Parliament has agreed to debate whether or not rigorous testing for seizure-inducing material in video games should be required by their developers on a heretofore undecided date. Television and films are already tested in this manner, but no countries require similar checks for games. Ubisoft has independently agreed to begin performing these tests on all their future titles, though we find it difficult to imagine how one makes a mini-game compilation featuring hyperactive, mutant rabbits without using some PSE-sensitive material.
(Page 1) Reader Comments
The warning is there, man, it's your choice to ignore it or not.
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A person with PSE concerned about their condition wouldnt really be able to play any games at all.
He's correct, all illnesses have a first time, and with epilepsy it could be your first, which is why I don't ind the idea of forced testing, though it wouldn't be an easy thing to do, with BDs and MMOs, there could be millions of different files to check, even then freak errors could cause a flickering effect...
Actually, I think what should be done is putting a bit more info at the start of games, like what to do if someone gets a seizure. My Uncle fell into a coma after hitting his head during a seizure, caused by playing a video game. He survived a while, but only because his son knew that he had to ring 999(emergency no. in UK)...
Many people wouldn't know what to do, for instance, a woman had a seizure at a bus stop my mum was at, she was the only one who knew to put her on her side and hold her tounge, everyone else just stood there and watched...
- Deus X Machina
Quick google search even:
http://authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=9920&id=17538
That is one evil lady.
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Don't downvote him just because.
Second, just another video game witch hunt for britian. Natually games can induce an epileptic seizure, certainly. But so can driving at night, florescent bulbs, etc. Most people who discover this about themselves would prefer the safe environment instead of driving down a highway at 70mph.
Third, the warning are there, in every region. This is like saying "It's not enough for a lighter to warn that it contains flammable liquid in writing, it must have a sound chip in every lighter with a very visible button to remind us in a jaunty tune plaid in a 17th century style dirge."
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Hearing that something like that comes from Britain is actually surprising. That's Americans who like to blame/sue everybody for their own inability to stop.
As for this shocking blame game coming from Britain, where have you been? Games like Final Fantasy have been blamed for the rise of knife crimes in Manchester and reckless teenage driving was recently acredited to Gran Turismo. Even the Byron report was commissioned as a whole "time to PROVE these games be the devil, yar!" It just blew up in their face because when anytime ACTUAL research is done, it shows the contrary.
Aside from that, there was really nothing the mother or the game developers could've done to prevent her kid from having a seizure; several warnings are already in place, and it's pretty obvious to anyone that anything with blinking lights can potentially induce a seizure.
As for the embellished story, well you need to exaggerate it if you're pushing for a law to be passed, not that I don't think she shouldn't be trying to get that law passed. Anyway, as is my understanding, it is possible to talk during a seizure as long as it's a mild or non-convulsive one; if you're jerking around uncontrollably, you're probably not even aware that it's happening.
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I'm just surprised to hear that such testing exists and works.
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I'm sure most people on this site will come to the defense of game regulation, but let's be honest here, games seem like they might be more prone to causing a seizure than TV or film.
How about this. Just like movies and TV, games should be tested before they come out, but also just like movies and TV gamers we won't have to sit through five different warning screens before starting(I'm looking at you Nintendo).
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How long is it before 'Gaye' wants to sue and get a shit load of money.
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http://www.daily-acts.org/images/bulb.jpg
http://www.sz-wholesale.com/uploadFiles/17%20CRT%20Monitor_558.jpg
http://image20.webshots.com/20/4/15/24/235041524jhnABP_fs.jpg
What? Outside the nag screen plaguing GC games, and DS/Wii, ive never seen any sort of health concern or anything.
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Also from what was posted by Ubisoft on DSfanboy the game actually passed the Epilepsy tests.
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And for everyone complaining about this just ending up as more regulation for the industry, look at it this way: in order for video games to be looked upon in the same light as other "more respected" media formats, they should be put under the same scrutinies as the others.
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But for the love of god,isn't the seizure just her and her son's fucking problem? Do we need to stick warning labels and ban everything just because 0.02% of people may or may not have a seizure?
If I'm allergic to tomatoes, do I try to stop everybody from eating tomatoes? Do I force major tomato companies to waste millions, genetically engineering an allergy-free tomato? No.I don't eat tomatoes and I check to make sure that the food I'm about to eat doesn't contain any tomatoes.I suggest that the Mother does the same because frankly, the 99.98% of population doesn't give a shit about HER PROBLEM!
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And she wants a way to check that the games she gives her son won't make him have seizures. Same shit right thurr, though this chick exaggerates out the asshole and has lied before, as Sheppy stated.
The problem is tied to the medium used for playing games, not the games themselves. Why is this person selectively pursuing only those within the game industry instead of television manufacturers? This problem has more to do with people's own false sense of security over their own well-being and the equally false sense of entitlement to compensation when their own body suddenly fails on them in coincidence to some environmental element present at that particular moment.
It's not as though Ubisoft programmed epilepsy into the game and secretly unleashed it on the unsuspecting masses, until someone finally "hot coffeed" it.
It'd be interesting to know what type of TV was being used at the time this occurred... an older, continually strobing CRT set or an LCD. Also, it'd be interesting to know why this kid's own doctor didn't catch on that the kid had the condition if the condition itself was so obvious that even a company having never actually seen the "victim" prior to selling the game to them should have known this was going to happen.
The fact is, epilepsy is not a static condition, much like any other neurological disorder. Everyone has slightly differing triggers that affect them in varying ways. Certain colors, patterns and frequencies might affect one person, but may be completely different for another.
Also, exactly how do you test for this sort of thing without posing a potential threat to the testers themselves? Are you going to use known epileptics as part of the test (either as the control or the test subject) and risk some of them dying in the process?
Inevitably, someone else somewhere will end up spazzing out, only to then sue you for not testing thoroughly enough to cover their particular variation of triggers. And it'll continue on recursively until you can't afford to stay in business because testing cost more than the game will bring in.
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I don't think there would be much more problem if they tested more and whatever, but you can't stop some one somewhere eyeing the wrong game and breaking into convulsion if they don't know they have it. This kinds of things just happen. There is no need to make giant audits. Until a cure is found, it'll keep on happening.
Thank god I don't have that.
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This is just another example of an entire industry being lowered to another lowest common denominator. Because if this follows the pattern established by TV and film industry every time this kind of dumb legislation has been put forward, this kind of stuff will stifle creativity. Once more.
OK, my argument still applies, why the game manufacturer and not the hardware manufacturer (Nintendo and whoever makes the DS displays). Also, what about other lights present in the environment it was used in... a florescent light reflecting off the displays or in the ambient lighting interfering with the eyes.
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Do they sit a bunch of epileptic kids infront of the screen and wait to see it they get them?
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"PSE global expert, Professor Graham Harding, has backed the campaign. He devised the Harding Flash and Pattern Analyser - an automated screening system able to process TV and video material in real time and used as the television industry standard since 1994."
Of course Harding has backed the campaign... This lady has just opened him a brand new market !
I don't exactly remember the price of a Harding Flash and Pattern Analyser, but as with every government-backed monopoly, it's frakking expensive.