The carnage continues: another bill wants epilepsy warnings on all game boxes |
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.
Related articles:
- New bill in Congress to put games with bestiality, suicide, sodomy, etc. under lock and key; US$ 1000 fine for violators
- New Congress bill wants 'cigarette-like' warnings on game boxes
- WipEoutHD comes with serious health warning
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Comments [refresh]
What the hell's wrong with displaying this in game before any gameplay, with a "press start, x, a, whatever" caption at the bottom...
These are already on the back of game boxes. Well on PS3 boxes anyway, Sexbox 360 games dont have them, but Microcon doesnt care about it's customers health, so thats expected.
and if i remember correctly since I think I read that part of the manual once and figured by the 2nd time its always the same, it's on there to and maybe in fine print on the back of the game case as well.
By the looks of
"Retailers violating this bill, once approved, would get a US$ 50 fine plus civil offenses on their record."
this would just be a sticker that has to be stuck on to the plastic wrap by the retailers themselves since this is also only NY which would make it pointless for the publishing companies to make boxart with that on it.
If this happens... I'm not going to stop buying console games.
that warning has been in the manual for every game i have ever purchased... and that's going back over 20yrs.
on the fable2 box: "WARNING. Read instruction manual for information about photosensitive seizures and other important safety and health information"
so stfu justin...
The government should allow voters to choose weather this bill should go by. This bill is complete utter BS.
It's all in simple ignorance if they pass this bill they may as well have the fine print in products like Credit Cards, Documents. Be a huge warning label in front of the item.
Doesnt say it on the box
so stfu rollypollyolly...
Just make it so that you have to press X to continue or something. Sure, it's annoying, but I mean they do it for credits and whatnot, and this is actually a health issue so yes. I agree with the first comment.
WAIT. Just realized. They want to make it so people are aware of it before they buy it. Put it near the ESRB rating.
You talk about people being ignorant, yet you cannot even write a proper sentence.
"whether"
"complete and utter BS"
"ignorance, if"
"credit cards, documents, ?"
"Put a huge warning label on the front of the item."
since when has pacman been halmful to your health except for copying him and eating a lot of pills and seeing ghosts.
I think we should all have warnings on our eyelids. That'll save putting warnings on everything....
what a stupid idea. warning, complaining about games is hazardous to your health as we will kill you.
The carnage turns: gamers want bullshytt warnings on all polititians
In these dark economic times, that politicians WOULD STOP TRYING TO KILL ONE OF THE ONLY INDUSTRIES STILL DOING WELL IN THE US. >:( Things like this piss me off, how are game boxes are trying to be infested with dangerous warning signals. It takes the fun out of it collecting, so we can all turn to online downloads and hey, lets bankrupt the producing industry while we do it. Then they'll put taxes on downloading games and etc, pretty soon a high class video game will only something the rich can afford, which they won't have time since they are too busy finding ways to screw us in the ass.
You even quoted him wrongly. Good job.
---
I don't care about any of this, they just better keep anthrax out from the packaging if they really plan to kill us.
Comment: Good point Justin. Shut up rolly poly olly, or WHATEVER your name is..
You should have been aborted.
Those quotes are corrections. If you cannot see that...
... every time I turn it on, along with a few GBA games as well.
Perhaps if more people had voting rights this wouldnt happen but what can I say, welcome to America, the land of the "free".
People already know this. The regulators just want to know they are in control!
I agree, if this happens, I'm not going to stop buying console games.
For me, I don't really care about box art. What matters to me is the game.
I buy lots of used games from Amazon.com, EBAY, Gamestop, etc and many of them don't come with the box art but I don't care.