gaye-herford
Latest
And the epilepsy debate continues, this time in Parliament
Although some companies (like Ubisoft) have volunteered to do extra epilepsy-related tests for their games, the existing standard isn't enough for some people. Take, for example, famous and loathed mom Gaye Herford, who's responsible for bringing this fight to Parliament after her son suffered a fit while playing Rayman Raving Rabbids DS.Sprong reports that the House of Commons debate was held yesterday, with members supporting different solution. Margaret Hodge, the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, pushed for a voluntary testing system, which could be changed to mandatory in the future if the issue remained problematic. John Penrose on the other hand led a more paranoid debate, stating, "The point is that some games manufacturers may decide to do that, but there is a huge number of games-makers and manufacturers throughout the world. Some are large and responsible, such as Ubisoft, but as in any industry, there is a large number of manufacturers who are relatively tiny, and although some may be responsible, we cannot be sure."It doesn't seem as if a final decision was reached, but you know politics -- things take a while to get done.[Via Game Politics]
Mother's campaign to bring video game seizure concerns to British Parliament a success
By now, you've probably noticed the seizure warnings interjected into the start-up screens of many games, giving the .02 percent of the population that suffers from photosensitive epilepsy (PSE) a heads-up that the following game may not be entirely safe for them to play. However, Gaye Herford, a mother residing in England, has brought her concerns over game-related seizures to British Parliament after her 10-year-old son suffered a seizure following a round of Rayman: Raving Rabbids on the Nintendo DS.Parliament has agreed to debate whether or not rigorous testing for seizure-inducing material in video games should be required by their developers on a heretofore undecided date. Television and films are already tested in this manner, but no countries require similar checks for games. Ubisoft has independently agreed to begin performing these tests on all their future titles, though we find it difficult to imagine how one makes a mini-game compilation featuring hyperactive, mutant rabbits without using some PSE-sensitive material.
