Why do I get sick when i play FPS games?

[Linux23]

after about 20 minutes into the single player Wolfenstein, i start to get violently ill. my hands get sweaty, my head gets dizzy, i get nausea (sp?), i start to shake, then my whole body gets drenched in sweat. a few more minutes into the game i have to get up from my desk and i can barely stand, feels like a mule kicked me in my gut.


does anyone else experience this weird problem when playing FPS games???

 

[pulse8]

What is your refresh rate set at when playing the game?

 

[SWScorch]

I have a friend like that. Some people just get motion sick or something. I think its because there is rthe sensation of movement but you're not actually moving. Just makes some people sick. Maybe some Dramomime will help?

 

[swai]

it happens sometimes... it probably has something to do with slow framerate, i think

 

[Masas]

hmmm, might just be vertigo...or kinda like car sickness...
i get that once in a while, when watching demos or stuff of ppl with really high mouse sensitivity
never when i play tho....

 

[MillionaireNextDoor]

Remember Blair Witch Project?

 

[3putt]

I have heard of games like forsaken making ppl ill. Maybe u just have your refresh rate a little low. You may not notice it with the naked eye, but your body may notice it.

 

[bunker]

Motion sickness.... A friend of mine had the same problem. He can't play games where the whole screen (field of view) moves at once or he'll upchuck.

 

[Vadatajs]

When you play a FPS game, especially a realistic one, there is a discrepancy between motion that you percieve with your eyes and motion you percieve with your inner ear (real motion). For some people this causes nausea. It is basically the same as sea sickness, except with sea sickness, you percieve motion with your ear, but don't necessarily see it (especially if you are inside the boat and not on the deck).

 

[Kelvrick]

I have a problem with the quake3 engine. About 40 minutes into RtCW, I start to get a headache. I talked to my doctor about this and he said that some people's senses are more sensitive to these things.

Also, it seems to help if you have a nice computer with a nice monitor.

 

[Linux23]

my frame rate is set to 60, er...85Hz on my Radeon card.


it's bothering the hell out of me because i payed $60 for this product, and i can't even play it. same thing happened to me when i was playing the Quake series.


and it makes no sense to take medication in order to play a simple video game on my PC?

 

[Linux23]

<< Motion sickness.... A friend of mine had the same problem. He can't play games where the whole screen (field of view) moves at once or he'll upchuck. >>




what did he do to solve this?

 

[Shalmanese]

Just be glad your no one of those people who get eplilepsy when playing. There is a little warning in every manual that says that

 

[kgraeme]

This was actually a really hot topic back when Doom first came out. Doctors actually began asking ill young people if they played video games. They even gave it funny names like Doom-sickness or Doom-itis.

The refresh rate that people have mentioned is certainly a factor; however, for most people it's most likely a vestibulo-ocular reflex which is a fancy term for motion sickness. The ear has the vestibular canals that are filled with fluid. When that fluid moves, we interpret that as a sensation of movement. When playing video games, particularaly 3D immersive ones like FPS, the eyes are telling the brain that you are moving, but the fluid in the vestibular canals isn't moving so they are telling your brain that you are sitting still. The result: motion sickness.

 

[Beater]

Ok here's the deal, it's obviously motion sickness and with that being the case stay the hell away from Descent, version 1,2 or3 cause most games I can play but these babies will really make ya wanna upchuck LOL!

 

[MrCodeDude]

Not me.. I once played TFC for 4 hours.
-- mrcodedude

 

[bunker]

<<

<< Motion sickness.... A friend of mine had the same problem. He can't play games where the whole screen (field of view) moves at once or he'll upchuck. >>




what did he do to solve this? >>


Stopped playing games where the whole screen moves. Unfortunately I don't know that there is anything you can do to stop it. I suppose you could try Dramamine (over the counter motion sickness medication). He wasn't a serious gamer so it wasn't a big loss to him.

 

[Vadatajs]

It's only happened to me once when I played UT for about 4 hours straight without sleeping the night before. I was dizzy for about an hour after I stopped. I generally don't have any type of motion-sickness problems. I would like to try descent 3 (or one of the freespaces) with those elsa goggles.

 

[cjchaps]

I used to play mario-kart with friends for literally hours(4+) without breaks, and when I got up I would be ill and dizzy....

 

[narzy]

it used to happen to me, but I got over it I just kept playing those types of games, also a friend of mine reccomended playing decent 3 for a wile to get rid of it, I never did but I guess it could be worth a shot.

short breaks help aswell.

 

[kgraeme]

One way to alleviate motion sickness for free:

Take your right hand and lightly grip your left wrist with thumb and fingertips. The thumb should press down on the wrist under the base of the palm. Use moderate pressure with the thumb, pressing too hard can cut off circulation to the hand. This is a well-known pressure-point and there are actually wrist bands you can buy to do this so you can use your hands for gaming.

The wrist bands are commonly used by sailers and pilots. (I'm a pilot.) Here is a link to the motion-sickness section of a pilot catalog. Be sure to buy some barf-bags while you're there.

 

[SWScorch]

haha its funny reading everyone telling you to stay away from Descent. Its my favorite game; I just got out of a 40-minute game in Descent3. My friend who I talked about earlier literally almost puked when he saw me playing. It was hilarious. I'd puprosely do barrel rolls and lopps and stuff like that just to watch his reactions.

 

[Linux23]

that's the reason i stopped playing games for a while, and switched to console gaming. fact is, i do love gaming, but getting sick playing a game is not worth it.

at least i'm not the only person who is affected by this. i just find it funny that i am fine on fishing boats and airplanes, but video games are a nightmare for me. $60 down the drain, wish that software had a return policy.

kgraeme, great link. i think that would suit me better, as it involves no drugs.


i hate this worthless POS body of mine!!!! :|

 

[pdo]

I used to get really sick when playing UT's but it'll go away after you play for a while. I have quit playing FPS for a few months now and if I go back to playing it'll happen again for a couple of days. Just keep playing and it'll eventually go away.

 

[Phil21]

How large is your monitor? Anything larger than a 17" pretty much makes me feel like crap, and takes quite some time before I can play for any length of time on.

I had a 19" where I worked, that made me sick as hell for the first week or two of trying to play q3 on it. I'd just play like 15 minutes, and stop, then try for 20 minutes the next day, etc. It seemed to work, although it wasn't fun in the interim.


17" however, seems fine.

-Phil