Boy gets triggered by a computer game

A campaign by the mother of a ten-year-old boy who suffered an epileptic fit triggered by a computer game has finally persuaded a leading manufacturer to change how it vets its products.

The boy’s mother rushed to his room when she heard him screaming. As she entered the room, she found him twitching uncontrollably. Tests reveal that it was caused by flashing lights on his Nintendo game console.

The boy’s mother won the support of MP’s who signed a day motion calling on manufacturers to screen games for features that could bring in fits. After the incident, the boy’s mother also persuaded the world’s largest manufacturer of computer games, Ubisoft to vet all its products.

Mrs Gaye Hereford, the boy’s mother is believed to be a dentist from Somerset. Hereford said that most people didn’t know if they were vulnerable to diseases like epilepsy which were caused by flashing lights. The game manufacturers had to remove such scenes in the game which could bring in epileptic fits, she said.

The boy was playing Rayman Raving Rabbids when he was struck by the incident. She said that, when she reached him he was rigid. Later he pleaded her to stop the lights and the flashes.

Photo sensitive epilepsy which was revealed at Bristol children’s hospital is believed to be a common disease in the age group of 7-19, the age when most boys are addicted to video games.

John Penrose, MP for Weston-super-Mare, who tabled the motion, said: “We don’t allow toy-makers to sell products that could poison or injure our children. This shouldn’t be any different. We need government action, now, to change the law so no more young lives are affected by seizures triggered by electronic video games.”

The campaign is backed by Graham Harding, an authority on photosensitive epilepsy. He developed the Harding flash and pattern analyser, which the Independent Television Commission adopted in 1994 and which is still the standard test to guard against epilepsy-inducing scenes.

Professor Harding said that they wanted to avoid a war with manufacturers.

Rob Cooper, managing director of Ubisoft UK, said that their response to Gaye Herford was not to just take note but to take up her case seriously. Tests showed that Rayman Raving Rabbids, Nintendo DS game had no images with a high risk for photosensitivity epilepsy.

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December 6, 2007 | Filed Under Gaming, Tech News