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Who is Responsible for Advice Labels on Games?
AccUser asks: "So, I spent the day in the local hospital with my son after he suffered a seizure while we played a computer game (that shall remain nameless). The game was labeled as one for younger children, but had no warnings about photosensitive seizures on either the packaging or associated documentation, and I assumed that it would be a safe game for him to play. Many games (Halo and others) come with these warnings, and rightly so - I expected that any game that was a potential risk would indicate this. To be honest, all was fine until the final level, when there were a significant number of special lighting effects, and I guess this triggered the subsequent events. So, is the labeling of games to indicate risk of photosensitive seizures and other dangers mandatory, both in Europe and the States, and who is responsible for placing this information? Is it down to the distributor? The publisher? The developer?"
I don't know about "virtually removing", but an LCD fed with a digital signal would certainly be much safer. It has to be digital though, because analouge will (apparently) produce a similar refreshing effect. So not only do you have to scrape up the cash for an LCD display, you'll need to find a video card with digital output on it too. I think its safe to say most people would be wriggling on the floor after pricing out that kind of gear, epileptic or not. ;)
After taking a random sampling of game manuals I have lying around, *every* single console game had this warning printed in both the manual for the game and the manual that came with the system. I know this has been a common practice going back at least as far as the NES.
No PC game manuals I looked at had any such warning, however the EULAs (for whatever they're worth) all contain passages disclaiming responsability for damages, including personal injury.
After some brief googling, it would seem that 15-20hz is the key danger frequency for triggering photosensitive epilepsy, as well has high contrast patterns in a cycle of 1-4hz per degree. So having guidelines that would make games safe most photosensitive people seems to be a possability, but I think it would be rather difficult to make all developers aware of this. This may be a good thing though to have an independant organization like the ESRB evaluate, I think it would be a worthwhile cause to take up with them.
I believe it would be disingenuous of the game manufacturers to label certain games with seizure warnings and leave others without when they really have no way of knowing which ones will or will not stimulate a given epileptic.
That said if I were you I would consider the following things. Maybe use PCs and not consoles for gaming so you have more control over the frame rate and refresh rate, hoping to avoid the certain frequencies that may cause this. Also something like a Gameboy Advance or one of those small LCD screens that attach to the console may prevent this, I would investigate this.
Also if you have and HD TV or an available computer monitor you might try using progressive scan capable consoles as they should have higher refresh rates and less flicker. And I'm sure there a websites/blogs/forums for epileptic gamers. Check them out and see what works for them.
I hope your son is feeling well and good luck.
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The seizure is basically a large portion of the synapses in the brain firing all at once at a specific time interval. This causes the body to convulse and most thought to stop. In people prone to seizures, if a certain portion of synapses begin to fire at this critical rate, it can induce a seizure. Flashing lights of just the right frequency can cause synapses in the visual cortex to fire at this rate, inducing the seizure.
To sue somebody over this is not my reason for asking this. To clarify the situation and understand if the labelling of games is mandatory is my main aim. If it is not mandatory, should it be, and can I put pressure on the industry (well, not me as an individual) to effect a change?
Any fool can talk, but it takes a wise man to listen.
It was a PC version of the game, to run on my PC, which does not come with a warning. Even if my PC had come with a warning, I am interested in the requirement for labelling games clearly, not to sue somebody over this.
Any fool can talk, but it takes a wise man to listen.
Before playing the game in question, my son had NEVER had a siezure of any kind, epileptic or otherwise. I thought I was being reponsible by checking the games I purchased.
Any fool can talk, but it takes a wise man to listen.
I now know what might trigger my sons seizures, but before playing this game, my son had never had a seizure. And I had played the game (extensively!) before he had. To be honest, the game was pretty tame throughout, but the problem was with the final level. In hindsight, I think it had been developed almost independently of the rest of the game (ok, it used the same engine, etc.) as the monitor changed resolution when the level started. The graphics were fairly blurred and the lighting quite intense. I think that these things caused the problem. As it happened I was playing the game with my son at the time, had I not been, I would not have known the issues with the final level unless I had played the game through to completion before letting him play. I had played enough myself to give me the feeling that the game was suitable for him, but this proved not to be the case.
Any fool can talk, but it takes a wise man to listen.
I'm not looking for someone to sue. I'm looking to find out if the community thinks that this is an important issue or not. I'm looking to find out if I can bring pressure to the industry to tighten the labelling of games up. I'm looking to make sure that this doesn't happen to my son again. I'm lucky - I was playing the game with him at the time. What if I hadn't been?
Any fool can talk, but it takes a wise man to listen.
Why should I have known better? My son had NEVER had a seizure before playing this game. EVER. It is not like I was taking a chance - I thought that I was reducing risk by not allowing him to play games that came with warnings - not because he was epileptic (which he wasn't) - but because they can be harmful. I trusted - wrongly - the fact that some games had warnings and others not, that the latter were safe.
Any fool can talk, but it takes a wise man to listen.