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Video Game Motion Sickness

425

Hero of…. #s, I guess
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
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Skyloft
One of the downsides that come with video games to some of us is a condition commonly referred to as Video Game Motion Sickness. I suffer from this on an occasion

Now, most games, I have no issue. Included in my game library are such games as Super Smash Bros., Star Wars Battlefront, Spider-Man 3, and Gran Turismo 4, none of which I have problems with, though some would sound like prime candidates to cause motion sickness, like Spidey 3.

However, a few months back I got Metroid Prime. Upon first playing the game, I loved it, but after around 20 minutes, I wound up with a pretty bad headache and just the common symptoms of motion sickness (I have had motion sickness before from mountainous car rides, but little else). I have tried to get through Metroid Prime again multiple times, but every time I play, after around 20 minutes I begin suffering the symptoms, and after 10 minutes more, I usually have to go lie down. However, I have played the 1st Person mode of Star Wars Battlefront II, so the issue is not with the FPS factor alone. I believed the issue was with the Wii camera controls, which I suppose are understandably awkwardly sensitive enough to cause problems, and after one more effort in June, I put down Metroid Prime, presumably for good.

Last week, however, I ordered on GameStop several other Spider-Man games, after having loved Spider-Man 3, despite its flaws. Now, from what I've seen from screenshots, all of these games have similar play styles to Spidey 3, so I thought I'd be fine. However, one game has a different playstyle, and that is Spider-Man: The Movie.

Today, my games came in the mail, so I decided to pop Spidey 1 (the black sheep of the set) into my GameCube. I was having a lot of fun with the tutorial, and web slinging across town, with no issues. However, I soon entered a stealth level that involved climbing through air ducts and the like. Now, this game never had a great camera, which wasn't a problem when I was on a flat area. But in the ducts, the camera was kind of bouncing around and whatnot.

After around 20 minutes on that level, the motion sickness happened again. Hopefully there aren't many levels like that and I can play through the game, but I have a few discussion questions for this thread:

1) Has anyone else suffered from Video Game Motion Sickness? If so, what games were linked to it?

2) How did you deal with it? Did you just play through, play in short spurts, or did you put the game down for good?

3) Has anyone successfully remedied this? I have heard various things about motion sickness bracelets and ginger pills and whatnot having varying degrees of success, but has anyone else had success with one of these solutions?
 
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Location
NORTHEN IRELAND
The only games to ever do this to me where the Turok dinosaur hunter games.

I really do not know what it was about those games but i got very bad headaches and was violently sick.

After no more than ten minutes this would happen and it took many hrs to wear off.
I had to sit in a dark room lying on the bed,and what was worse i get migraines.

There was no way i could play through it.

I tried one time and i really suffered for it.
 
Joined
May 5, 2010
Location
Canada
I sometimes do but it's very different. I believe that I when I get a migraine, it's a built-up because of the flashes that some games make when I play them during the night with no lights on (that's the worst). I know it sounds crazy but I used to have migraines on average once or twice every 2-3 months. But now I play games quite less and my last migraine was 5 months ago. Either that or it could be one hell of a coincidence.

And the 3DS 3D effects tends to get to me a little and I turn it off before it has any real effect on me.
 

LolGames4U

Viceroy of Area 11
Joined
Dec 24, 2010
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USA
I get a headache from my 3DS if I play it with 3D on for more than 2 hours at a time (which is very rare, now that school's started for me). I also have problems with Metroid Prime if I don't have Samus move slowly. Like, for instance, I'm looking around and spinning. THEN I get a headache and stuff. Also, if I'm standing semi-close to the TV and playing Prime, it gets way worse. So make sure to pace yourself, move slowly (in-game, as much as possible without being Metroid Food), and stay far away from the TV.
 

Ventus

Mad haters lmao
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Akkala
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Hylian Champion
I don't think this is necessarily a problem with the game as it is a problem with my TV, but anytime I use my LED TV to play HD games, I start to get a little nauseous. I switch TVs to my HD TV, nothing bad happens. I use my SDTV and nothing really bad happens though quality does drop :/

What I do know though, is that if you are suffering from any sort of sickness, drop the game for good. You don't know what could happen, and I recall every single manual I ever got telling me that if you suffer froma headache or anything like that to consult a doctor before continuing gameplay as adverse effects could impose themselves upon your person.
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
Gender
Male
I kinda had the same problem when I was playing Final Fantasy 5. During the final boss fight, the background moves around and changed colors a lot, so after the first 5 minutes of the second part of the battle, I had a horrible headache. I still haven't beaten that boss. :(
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
I have no idea why but this made me feel sick:
My PS3 has a real crappy a/v cable, making it all bright and glarey. The cable box being plugged in added to this as well.
When I was playing Far Cry 2, a game set in Africa, I started feeling sick for some reason. After moving the TV downstairs into the basement, however, and fixing the glare problem, I felt better. Turns out heat makes me feel sick. The glare reminded my of the sun I'm assuming. When the TV was upstairs, the sun would shine right through the window, making it stuffy.
It sound weird, but it hard to explain :S
 

knowlee

Like a river's flow, it never ends...
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Location
USA
I believe that I've only suffered from video motion sickness a total of two times. The first time was on this game that I used to have on the N64: Gex 64 or something like that. Everytime I played that game it caused me to get feel nauseous and I couldn't continue playing it. I think it was the way that they had the camera set up on the game. It would continually move around and it wouldn't stop unless you held the control stick a certain way. I've always been used to the kind of games where the camera would be fixed on one direction and wouldn't change unless you wanted it to.

The second time was when I was playing LoZ at my grandparents' home. I don't think it was the game, but the tv that they had that I was playing it on. Cause I've played it many times before on a different tv screen and I never had that problem.

But yeah, those are the two times that I can recall experiencing that.
 
Joined
Dec 19, 2011
Location
Skyloft
In Final Fantasy XII-2, the loading screen every time you go to a different time is really trippy. I have to look away every time, and that loading screen takes FOREVER! :P
 
Joined
Apr 4, 2012
Ouch, this doesn't sound fun at all...especially when it keeps you away from playing awesome games like Metroid Prime!! :( Luckily this has never happened to me. The only time I've gotten a headache from playing video games was when I got stuck in the Lakebed Temple in Twilight Princess, but that was because I had pretty much been playing all day non-stop and it was something like 3 or 4 am in the morning, hehe. ;p
 

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