Will game ratings now have little e's for epilepsy?

You may have noticed warnings for epilepsy creeping into your games as of late (most notably in the MMO world, Everquest 2 does this). While it's true that some video games can cause seizures in a small number of people, there are no required checks on video games to see if it falls into that category, like there are for films and television. Now the British Parliment is considering requiring those checks for all video games sold in the UK, including MMOs.

Dentist Gaye Herford wants a change in the law to make manufacturers test electronic video games on whether they cause epilepsy before their release.

The mum from North Somerset started her campaign after her son was rushed to hospital after he had a seizure while playing on his hand-held Nintendo DS.

The 10-year-old, who the Evening Post has agreed not to name, was playing a game called Rayman: Raving Rabbids at the family home in Winscombe when he had the fit in May 2007.

Minutes later his mother, who has three other children and works in St Paul's, found him glazed over and twitching uncontrollably in an epileptic fit brought on by the pulsating flashes on the computer game.

She was unaware that electronic video games had the potential to trigger photo sensitive epileptic (PSE) seizures.

As a result of the incident, Ms Herford joined forces with Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose to seek a change in the law.

She has also won the support of the game's creator, Ubisoft, which has agreed to voluntarily test its games through a screening process.

For more information, the full article is at ThisIsBristol.co.uk