Wikipedia Gold - Seizures

The world is such a wonderful and interesting place. From the Wikipedia article on banned Pokémon episodes:

On December 16, 1997, more than 635 Japanese children were admitted to hospitals with convulsive epileptic seizures. It was determined that the seizures were caused by watching an episode of Pokémon, 'Dennō Senshi Porygon', or 'Computer Soldier Porygon' (known as Electric Soldier Porygon in the United States, season 1, episode 43) and subsequently this episode has not been aired since. In this particular episode, there were bright explosions with rapidly-alternating blue and red color patterns. It was determined in subsequent research that these strobing light effects cause some individuals to have epileptic seizures, even if they haven’t had any previous history of epilepsy. As a consequence, many video game makers (including Nintendo) added warning labels to their video game products (or made pre-existing labels more prominent), warning that exposure to video games may trigger seizures in individuals vulnerable to photosensitive epilepsy. Detailed research of the alleged incident is detailed at here and attributes it to mass hysteria. The incident was also parodied by the Simpsons. In the episode 'Thirty Minutes over Tokyo' (Season 10 - Episode 20) Marge, Bart, and Lisa are seen having seizures after watching a show called 'Battling Seizure Robots'. Homer then enters the room and, apparently not wanting to be left out, proceeds to roll around on the floor in a similar fashion, of his own will. This incident was also spoofed in the South Park episode 'Chinpokomon', an obvious satire of the Pokémon craze that hit the United States. Kenny has a seizure while playing an intense round of the Chinpokomon video game.

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