Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Who is Responsible for Advice Labels on Games?

Posted by Cliff on from the preventing-further-unfortunate-occurrences dept.

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?"

7 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. How on earth does that happen? by eggstasy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Can anyone explain or point me to some URLs about why and how lighting effects induce seizures in certain people?
    I've known for years that it does happen, but it still boggles my mind that something as inocent as a little bit of flashing light could cause so much harm to a person.

  2. Re:Mandatory? Don't think so. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So would it be reasonable to say that a modern PC coupled with an LCD monitor would virtually remove any risk of siezures? (Except maybe over the shock of the prices).

  3. PC or console? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Was this a PC game or a console game? And if a console game, which console?

    I work for Sony and AFAIK every single game has these warnings on - and rightly so. Every parent should be aware that any video game (and many TV programs) can potentially cause seizures in photosensitive individuals. The only safe route is abstinance.

    In any case, you should inform the game's publisher of this event, to ensure they tighten their act up.

  4. A Gameboy maybe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I wonder, is it more the light that really triggers it? Could he play a Gameboy Advance (not SP) or maybe even an old school Gameboy?

  5. Re:Mandatory? Don't think so. by MachDelta · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes yes, sorry I should have mentioned that. You still need contrasting elements to be displayed on your screen. But with low framerates, you already have part of the equasion needed for a seizure. All thats really required is motion between two contrasting items. Then you get a contrasting pattern at low frequency, and bingo - potential seizure.
    Mind you, these types of events aren't very common - just possible (especially if you sit 6" from the screen, as kids love to do :P).
    Oh, and you can read up a bit on photosensitive epilepsy here. Its not very detailed (nor technical), but its a good little overview.

  6. WARNING: This game may contain images of peanuts. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I did some googling for peanut allergy and photosensitive epilepsy. It seems peanut allergy occurs at about 25x more often; however, I was not aware that either of these are as common as the statistics show. This is quite an eye opener for me.

    Peanut allergy affects about 1:125 people

    The study, which measured the number of people reporting peanut and/or tree nut (almonds, cashews, walnuts and pecans, for example) allergies, found that prevalence rates in 1997 and 2002 were relatively the same for the population at-large. However, reported peanut allergy in children rose dramatically, increasing from 0.4 percent in 1997 to 0.8 percent in 2002. Based on 2000 U.S. Census data, FAAN estimates that nearly 600,000 children are now affected by peanut allergy -- about 1 in every 125 children.
    Photosensitive epilepsy affects about 1:3000 people
    Between 40 million and 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and between 3 and 5 percent of epileptics are photosensitive.

    NOTE: This post is actually meant to be informative; I went with a humorous title to get noticed.

  7. Question by drivers · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Here's the question you're not answering: If he had never had a seizure, why were you so careful to check for it? Previous diagnosis? Family history? Paranoia? Hindsight? What?