Mother's campaign to bring video game seizure concerns to British Parliament a success

Some things I just don't understand, aren't these warnings in every box every screen every manual already?

The warning is there, man, it's your choice to ignore it or not.

So why is she sitting in front of Sonic 2006? Is she threatening to make us play it if we don't do something about seizure-inducing games?

That is one evil lady.

not a bad idea, but didn't she notice that as soon as you turn on the ds, you see a link to nintendo's health and safety warnings? in my region, epilepsy risks are the first thing you read about. I'm for rigorous testing though to prevent it.

There are warnings epilepsy seizures at the back of the game cases, in the instrucion booklet, and there's a screen warning you about those problems when you turn on the DS and the Wii.

First off, this woman's original story is full of horse shit. Because she once stated "and my son laid there convulsing saying "mommy, makes the lights stop""

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."

Don't games have warnings at the start? ^_^

"Gaye Herford"...I know why she has took this issue to parliament, shes pissed about having to change her gamer tag on xbl.

Watching TV, I don't see anything containing a warning about possible seizures. Would that be the case for games, as well, if they did this testing on them? I'm sure there are seizure-prone people out there that enjoy video games and would rather not assume whether or not a game will be seizure-iffic on their own.

I'm just surprised to hear that such testing exists and works.

Wow people should try to read articles before commenting on them.

News like this just makes me foam at the mouth.

so how do they expect to test if game induces seizures? by playing it constantly before they release the game like they do already. Shoot i haven't heard of a game tester getting a seizure.

While I'm usually someone who will argue that games are treated more harshly than TV and movies, since in this case TV and movies are already tested, I think it's only fair that games be tested as well.

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).

This is a load of nonsense, just another load of crap people want to dump on gaming.
How long is it before 'Gaye' wants to sue and get a shit load of money.

"you've probably noticed the seizure warnings interjected into the start-up screens of many games"


What? Outside the nag screen plaguing GC games, and DS/Wii, ive never seen any sort of health concern or anything.

I had no clue that candy give my diabetic son seizures. They should pass a law forcing all candy companies to test for diabetics.

Also from what was posted by Ubisoft on DSfanboy the game actually passed the Epilepsy tests.

I completely agree with this testing. I don't see why at all it hasn't been done before. As someone with a relative who falls into that .02%, any chance at my preferred entertainment medium of choice becoming safer for all people is very welcome.

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.

Haven't there been epilepsy warnings ever since the original NES? Right on the box, on the cartridge, and IN the game?

Gordon Brown should fake a seizure during his next political crisis...although that could become a problem if he has to be taken to hospital on a weekly basis.

It's sad how paranoid and defensive some gamers have become about their hobby. So many people in this comment section have chosen to rant and whine without actually getting solid information about the woman's perfectly reasonable request.

Ironic thing is, the average paranoid defensive gamer is beginning to mirror the average paranoid blame-shifting parent. At least the parents are ostensibly defending kids. What's a gamer's justification for being reactionary, irrational and smug?

A lot of us have a hell of a lot of growing up to do.

Stupid woman. It's her fault for being irresponsible and not reading the warnings. Due to her ignorance, game developers now have to shell out more dough to get their games released.

whoa, when did rat faced women have opinions?

I know I'm gonna sound like an ignorant bigot.And I know I'll get downvoted.

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!

This is utter crap...

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.

I am ignorant regarding these "tests" that would be required. How is it you test against epilepsy?

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.