Lawyer Sues Over "Seizure Triggers" in Videogames
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
"the attorney goes so far as to claim that the videogame industry's "dirty secret" can even result in death"
How is this the industry's "dirty secret"? Everywhere you look with games there's a warning about seizures! Remember the GameCube? Every blessed time you played a game you saw "WARNING: MAY CAUSE SEIZURES" and that was a whole generation ago. If you have seizures, find a new hobby; it's a simple as that!
And this is from 2002. Nice and relevant, Mr. Lawyer.
How is this the industry's "dirty secret"? Everywhere you look with games there's a warning about seizures! Remember the GameCube? Every blessed time you played a game you saw "WARNING: MAY CAUSE SEIZURES" and that was a whole generation ago. If you have seizures, find a new hobby; it's a simple as that!
And this is from 2002. Nice and relevant, Mr. Lawyer.
Say what you want suing lightning, and maybe getting a cloud into court would be pretty awesome.Aqualung said:
Also this surely can't work; they contain warnings in the instruction manual (normally page ones so it's hard to read) and if you choose not to read the manual then it's your own fault. I mean its not like they can have anti-seizure warnings flash up every few seconds to insure everyone sees them.
Maybe a brief one at the title screen would solve this problem fully (some games may even have this)
Yeah, I remember reading them waaay back on NES manuals. This guy's just another scum sucking ambulance chaser. It's the parents' fault if they do not read the warnings. It's like the stupid people who drive with a cup of coffee between their legs, have it open and scald them, and then sue the coffee shop.dekkarax said:
Someone remind me to sue my tv producer.
Oh, yeah, and someone tell him, that every single instruction ever added to a box/dvd case with game inside has a warning against epilepsy, so that these folk know the risk.
Oh, yeah, and someone tell him, that every single instruction ever added to a box/dvd case with game inside has a warning against epilepsy, so that these folk know the risk.
*sigh* I don't care if the dickhead lawyers and parents want to piss away money going up against Sony's battalion of lawyers, but this will almost definitely come back and bite gamers on the ass. 
It always happens. Hell, back when the Wii was SUPPOSED to be released, it got delayed in Australia because some people wanted to start a lawsuit when they were swinging the remote wildly, it flew out of their hands and injured people or broke things. Of course this died straight away when Nintendo said "well what happened to your wrist strap?" (Although now there is that warning at the start of every Wii game saying, make sure you have the strap connected). Point is, the lawsuit will fail, after causing some huge inconvenience, then we will probably end up with another useless warning to skip through as our game loads.
It always happens. Hell, back when the Wii was SUPPOSED to be released, it got delayed in Australia because some people wanted to start a lawsuit when they were swinging the remote wildly, it flew out of their hands and injured people or broke things. Of course this died straight away when Nintendo said "well what happened to your wrist strap?" (Although now there is that warning at the start of every Wii game saying, make sure you have the strap connected). Point is, the lawsuit will fail, after causing some huge inconvenience, then we will probably end up with another useless warning to skip through as our game loads.
So can I sue toe makers of Cloverfield for making a movie which made me motion sick, and my girlfriend throw up? Those heartless bastards cost me dinner+shoes.
I've known people with epilepsy, they're not stupid enough to load up "Super Robot Laser Lightshow Fighting Flash Extreme", and before they were making that choice themselves, they had parents. This is like someone allergic to peanuts suing Nestle for making candy bars with obvious warning labels as to the potential contents. People need to grow up and take responsibility for their actions.
I've known people with epilepsy, they're not stupid enough to load up "Super Robot Laser Lightshow Fighting Flash Extreme", and before they were making that choice themselves, they had parents. This is like someone allergic to peanuts suing Nestle for making candy bars with obvious warning labels as to the potential contents. People need to grow up and take responsibility for their actions.
This guy has NO case. And i think he is really in it for the money. Also doesn't the consoles have warnings on it to?
It raises the question though: "is warning someone all it takes?" I was behind some wide load truck yesterday, and it had a sign on the back that said "This truck is not responsible for objects that may fall off." How the hell is it NOT responsible? I think the same can be applied here.Starke said:
Okay, put a sticker on every box:
"The Surgeon General has determined playing videogames may cause seizures."
Or similarly, put this on every ski lift ticket:
"The Surgeon General has determined that falling while skiing can lead to soft tissue strains and bone fractures, and in the event of crashing into a tree, can result in death."
Except... the Surgeon General has determined no such thing in the first case, and cares little about the second.
Point being: if there is any legitimacy to the case, which I doubt there is but IF there is, certain industries cater to dangerous behaviors all the time an it is fine and good if people are willing to accept the consequences of their actions.
"The Surgeon General has determined playing videogames may cause seizures."
Or similarly, put this on every ski lift ticket:
"The Surgeon General has determined that falling while skiing can lead to soft tissue strains and bone fractures, and in the event of crashing into a tree, can result in death."
Except... the Surgeon General has determined no such thing in the first case, and cares little about the second.
Point being: if there is any legitimacy to the case, which I doubt there is but IF there is, certain industries cater to dangerous behaviors all the time an it is fine and good if people are willing to accept the consequences of their actions.
IIRC, the truck IS responsible for anything that falls off it dirrectly and hits your car, anything that bounces off the pavement first however isn't their problem, so by staying back, as the sign asks you to, you assume responsibility for their shit. Yeah, anyway.The Bandit said:
On the other hand, playing a videogame, unlike say driving down the road, is a contractual interaction, meaning, the warning should be enough.
Just what we need. As Thompson gets smacked down, it leaves a power vacuum of attorney assholery.
I have this game, let me dig out my manual...
...
Ah, here we go.
Given that it says "WARNING" in big, capital , bold, 28-point letters, I'm pretty sure "Well, you were warned" will hold up in a court of law.
I have this game, let me dig out my manual...
...
Ah, here we go.
When it SAYS you might get seizures, that IS ENOUGH for legal pardon. Once again, it's up to sloppy parenting that kids gets seizures whilst playing, because they DO NOT DO THE F**KING RESEARCH.
Given that it says "WARNING" in big, capital , bold, 28-point letters, I'm pretty sure "Well, you were warned" will hold up in a court of law.
Haha! Stupid cock.
There's an entire page in game manuals devoted to epileptic seizures. I'm sure there's something packed into games downloaded online as well.
It's not the game companies fault. You can get seizures from watching TV programmes, you can only warn people and expect them to have some common sense.
Fair enough if they weren't aware the boy had the condition, but that's still got nothing to do with the company.
There's an entire page in game manuals devoted to epileptic seizures. I'm sure there's something packed into games downloaded online as well.
It's not the game companies fault. You can get seizures from watching TV programmes, you can only warn people and expect them to have some common sense.
Fair enough if they weren't aware the boy had the condition, but that's still got nothing to do with the company.
This guy has no case. Nowadays, there are warnings about photosensitive seizures in the manual and on the back of the case of every video game released. He can't keep using a game from 2002 as an example.
BTW: I have epilepsy and I have not and will not stop playing video games. EVER!!!!!!!!
BTW: I have epilepsy and I have not and will not stop playing video games. EVER!!!!!!!!
