Seizure brought on by DS game leads to banning crusade

by Candace Savino { Dec 6th 2007 at 8:00PM }

After a boy in the UK fell into an epileptic fit from playing Rayman Raving Rabbids on the DS, his mother, Gaye Herford, protested to Parliament that there should be more vigorous safety testing for video games. Should her campaign be successful, any games that could potentially cause seizures will be banned in the UK and game developers will have to adhere to stricter safety standards. Currently, thirty-five Members of Parliament stand behind the proposal.

Ubisoft (the makers of Rabbids) responded by saying that the company already pre-screened Rabbids DS for the potential to cause epileptic fits, and the testing showed that the game was unlikely to do so. Managing director of Ubisoft UK Robert Cooper added, however, that the company has made the decision to now test all in-house games prior to release.

[Via Pocket Gamer]

Tags: epilepsy, epileptic-fit, Health, Parliament, Politics, rabbids, rayman, rayman-raving-rabbids, Safety, seizure, Ubisoft

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

RupeeClock @ Dec 6th 2007 8:12PM

Is there any actual seizure enducing scenes in the game, or was it just a poor kid who they didn't know would be vulnerable to epileptic fits?

I mean EVERY single DS game comes with epilepsy warnings.

Fiefdom @ Dec 6th 2007 8:18PM

There are already safety warnings on game packaging and manuals for games and consoles which advise against playing any sort of video game if a child is prone to epilepsy. They also suggest that some people (from memory, I think it's one in every four thousand) may experience an epileptic fit playing games even if they've never before experienced one.

I can understand this woman being upset that her son experienced an unexpected epileptic seizure but that's no reason to try to quell an entire industry. There's a risk of fatal crashes when somebody in is a car or an airplane but that doesn't necessitate those forms of transportation being removed even though most feasible safety measures and precautions are taken as best as is realistically possible. Perhaps the public school system should be reorganized to prevent large groups of children being in a small area so as to cater to the tiny minority of students who are highly susceptible to illness. This is such a stupid and selfish plea from an emotionally distraught mother has yet to be educated on the entity which she is trying to fight against.

Blue_Falcon @ Dec 6th 2007 8:36PM

"...any games that could potentially cause seizures will be banned in the UK..."

So basically they're saying ban every game. Since any game could cause seizures.

awesomo @ Dec 6th 2007 8:56PM

sigh. all it takes is for one overzealous parent to spoil it for the rest of us. poor kid, but come on.

Jacob @ Dec 6th 2007 9:17PM

If your kid breaks out into fits from video games, don't let him play video games. It isn't parliament, or any government's job for that matter, to decide what human beings can play and what they can't play. There are warnings on the box and the first window that pops up on the DS is a warning too.

Granted, games don't need to be insanely gratuitous with flashing lights and such, and then when half its player start having seizures, point to the box and say "can't touch me!", there does need to be some safety standard, but there are always going to be risks associated with any sort of device that has you staring at a screen that flashes images at you. There are risks associated with everything in life. Going on a crusade to make the government put its citizens in bubble wrap won't do any good.

Matdredalia @ Dec 7th 2007 5:19AM

I totally second this motion.

I'm sorry, but if my child was prone to epilepsy, that means no video games, no matter how badly they want them.

And if I didn't know they were prone to epilepsy, well that sure as hell isn't a video game companies fault.

ssuk @ Dec 7th 2007 7:42AM

So wait, you'd bar your children from playing games... Which 90% of them do NOTHING to epilepsy sufferers because there's a chance she/he could play one game which uses excessive screen flashes or something which may trigger an epileptic fit? Yeah, sounds like a good idea.

Jackson H @ Dec 6th 2007 9:50PM

Ugh. Isn't there already like 97 seizure warnings all over the DS and every single game? Someone should sue her for negligent parenting for failure to read the product warnings.

velocitystrike @ Dec 7th 2007 5:26AM

I com-frickin-pletely agree. Argh.

Maybe the boy already had freakin Epilepsy �_�

ssuk @ Dec 7th 2007 7:45AM

It's a general health and safety warning. There's usually an epilepsy warning at the front of every manual made since 1995. However, those warnings are becoming less frequent in manuals as we've learnt more about what epilepsy is and what triggers it.
Nintendo includes epilepsy by default in all manuals and the black health and safety booklets they include with every game. Doesn't mean every game will cause an epileptic fit, however.

kiev @ Dec 6th 2007 10:20PM

i hate how this has become like her selfish and personal quest to ruin it for everybody just because she got unlucky, or rather her son did. BUt what will "more rigorous" testing do other than prolong the release of games ? I've never played raving rabbids, but im sure every game has the potential to cause seizures, and as been said 100 times before, there are warnings everywhere, most notably the startup screen. How much more clear can they get? Perhaps she's not literate along with them 35 members behind her case. IMO, this is sad news all together+ a step back for humanity. Dumb lady. She's like one of those ppl who sue the coffee shop chains for not having the "caution:hot" warning label. Hopefully she loses.

2dere @ Dec 7th 2007 5:15AM

OMG! And we should like, ban jellyfish from the sea because my little brother got stung and like There wasn't a sign in the water next to where he was swimming telling him that there is a chance it could happen....

ssuk @ Dec 7th 2007 7:39AM

There are actually testing facilities in the UK (in Aston, Birmingham, actually) to test for seizure-threatening trends on-screen. Infact, the BBC has pointed out this many times, and has been a big debate since Megaman on the NES caused so many seizures back in the day. However, nothing has been done about making it a requirement to test for this kind of thing in any form of popular media (movies, TV Shows, games, pop videos, etc). I don't think this movement here and now will do anything more than any other complaint that's been made before.

ssuk @ Dec 7th 2007 7:47AM

Also, why is that woman standing in front of a screen of Sonic The Hedgehog (360/PS3)?

Jacky @ Dec 7th 2007 9:19AM

I think she's just anti fun, but I've played this game and I didn't really notice any strong flashes, the only thing that happened to me was getting light headed from blowing into the mic too vigorously, may be I could sue... that info isn't on the packaging lol