Quote: ThePittsburghChannel.com Girl Has Seizure After 5 Hours Of Video Gaming Doctor Says Long-Term Video Game Playing Is Likely Cause POSTED: 10:34 am EST December 9, 2005 DES MOINES, Iowa -- A central Iowa mother woke up over the weekend to find her daughter having a seizure. After a trip to the emergency room, a family learned that the cause was most likely from playing video games too long, Des Moines television station KCCI reported. Doctors said such incidents are not common, but they do happen. Certain people are prone to it because of the way their brains work. Once was enough for 14-year-old Amy Kopaska. She loves to play video games, the station reported. She spent five hours straight playing a video game over the weekend. Her marathon session led to a frightening situation. "This has never happened before. Boy, it scared the life out of me," said Janell Hansen, Kopaska's mother. Hansen woke up early Sunday and heard an awful noise from her daughter's room. She found her daughter thrashing on her bed. "I rolled her over. Her eyes were dilated. She was foaming at the mouth, gasping for air. Just breathing very hard," Hansen said. Hansen said that at one point it appeared her daughter had quit breathing all together. "Then it was quiet. She didn't move. I thought I was watching her die. It scared me terribly," Hansen said. Hansen gave Kopaska a couple of big breaths as she waited for the paramedics. At the hospital, after several tests and questions, the conclusion was that the long-term use of the video game induced the seizure. "The pattern of the lights sets up an abnormal reaction in the brain, and that causes the seizure to happen," said Dr. Joel Waymire, a pediatrician. Kopaska doesn't remember anything about the seizure. "My mind is a blank, like dreaming without the dream," she said. Kopaska was playing the game called "True Crime: New York City." There's a car driving through snow and the snowflakes act as a strobe light. Kopaska's brother played, too, but he took a break when it was her turn. She stayed and watched him play. Kopaska now only plays one to two hours at a time and then takes a break.

Pfffft! Lightweight.

Seriously, I sympathize with the girl.

Rob

Quote: Originally Posted by Rob Pfffft! Lightweight. Seriously, I sympathize with the girl. Rob

Damn...I better stop playing BF2 (because I play 5 to 7hrs of that Game a Night)

Cutting back to 3 to 4 hrs a night:angrygame

Well, I have heard of strobe lights causing this and seen it happen once in person so I guess it isn't all that surprising.
I almost induced a seizure in myself one night attempting to play ET while more than half drunk, but my head was likely already spinning somewhat before even starting.

Hmmm, then I should have been dead after a few of my 20 hour Might and Magic sessions. There is a pause button tho, learn it, live it, love it. Sometimes the best thing you can do is pause your game and then go sit on the toilet, then go to the fridge, then stand outside for a few minutes, then go back and unpause your game to continue the good fight.

Wow, just wow. Maybe i should cut back, i've already played quake4 for 3hours today and it's only 12:40.:angrygame:geek:

Lightweights! Anything less than 12 hours a day is not serious gaming. :whip: :p

they call 5 hours a gaming marathon? that's pretty much an every day occurence (and its finals week too . ..) average gameplay a day is probably up around 10-13 hours. who needs sleep when there's leveling to be done? over the winter break i won't be able to play that much though . .. don't know how well bf2 will work on my laptop and a wireless connection to boot so looks like i'll get lvl 40 on cov and then work on another toon. oh well gives me a lot of time to finally get some PT done (that's physical training for you non military types)

anyways, hopefully the girl is ok. do they have any graphics options in console games to be able to turn off some effects like that? i'm sure a lot of people don't want to worry about having the snow in a game causing a strobe effect like that and giving them seizures.