International Law

Games, Vomiting & Litigation

By Stan

I’ve been writing a lot about computer game litigation in China, and while there are a lot of lawsuits out there to enjoy, I thought it might be worth a post to speculate on possible future litigation.

No, I’m not trying to drum up business. I am not a litigator. But I do love me some speculation.

Remember several years ago when kids got epileptic seizures while playing games? The allegation was that epileptic kids that were photosensitive could have seizures triggered by the monitor flicker. Cool shit, I have to say. If you want some details from someone who really wants to drum up this business, go here (I’m being cute — this is not a legal referral.)

OK, fast forward to this extremely nifty Wired article on the game Mirror’s Edge:

By now you have probably heard the warning: Playing Mirror’s Edge will make you vomit.

The hot new videogame is a sort of "first-person runner": You’re a courier who travels across the rooftops of a locked-down, police-state city, delivering black-market messages by using acrobatic feats of parkour. You’re constantly leaping over gaps 40 stories in the air, tightrope-walking along suspended pipes and vaulting up walls like a ninja.

It doesn’t do justice to call the action in Mirror’s Edge "intense": It quivers, like a hummingbird, and your first-person view is constantly whipsawing like a paranoid cameraman hunting for the best shot.

Only 15 minutes into the game, my mouth began overproducing saliva, and I had to pause the action for a few seconds to avoid carsickness.

OK, first comment is that I really want to go out and play Mirror’s Edge. That image alone is breathtaking (and I’m not talking about the girl, you perverts, although after a second glance, hmm). The artwork is gorgeous, and I’m a sucker for that sort of thing. The image gives you a real sense of height as well — cue the vertigo.

Second comment: any game that can give me motion sickness must be played at some point, preferably on a freakin’ big LCD screen and with surround sound speakers jacked up to Volume 11 (on a 10-point scale, of course).

Third comment: read the entire Wired article, which explains exactly why the game makes you want to hurl. Very interesting stuff indeed.

Fourth comment (the legal bit, finally): you know that some dork is going to sue EA after they yak all over their PS3, or sofa, or dog.

That’s only the tip of the iceberg. As games improve and the user gets more and more immersed in the experience, the physical effects on the player will no doubt increase. We’ve all experienced the dizziness and bloated head feeling one gets after 36 hours of Halo. There are psychological effects as well. I recall spending an entire weekend playing Max Payne and then, when I went down to the parking garage the next morning, I was seeing goons with guns jumping out at me from behind pillars and parked cars. It was an ugly thing.

I have little faith in my fellow man in general, and I also know that China is turning into a very litigious society. What will happen as we get closer to total game immersion, including nasty side effects (much nastier than a little nausea)? Some lovely civil litigation, I promise you that.

Some day governments may require mandatory testing of games for physiological effects, perhaps even certification procedures. Maybe the SFDA will take over regulation of the game industry 50 years from now.

Full post as published by China Hearsay on November 18, 2008 (boomark / email).