At this rate, if all these bills being proposed get written into actual law, video game
box art would be obsolete. In their place, it's just one big white label on the cover: warning warning danger warning!
Following last week's proposal of having a huge list of warnings on game boxes (sodomy, rape, bestiality, incest, murder, etc.), a new bill from the
New York State Assembly now wants a warning label linking photosensitivity epilepsy and video games.
Which is reasonable, I suppose. It has been scientifically proven - with countless accounts from gamers (or at least in the case of TV shows like
Pokemon, viewers) reporting of getting woozy or even having seizures after extended periods of seeing intense visual sequences with interchanging contrasting colors.
Here's the entire contents for the epilepsy warning as outline in the bill:
EPILEPSY WARNING: Real before using your video game system. Medical research indicates a small percentage of the population may experience epileptic seizures or seizure-like symptoms when exposed to certain stimuli, including, without limitation, light patterns, flashing lights or certain patterns of background on a television screen or video monitor. Exposure to these stimuli while playing video games may induce an epileptic seizure or seizure-like symptoms in these individuals. Certain conditions may induce undetected epileptic symptoms even in persons who have no prior history of seizures or epilepsy. If you experience any of the following symptoms while playing a video game - dizziness, altered vision, eye or muscle twitches, loss of awareness, disorientation, and involuntary movement or convulsions - IMMEDIATELY discontinue use and consult your physician before play.
What's to become of our box art? Our Collector's Edition tins?
Well, we all know the controversy in which
WipEout HD recently got in. It was supposedly delayed because it was giving testers headaches. See, if a person were susceptible to photosensitivity (each person has varying degrees of tolerance), a video game really
could prove to be harmful to the player. True enough,
WipEout was released with a serious health warning.
The strange thing about this bill though is the last line. It's taking all games without question - whether its an M-rated game or an E for Everyone.
This Bill would require that a warning be placed upon every video game warning people of the dangers of Photosensitivity Epilepsy.
Retailers violating this bill, once approved, would get a US 50 fine plus civil offenses on their record.
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2009-02-05, 06:12 AM
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