You'll no longer be able to play a DS or PSP on Japanese airlines after a new law was brought into effect there on Monday.
It seems the problem lies with the handhelds' built-in wireless functions, which, Japan's transport minister has declared, have the ability to interfere with aircraft navigation systems.
UK airlines currently don't have any restrictions on use of handheld electronic games during a flight and British Airways' website says these devices have a negligible effect on aircraft systems. They just need to be switched off for take-off, approach and landing.
However, Japan has ruled the electromagnetic waves emitted by the consoles are unsafe for use whilst in the air (inside a plane, obviously).
Passengers will still be allowed to play game devices which don't have wireless functions, so you'll be safe with your old Game Boy (although it could tip your hand luggage over the specified weight allowance should you bring all its accessories along, of course). But wireless computer mouses and headphones have also been banned, while calculators and cassette players will be permitted.
We can't wait for our next flight with a Japanese airline – it's going to be like a nostalgia-tinged trip back to the 1980s.
This news follows a
report by The Sun a few weeks back that the DS has been barred from prisons after security experts feared the radio signals they transmit could be utilised by terror suspects to talk to accomplices and plot carnage.
Technology, eh? Hidden dangers everywhere.
