motion sickness???

[Bman123]

I guess that what I should call it. Was wondering if anyone here has gotten this from playing a pc game or game in general? I have been gaming since a little kid on a atari and have never gotten a sick feeling from playing a game until today.

A buddy that I play MW3 with invited me to try out arma 2 with him and a friend. I installed the free version and tried it out. That game made me sick as hell. I got a really bad headache, made my eyes hurt and I even threw up. I guess that would be motion sickness right?

Was just wondering if anyone has ever experienced this or not. I played the game about 2 1/2 hours ago and I still feel like shit

 

[gmaster456]

I'm good with every other game but the Half Life Series. For some reason I feel nauseous every time I play it. I've tried everything. Which is a shame because I really enjoy that game. I can't play it any longer than 10 minutes at a time.

 

[BladeVenom]

Get some candied ginger from Trader Joes next time. Ginger is the best thing for motion sickness.

 

[amanoai]

Recently I played TeamFortress with my son and that made me so sick, I had to lay down. I found that if I see further away from the screen, it helps.

 

[Karstein]

Try using a higher FOV where possible. I believe lower can cause motion sickness.

 

[OCNewbie]

Has never happened to me, not that that helps your problem any. I'm 34, in pretty good health, and have been gaming since the Atari days, for what that's worth

 

[Stringjam]

Make sure the FOV (when possible) is set as high as you can get it.

Reduce mouse sensitivity as much as you can get away with.

Make sure your graphic settings are low enough that you aren't stuttering or getting choppy framerates.


I get motion sickness as well, playing FPS.....and these three things seem to be the most important factors for me, personally.

The only FPS that has NEVER made me sick is Crysis....which I attribute mostly to the huge FOV and smooth camera movement.

 

[gmaster456]

Get some candied ginger from Trader Joes next time. Ginger is the best thing for motion sickness.

I'm a heavy Ginger Ale Drinker already. Vernors and Canada Dry

 

[Dankk]

I'm a heavy Ginger Ale Drinker already. Vernors and Canada Dry

Ginger Beer FTW.

 

[KeithTalent]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2217071&highlight=sickness

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2198542&highlight=sickness

KT

 

[ibex333]

I guess that what I should call it. Was wondering if anyone here has gotten this from playing a pc game or game in general? I have been gaming since a little kid on a atari and have never gotten a sick feeling from playing a game until today.

A buddy that I play MW3 with invited me to try out arma 2 with him and a friend. I installed the free version and tried it out. That game made me sick as hell. I got a really bad headache, made my eyes hurt and I even threw up. I guess that would be motion sickness right?

Was just wondering if anyone has ever experienced this or not. I played the game about 2 1/2 hours ago and I still feel like shit

Bman123,

Motion sickness caused by video gaming is not a joke. It is not something that can be ignored and dismissed as an occasional thing that happens once in a great while.
The fact is, some people are affected by video games, and some are not. Sadly, I AM affected. I have been playing like a crazy maniac at least 6-8 hours every single day when I was 14 and what started as a simple motion sickness, developed into horrific non stop headaches, hand tremors, psychosis, mania and panic attacks. I was very, very ill for 12 long years. I had to drop out of college and quit work. Had I listened to my body and stopped playing, or at least took long breaks, I may have been fine, but because I continued gaming I destroyed my health.

Luckily, through lots of therapy, and lots of hard work, I eventually got better, returned to notmal life, and even came back to gaming, but now, whenever I have any episodes of motion sickness while playing, I immediately get up and walk away. I come back several hours later when I am feeling fine again.

I done extensive research on this issue because I had tons of time when I was housebound, and apparently just because you never had these health issues before, doesnt mean you cant suddenly develop them later in life. Dont matter if you are 14 or 50. Age is irrelevant.

Sadly, info on this stuff is limited, and sufferers hide in their dark corners afraid to say a word because many doctors laugh at anyone who claims computers/consoles made them sick, and the general public is plain rude and insensitive, usually telling people like me to shut up and stop making ridiculous claims.

Either way, just take my word for it. Whenever you are experiencing any discomfort when playing, take a break. You'll be glad you did. I just wish I followed this simple idea when I was supposed to.

 

[BladeVenom]

I'm a heavy Ginger Ale Drinker already. Vernors and Canada Dry

But there's only a very small amount of ginger in the soda compared to eating actual chunks of ginger.

 

[PhoenixEnigma]

I'm fine with it, but my g/f has problems with first person games. Playing them seems to be okay, though watching them leads to headaches and general crappiness fairly quickly (which is a pain if you like to watch LPs).

Other viewpoints, or being in control of the camera, makes it a non-issue.

 

[Elcs]

I had some minor motion sickness since I was about 13 (heard it called Simulator/Simulation Sickness). It only appeared in Descent 3 and AvP (as an Alien climbing and the camera snapping 90 degrees when going around a corner) but as I got older (~19) I got it in HL2. After that Stalker, Crysis (in small parts), Fallout 3 and NV as detailed below... Wasteland Angel (first person section)... I even went back to Aquanox 1/2 last year and found myself getting motion sick. I completed both games maybe 8 or 9 years ago on my GeForce 4 Ti4400 and never had a single hint of an issue.

Sometimes it's really hard to pick up on when gaming even casually. I've had situations where I've been gaming fine and then just hit a wall of hot sweat, sickness and headache rolled into one.

Ginger (I use the Crystallised Ginger) and normal headache medicine seem to help deal with the symptoms but I have found no fix for the root problem. Google Game + Motion Sickness sometimes turns up some useful info like FoV settings to try or options to enable/disable to alleviate your symptoms.

Funny thing: Fallout 3 start (baby/kid tutorial) made me motion sick. Fallout 3 (as soon as you start the game properly) was completely fine. Fallout:NV made me motion sick after 38 minutes according to Steam.

Stuff to look out for: (at least in my case)
Randomly starting to get hot/start sweating
Feeling of nausea
Headache
Feeling dizzy

Bman123,

Motion sickness caused by video gaming is not a joke. It is not something that can be ignored and dismissed as an occasional thing that happens once in a great while.

Wow. I thought I had it bad but my motion sickness is nothing on that scale. I've had the 'lie down in a dark room for many, many hours because your head is killing, you feel sick, really super tired and the room is moving when you're not' kind of attacks when I really pushed myself in Stalker (Sewers section. I've posted my story a couple of times)

 

[Sulaco]

I've been playing FPS since the sharware version of Wolfenstein 3D, so I've played quite a few in my time.

Off the top of my head, the ONLY FPS I can remember giving me some kind of motion sickness was Far Cry 2. I tried to play it multiple times, owned it for several months, and would get maybe 2 hours in and just get a headache. And nausea.

To this day, I still have no idea why, or what made it any different than any of the other hundreds of FPS I've played, but Far Cry 2 stands alone in that category.

 

[Dankk]

I've been playing FPS since the sharware version of Wolfenstein 3D, so I've played quite a few in my time.

Off the top of my head, the ONLY FPS I can remember giving me some kind of motion sickness was Far Cry 2. I tried to play it multiple times, owned it for several months, and would get maybe 2 hours in and just get a headache. And nausea.

To this day, I still have no idea why, or what made it any different than any of the other hundreds of FPS I've played, but Far Cry 2 stands alone in that category.

The PC version of Far Cry 2 launched with an absolutely horrid FOV. It took them a little while, but Ubisoft eventually patched in a 'Widescreen' option. If you go back and play it now, it might be better.

Edit: I just realized you played it multiple times over several months, so you may have played it after the patch. Even then, you still have to make sure the option is enabled though. Try it if you haven't.

 

[Arkadrel]

Portal games can do it to me.

When you jump through a portal and come out some place else.... do that alot of times in quick succession and... yeah, after hours of play, I need a rest and im queesy by then.

I still love the Portal games though.
Just "normal" fps games where your just turning the cam this way and that way quick, usually doesnt effect me.
For some reason, the portal jumping does though.

what started as a simple motion sickness, developed into horrific non stop headaches, hand tremors, psychosis, mania and panic attacks.

I've had the 'lie down in a dark room for many, many hours because your head is killing, you feel sick, really super tired and the room is moving when you're not' kind of attacks

Holy sh*t you guys have it bad.

When I get nausea (which is reaally rare) from gameing., it usually just means lay down for 10-15mins and rest abit, and im fine after.

 

[Elcs]

Holy sh*t you guys have it bad.

When I get nausea (which is reaally rare) from gameing., it usually just means lay down for 10-15mins and rest abit, and im fine after.

To quote myself from another thread:

That sewers part was fine until the end and then it was HELL ON EARTH.

Stalker SoC made me badly motion sick and by the time I was coming to end of the underground section I was suffering really badly but I wanted to complete the section.

Big mistake.

When the Mind Controller attacked me, the screen blurred and I thought I was going mad. A piercing shrill noise went through my ears and I thought I had a bout of tinnitus which I occasionally get. Then my PC starts taking damage and I see a figure standing at the end of the tunnel. Rambo style charging and shooting worked wonders.

Suddenly most of my problems had gone and I lay down in a dark, quiet room for several hours until it stopped spinning.

Good times!

 

[imaheadcase]

Bman123,

. Sadly, I AM affected. I have been playing like a crazy maniac at least 6-8 hours every single day when I was 14 and what started as a simple motion sickness, developed into horrific non stop headaches, hand tremors, psychosis, mania and panic attacks. I was very, very ill for 12 long years. I had to drop out of college and quit work. Had I listened to my body and stopped playing, or at least took long breaks, I may have been fine, but because I continued gaming I destroyed my health.

yah what you just described is nothing to do with motion sickness. lol

Thats like saying you get sea sick and start tripping balls.

 

[SithSolo1]

I was fine with FPS type games until one day I was playing Turok on the N64 and decided to give the GameShark a whirl. Well I managed to get some strange combo of disco/spirit mode going and after hours of flashin' lights and blurry textures I had a migraine like you wouldn't believe.

Ever since then some games will just set me off and I have to lay down. Even then it feels like the room is spinning around for about an hour. I can play the CS, TF, and DOD series for days on end and not have a problem. However if I try to play HL, HL2, or Portal I'll be on the bed in under 30mins. The Battlefied series is hit or miss. Based on the demo I have an issue with ME3 single player but I'm fine in multiplayer. Going back to the 64: I could play Golden Eye but Perfect Dark was a no go.

 

[Red Storm]

Any kind of jet fighter game gives me immediate motion sickness. I remember trying to do a barrel roll in some old game and I nearly fell out of my chair lol.

 

[JamesV]

I'm good with every other game but the Half Life Series. For some reason I feel nauseous every time I play it. I've tried everything. Which is a shame because I really enjoy that game. I can't play it any longer than 10 minutes at a time.

I get the same thing with Half Life 2 (but not 1). After 5 or so minutes I start sweating, get nauseous, and have to quit not long after. This occurs with every single Source engine game made - all HL games, that Might and Magic game, etc.

Like other posters here, I've been gaming forever. First PC was a 286SX 25MHz (Wolfenstein, XWing, Darklands, etc), and first console was the original Pong (and original Atari). I've played nearly every big game release ever made... and never got sick til the Source engine. No other game or engine affects me at all.

I think it is the lighting they used, because regardless of FOV or frames per second, I get ill. But if I just load up HL2, and let it sit on a scene without moving at all... I'll get sick soon.

It's a real shame too. I loved Half Life, and was so hyped about 2 (and TF2, etc).

 

[gorb]

I get nauseous/severe motion sickness with most FPS - the only exception is Counterstrike (some maps make me sick though). Action games like God of War, Uncharted, or Devil May Cry make me feel like shit as well...even games like Mario 64 or Grand Theft Auto III make me sick! It sucks. Sometimes I'll take a dramamine, which helps, but then I get sleepy

So I pretty much just play CS

 

[Iron Wolf]

I have to avoid all first person games, whether shooters or RPGs, so no Skyrim (or Amalur) or even some other types of games with FP interfaces (e.g., Dungeon Defenders) for me. It started way back with the original Doom, where I would get motion sick and learned I can't tolerate these types of games.

Ginger works (the MB proved it), but it gives me terrible heartburn.

 

[Muadib]

Have any of you tried Bonine? It works for me, and lasts up to 24 hours. Unlike dramamine, I don't get sleepy when I take it.