Comments on: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

By: Dale Dietrich

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:33:00 +0000

Eek! Actually vomiting from a video game. I've never had that happen. I've stopped long before it got that far. Getting dizzy or nauseous is very common. You/we are definitely not alone!

By: Mae

Mae — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:27:49 +0000

Wow. I've just come across this post when I did a bit of Googling about nausea and video games. And here's me thinking that I was a bit weird for feeling sick after playing certain games.

I've just dug out Spyro for the Playstation (felt like having a trip down memory lane) and after 20 minutes play I actually vomited. Not pleasant! I remember having episodes of nausea when playing this when I was a teenager but not after just 20 minutes. I've had to take my anti-nausea meds and feel pretty crappy.

Half Life on the PC is also a killer. I remember playing the majority of Half Life 2 in one day and being ill for about 2 days. It's put me off playing games of this genre, which sucks. I do suffer from bad travel sickness (cars, coaches, buses) so always thought it was connected to this. I've never had problems with the Tomb Raider or GTA series (thankfully, I love GTA). Nice to know I'm not the only one!

By: Dale Dietrich

Dale Dietrich — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:58:09 +0000

I am not a parent but to me letting a child play more than an hour or two in a day seems excessive. Children can get addicted to games. Parents need to set limits. As someone with a life-long lazy eye, I'm not sure that a video game will cause it. It exists. When I'm tired my lazy eye gets worse. I've had my lazy eye for 45 years – long before video games were around. You should definitely get him to an eye doctor and cut down on that video game playing. There's more to life.

By: Guest Appal

Guest Appal — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:00:48 +0000

Hi Dale,
I just noticed yesterday that my son is actually developing a lazy eye, or a crossed eye after long episodes of gaming. Over the weekend he might game 8 to 10 hrs a day. I know that's too much but he excels at school and it's his most enjoyable down time. He does get in a bad mood from some games but hasn't really been getting sick.

I first noticed the crossed eye a few months ago but just thought he was over tired. He noticed it himself yesterday when he looked in the mirror. Very upset.

He's going to scale back to an hour a day after a few days of recovery first. He is a gamer though, but I think those days may be coming to an end. It is definetly causing an eye problem, strain, or something. But it isn't worth it. I'll be taking him to the doctor too.

He does get sick reading while traveling and I can only look at his games a few minutes before I get motion sick. I can't watch. Time to change. It is his favorite thing and the games are great rewards for great work at school. Thanks so much for this sight and your input.

What do you think?

concerned

By: Dale Dietrich

Dale Dietrich — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:14:02 +0000

I agree guest2 … the more I play a game that makes me feel sick the worse it gets. And the 2nd and 3rd times I try it gets worst faster. Just sounds alone from a game will get associated with nausea and just hearing the sound start to make me sick – even when not playing the game.

By: Andre

Andre — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:40:11 +0000

hey ofc every1 is intitled to there own opinion we are here trying to help each other so we can play all the games and enjoy them saddly there is some u and i and many others cannot enjoy ;3 tho yesterday i played call of duty mw 2 for a good 2 hours (i was really tired it was at night) and went well so im gonna try again tonight i think i gotta get my mind tired so it's lazy to imagine im the guy and not feeling the pain lmfao!
keep posting people!!

By: guest2

guest2 — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:18:10 +0000

Generally if a game makes me feel sick, it tends to increase the more i play, not get better. I find that the symptoms also tend to hit me faster after the game has made me ill once, so that it becomes increasingly more difficult to stomach a bad game. Just my experience, FWIW.

By: Andre

Andre — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:28:58 +0000

i know not much we can do but i read from a site
“Your body can get used to it after repeated sessions (a pattern of playing and getting sick, stopping, and then restarting later when you feel better until you stop getting sick entirely) when your brain finally realizes that what you are seeing and doing isn’t actually harming you. That process of getting used to it can take a while and isn’t pleasant, however. “
http://xbox.about.com/od/buyersguide/a/vgmosick...
that is a link to it for more info
do u think that would work? playing and then stoping then playing?

By: Dale Dietrich

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:51:44 +0000

Andre, the only suggestion that works for some is Dramamine. Unfortunately for most of us if a game makes us nauseous there is very little that can be done other than not playing it. Or taking lots of extended breaks.

By: Andre

Andre — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:54:19 +0000

hey guys there is alot of reading to do but i dont have enough time to read them all
if u guys can help me out i'd be happy (:
when i play gun games i get huge headaches and my tummy feels weird too sometimes ;s do u guys know what i could do? or things to help me play longer? or whats wrong with me?
thanks in advance!
please email me cookiies_andre@hotmail.com
thanks alot!

By: jerry

jerry — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:25:09 +0000

@Dale, same here! Uncharted 1 made me sick, but not Uncharted 2.

By: Dale Dietrich

Dale Dietrich — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:26:46 +0000

Wow, that's a really cool new piece of the puzzle. I never thought of it. Half-Life 2 is certainly amongst the worst of the worst for me too. Though I had no problem with Bioshock. I'll certainly keep that in mind in the future.

I should also note that I've been playing Uncharted 2: Honor Among Thieves over the last month or so and am NOT getting nauseous like I did with Uncharted 1: Drake's Fortune

By: guest2

guest2 — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:05:02 +0000

Here's my list of sickies: Half-Life2 and Bioshock (both almost instant nausea), Tomb Raider Underworld (creeping nausea), and only recently Fallout 3 (creeping nausea). I play PS3 with 47" LCD.

Fallout 3 is a favorite, and until just recently i could play it for hours and hours with no ill-effects, but the past few times i've tried playing it made me mildly nauseous. I've played all of the GTA titles since GTA3 with no problems. I play COD4 and CODMW2 to the extreme, and they don't bother me at all. Oblivion, MGS4, Little Big Planet, all fine.

One note: after suffering almost instantaneous nausea from HalfLife2, I did some browsing and found a Valve website that mentioned that HL2 used a constricted field-of-view, something like 15 degrees less than the standard 90 degree FOV in most games, in order to INTENTIONALLY create an unnerving sensation for the player. Seems they felt that the narrower FOV would add to the somewhat creepy ambience of the game and improve the overall game experience. Makes me wonder if tricks like these are common with other horror / creepy action type game titles, and if maybe some game developers have taken this idea too far.

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:54:34 +0000

World at War was too much for me.
Modern Warfare 2 is much better for some reason but I can't play too long.
I still get dizzy after about an hour and a half which is a good amount of game time anyway.

By: Stephen Bolt

Stephen Bolt — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:58:59 +0000

Thanks for the page. I get similar problems… just nearly got ill playing Lego Batman on XBox 360.

By: Dale Dietrich

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:29:20 +0000

Interesting theory Cos. I wouldn't say my ability to find Waldo is any faster or slower than most. But I do know I'm much better at finding patterns than others. For example, I'm often commenting to friends that this person on the TV looks like someone else we know. They usually smile and agree, having not recognized it themselves. I also have a pretty high IQ. I'm also a very visual person. I learn much more by diagrams, visual aids, drawing pictures than from hearing or reading text for example.

Why not just turn down the brightness of the TV if putting a film or two helps. Also most modern games allow you to turn down the brightness in the game itself. Not sure what Seran Wrap would do to change how things look.

I'm curious to see what others think of this theory. But this would be hard to test scientifically. Most people would think they are smarter, keener than most - especially gamers where being keen and having superior attention to detail leads to success in games.

By: Dale Dietrich

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:22:12 +0000

Is that all Call of Duty versions Tony. The earlier Call of Duty versions (ie: CoD 2) would make me mildly queasy, but the latest one's both Modern Warfares, I can play all the way through without any sickness. Again, I chaulk this up to the evolution of the graphics/gaming engines.

By: Jerry K

Jerry K — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:44:57 +0000

At work I'm a Quality Control guy. I have to look over text and video and make sure there are no weird problems. My coworkers all say I have a very good eye for catching stuff. And I do get simulation sickness from a few games. So perhaps you're onto something.

By: Tony

Tony — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 21:08:36 +0000

A friend of mine recommended that I wear sunglasses while I play. He said it helps him. I'm going to give it a shot.

I'm pretty good at finding Waldo but I wouldn't know how to measure my observational skills.

By: Cos

Cos — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:58:48 +0000

Hi, I've had this problem all my life as well. I've found that putting a film (two layers or so of seran wrap or the like) to dull the pixels have done wonders for me. Also, those wrap around glasses that you see old people wearing when they drive also works well, but I always feel foolish wearing them.
I've done some research on visual acquity and game indused sickness and I was wondering if you'd be so kind to leave a response. For everyone who has this problem with gamer's sickness, do you have unusally keen observational skills. I think it might have something to do with a strange genetic trait of seeing every pixel which causes the brain to become ill with overload.
So basically, if you get sick like this, do you have very good observational skills. I personally wear glasses, but can find Waldo quicker than anyone I've ever met.

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:48:07 +0000

I can play Halo 3 for hours as well
but I can only play Call of Duty for small amounts of time without getting sick.

I don't understand why though.

By: Nino

Nino — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:58:11 +0000

Hi,

I just wanted to reconfirm what has been said concerning Half Life 2 supposedly causing motion sickness. I just bought it last week for my Ps3 and I can't play it longer than an hour or so without feeling utterly sick.

In fact, there is no other game I can think of right now that triggers similiar symptoms as fast and drastically as Half Life 2 does to the point where it makes me want to vomit!

Having said that , it's undoubtedly a great game nonetheless but these symptoms still ruin much of the expirience for me I'm afraid. It's just such a turn off!

And btw I've been playing games for almost 20 years on a constant basis without feeling bad.

I'm no expert but my best guess would be that it might be due to the framerate and/or the camera movement!?!

Oh and I never got nausea from other fps like Black, Bioshock , Halo or the Prime series for example!?!

puzzling indeed!

By: Gerald

Gerald — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:04:41 +0000

I too suffer nausea from playing video games and I know of one other person who became nauseated after playing video games on one of my consoles. GTA IV has recently begun to affect me in this way. Also of particular interest, I bought a small HD Flourescent light suitable for reading and looking at it gave me a headache and nausea.

By: Dale Dietrich

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:35:42 +0000

Funny, our shooter/RE experiences are inverted. I got motion sickness when reading on a moving vehicle when I was a child but don't any more as an adult.

You raise an interesting point about vision. I have monocular vision, meaning my eyes don't work together – one is dominant, the other just follows the other around. I wonder if that has anything to do with the types of games that make me sick?

…Dale

By: Ash

Ash — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:27:28 +0000

Very interesting discussion you've got here. I've been playing videogames for several decades now and my only frustration comes with the FPS genre, as most of the games in that category trigger nausea, dizziness or vertigo for me, resulting in me abandoning those games.

Funny you should mention Resident Evil, since I love that series, but I never had problems with RE1 to RE3, mainly because I think those titles had 3D characters on pre-rendered, static backgrounds. I started having problems with RE4, since everything, including the backgrounds, were in full 3D. RE5 is worse, and I can only play it in 15-30 minute increments, which just sucks.

The Grand Theft Auto series for the PS2 also induce motion sickness after playing for about 10 minutes or so. However, I'm happy to say that I have no problems whatsoever playing the GTA games on a PSP, which makes me wonder--is it the size of the screen or the distance of the screen to your eyes?

Other PS2 games that made me really dizzy include the first Kingdom Hearts game, and Katamari Damacy. I have astigmatism, wear glasses, and get dizzy when I try to read inside a moving vehicle, except in an airplane.