Culture Jam

Why did I chose this topic?

Timeline of Nintendo Handhelds

Research Question:
What is the real cost of this system?

Timeline of Nintendo Handhelds

Lets look at the 3DS specifically

Consumption
Consumerism
Audience Awareness
Environmental & Human Impact

Key Ideas I Thought About

 Gold, tin, tantalum,

and tungsten
Mined in Democratic
Republic of Congo
They are key
elements in
electronics,
including cell
phones, computers,
and video games and
consoles
Used in circuit

http://markcraemer.com/conflict-minerals

Conflict Minerals

 Primary source of revenue for armed groups

and military units that prey on civilians in
eastern Congo
"They often terrorize communities using forced
labour, debt bondage, sexual slavery, the use of
children by armed groups, and other forms of
child slavery. Child slaves are often used for
the worst types of labour such as diggers at the
mine sites, or porters assisting in the transport
of conflict minerals, Brian Crecente, Polygon
These armed groups regularly commit horrific
abuses against the civilian population,
including mass murder, rape, torture and

Conflict Minerals

http://markcraemer.com/conflict-minerals

Nintendo was ranked

last in the human
rights group Enough
Projects list of 24
leading consumer
electronics
companies, based on
how the companies
dealt with sourcing
conflict minerals
Nintendo denies
having connections
with any

Conflict Minerals

http://www.dw.de/foxconn-admits-to-using-child-labor/a-16310926

For production of the 3DS, Nintendo uses electronics manufacturer Foxconn,

which has large factories in China
In 2012, Foxconn admitted to using the illegal labor of Chinese children in
the production of Nintendos Wii U systems
They hired interns under the age of 16 in at least one of their factories

Chinese Child Labor

 Foxconn exploits employees by forcing them

to work overtime or by underpaying them
In 2012 in Zhengzhou, China, students were
reportedly forced by their teachers to work in
Foxconn factories, at the time building iPhone
5s
Additionally, several vocational schools in the
city of Huai-an, also in China, required
hundreds of students to work to fill employee
shortages
Roughly 32,000 of Foxconns 1.2 million

Chinese Child Labor

The BOM (Bill of Materials) of the 3DS is

$100.71, and when you add the $2.54
manufacturing cost, the total cost rises to

Cost to Manufacture

 As of January 10, 2014, Nintendo had sold

over 11.5 million 3DS units worldwide
They ship the units from China and Japan to
the U.S., Argentina, South Africa, New
Zealand, and almost everywhere in between
Nintendo employ[s] fleets of planes, cargo,
ships, trains and ground vehiclesto maintain
the best supply flow [of systems] possible
They have no policy that requires the use of
sustainable transportation methods
The average Boeing 747 (one of the most
common airliners) uses 1 gallon of fuel every

International Sales

As technology advances and these consoles get

smarter (internet, 3D, social networking), the cost
understandably rises. What we may not consider is
that more work, more precious materials, and more
human labor are required to assemble them.

These numbers reflect only a select handful of Nintendos handheld consoles

Cost Over Time

What am I going to do about this? I would like to

ally myself with organizations like Enough
Project and Walk Free and challenge the gaming
industry giants to be more transparent about their
manufacturing processes.