.

The Enough Project, an advocacy group backed by the Center for American Progress, released its 2012 Conflict Minerals Company Rankings this week, giving a score to electronics companies based on how well they work to not use minerals seized through violence. Intel and HP lead the pack, but coming in dead last is Nintendo.

“Nintendo is, I believe, the only company that has basically refused to acknowledge the issue or demonstrate they are making any sort of effort on it,” Enough Project senior policy analyst Sasha Lezhnev told CNN on Thursday, “And this is despite a good two years of trying to get in contact with them.”

Nintendo released a blanket statement to CNN placing the responsibility of sourcing materials on Nintendo’s manufacturing partners, not the company itself. When Digital Trends reached out to Nintendo for comment, we received the same statement. “Nintendo outsources the manufacture and assembly of Nintendo products to our production partners and therefore is not directly involved in the sourcing of raw materials that are ultimately used in our products. We nonetheless take out social responsibilities as a global company very seriously and expect our production partners to do the same.”

Like many companies, Nintendo established a set of guidelines its production partners need to agree to called the Nintendo CSR Procurement Guidelines. Nintendo did not however go into any detail on how it ensures that these guidelines are followed. The “Honor System” isn’t exactly foolproof.

This isn’t the first time in recent years Nintendo’s been accused of socially irresponsible corporate policy. In 2010, Greenpeace named Nintendo the least green electronics manufacturer in the world. Plus, that was an improvement from reports in 2008 and 2009.

For every effort that Nintendo makes to appear as family friendly as possible—from restricting the western release of games like Mother 3 it deems potentially offensive to insisting on byzantine online friend networks through Friend Codes—it’s shocking how willful the company is in its disregard for socially conscious business.

Editors' Recommendations

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
Grab these Nintendo 3DS games before the eShop closes
wii u 3ds exclusive nintendo games eshop closure ever oasis

While the Nintendo 3DS had a rocky launch, the handheld system recovered gracefully and ended up having one of the best game lineups of any Nintendo system. Many of these 3DS games, like Super Mario 3D Land and Fire Emblem Awakening, were very popular and well-known. Still, the 3DS had a lot of fantastic games that not as many people know about and threaten to be lost to time when the eShop closes down.
The 3DS eShop will shut down soon, preventing people from purchasing new games. As such, we've been reflecting on the system's vast library and all of the fantastic games that 3DS owners will no longer be able to buy digitally. From games that we think will skyrocket even further in price after the store shuts down to some enjoyable hidden gems that didn't get the attention they deserve, you might want to snag these 3DS games before you can't anymore after March 27. 
Ever Oasis

Grezzo is one of Nintendo's most underrated developers. It's delivered top-notch The Legend of Zelda remakes like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Link's Awakening. So what if I told you that it used that experience to make an original IP for 3DS that's one of the best-looking and expansive games on the system? Ever Oasis, a 2017 3DS game, follows a young kid as they help a water spirit named Esna build an oasis and try to save their brother from Chaos.
The result is a mix of 3D The Legend of Zelda and city management games. Players can venture out into surprisingly large open worlds and dungeons to restock and grow the number of "bloom booths." This mix of open-world exploration, dungeon crawling, and oasis-building will keep players engaged for dozens of hours, and it also stands as one of the deepest and best-looking action-adventure games on the platform. 
Ever Oasis didn't get much attention when it launched because the Nintendo Switch had been released a couple of months earlier. Still, it stands as one of the 3DS' best games, so it's a shame that more people don't know about it. It risks being forgotten forever now the 3DS eShop is closing down, so check it out before the closure; it will surpass your expectations. 
Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Read more
Download these rare Wii U games before they disappear

Nintendo's Wii U is notorious for how hard it flopped and for providing the Switch with some of its best ports, but that doesn't mean it didn't have worthwhile games that are still exclusive to it. While many Wii U games have escaped to other platforms and Game Boy Advance games are now coming to Nintendo Switch, some experiences are uniquely suited to the Wii U GamePad or aren't able to make the jump elsewhere due to other outside factors.

As such, when the Wii U and 3DS eShops shut down on March 27, there are some unique Wii U games that will become significantly more expensive and tougher, if not outright impossible, to play. If you're one of the 13.5 million people who actually have a Wii U and are wondering what to pick up before the eShop closes, we recommend these stranded games.
Affordable Space Adventures

Read more
The Nintendo 3DS’ best (and weirdest) cult hit is coming to Apple Arcade
Horses race in Pocket Card Jockey.

Apple Arcade is kicking off 2023 by adding three new titles in January. Most notable among them is Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On!, a mobile port of one of the Nintendo 3DS cult hits set to launch on January 20.

The original Pocket Card Jockey, released in 2013 in Japan and 2016 in North America, is one of the 3DS' oddest titles. Developed by Pokémon studio Game Freak, it's a horse-racing RPG that revolves around solitaire. Players raise and breed horses and then race them by playing fast-paced rounds of solitaire. It's an extremely bizarre concept, but an incredibly fun one that made it one of the handheld's most charming hidden gems.

Read more