Anyone else see this? :

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6168230.ht … ws;title;0

<shakes head in disgust>

I mean I feel bad for the kid but there is a warning in the maunal of like every game in existence...

In hindsite, I guess I should have posted this in "gaming discussion" section... oh well

It's that f***ing mother's fault for putting her infant in that danger in the first place.  Sony should not be liable for her negligence, they put the warning in the instruction booklet.  If the rental store did not include the manual with the rental, then maybe THEY and only THEY would be the only party to share the blame with the mother.

That is exactly what I was thinking. But seriously, sometimes used/rental games DON'T come with the instructions. You see what I'm getting at...? Does the future hold where this warning will be plastered on the re-packaging of all used games and reiterated by every sales person? OK, that may be an extreme worst-case scenario. What if you take a game over to a friend's home and play it and they have a seizure? Are your friends parents gonna sue you?

Anyway, Sony can't in anyway control if manuals stay with the games they sell after they reach the consumers hand. Simple as that.

Don't a lot of games even have this warning before the title screen nowadays, too? I guess Enter the Dragonfly came out before that.

Any mafioso worth his salt can tell you, <i> you don't go after made games that have almost nine years and a large fanbase under their belt.<i/>

Next time if you're going to sue a video game company, start off smaller before trying to take on the likes of Sony or Microsoft.

Nintendo should be ashamed of themselves for killing a kid with those blurry-ass N64 graphics though.

if its a used or rental, then the manufacturer isnt responsible for the warning label.. only to the initial consumer. kinda like the warning labels on mattresses... once they're purchased, the consumer is entitled to rip off the warning label about the fire retardant standards. if someone were to purchase a used mattress, theyre taking their chances (and their cooties)

im going after Namco for the big bucks when my thumbs are worn down to little katamari nubs..

The gamespot article also notes:

"This is not the first time a gamemaker has faced a lawsuit over epileptic seizures. In August of 2003, Nintendo won a case in Louisiana against a woman whose son died as the result of a seizure he suffered while playing the Nintendo 64. The judge in that case ruled in Nintendo's favor after the woman failed to respond to the publisher's motion for summary judgment."

So, in other words judges are not necessarily going to be persuaded by someone just because a child is involved. I don't know all the details, but immediately I have to ask: What the HELL was an infant doing with a video game??

-avatar!

I was thinking this as well, they were probably watching someone else play it.

Dare I say: the negligent mother was playing it herself?

Cartridges are more suited for teething than brittle cd-roms y'know!

Hehe...

I'd really like to know what this woman is like. I try not to judge people without hearing both sides of the story, but my spider-sense is tingling....

cheers,

-avatar!

Devil's advocate - In this day and age, or more specifically as of the year of 2002 when the game was made, is there not a way to make games or at least a set of best practices to follow that result in games that are less susceptible to the inducement of epileptic seizure?? 

The issue of epilepsy has been around for awhile, and I recall an episode (or two) of the Simpsons wherein the entire family was enduced by a japanese tv show that flashed black and white animations incessantly.  Presumably we've made some advances in this area....I haven't played the game in question to provide a real reference to anything specific, but perhaps this is a clue to game developers to stop making games that rely on an overabundance of cheap 'flashy' epilepsy prone effects....

Just my .02

- Brandonk

Indeed, epilepsy has been around for thousands of years. I believe that predates video games by, let's see... thousands of years! As for that simpsons episode, I remember it. That's the episode where the airplane was attacked by Godzilla... point being just because you saw it on the Simpsons (or TV) does not make it real nor a valid case in your argument.

Now, I do realize that television, video games, and in fact just a blinking light can induce elipeptic seizures in certain people (although such cases are actually much more rare than you think). However, I personally believe it's silly to say that video game manufacturers have to make epileptic-proof video games! In fact, if that seizure was due to a video game, it's quite likely that the infant could have gone into a seizure from most anything (such as police lights or other blinking lights), and furthermore an epileptic seizure is typically due to some form of abnormality (such as genetic disorder, brain injury, injury due to complication through birth, etc). Although I do feel very sorry for the infant, I fail to see how this is the fault of the video game manufacturer.

-avatar!

It doesn't?  I quite like a pop culture reference as an indicator of a social norm  agreed upon by society, that certain visual stimulus from certain types of TV and Video Game use has been known to catalyst epileptic siezures.  I'm merely pointing out that IF we know what causes them in a video game, or TV show, let's stop making use of it...But you know what, what am I thinking, no one's gonna get in my way to entertain myself in anyway I see fit.  If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen.  Let's just pickup where the Natzi's left off and ban parents who have eplipsy from having children.

The Simpsons episode was making fun of the Pokemon incdient:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denn%C5%8D_Senshi_Porygon

-Joshua

an epileptic-proof video game console would be about as fun as hanging out at the Family Christian store drinking non-alcoholic beer...

I think this a sign that rental stores should be FORCED to carry instructions booklets then.

If only stupid customers would stop stealing/losing the instruction booklets, this would be less of a problem.

And then they wonder why ppL pay such exorbitant prices for Complete games on ebay..

'Each leap brings us Closer to God! Catch me Lord, catch m-'*crunch*

'Take 'em out an' hang 'em..'

You know, you can edit your posts.  Triple-posting is usually frowned upon.

he was well on his way to a quad post when you so rudely interrupted