iggystar

Somewhere around the Sonic days I noticed that when I played video games I would get intense motion sickness.

For a few years after I would still play intermittently until one day I accepted that my video game days were over.

Anyone know a "cure" for this? I miss playing video games and each time a new portable (or non-portable) system comes out I want to jump back in.....

joshd2012

I believe (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that framerate has a lot to do with it. Games with good framerates should be no issue?

Y2K Falcon

1) Sit further from the screen.

2) Play less First Person Shooters.



I've just come to accept that Halo isn't for me. But I'll play lots of Kingdom Hearts, sports games, etc.

nodeerforamonth

I made myself ill for a good 12 hours or so while playing Time Splitters. I feel for you.

sniper308

I've heard to basically either play on a smaller screen or further away from the screen so that you have points of reference for your eye that are not in motion (basically the other stuff in the room), as well as depending on the game, some FPS in particular have ways to turn off the "head bob" effect while walking/running and that seems to help some folks.

I'm surprised that you mention possibly having the problem with handhelds, etc?

Y2K Falcon

I've actually heard of folks taking dramamine... Is this urban legend?

kakihara1

There was a post on this awhile back, I think there were quite a few people who said that playing on HDTVs has helped their problems. Maybe I'm just insane. I'll look for the thread.

Edit* Found It!!

jeffdsmith

Seriously, goto Bestbuy or whatever and try playing the DS and PSP, see how you feel. I have never heard of anyone having serious problems with a portable. The PSP might be more of a problem due to its larger screen and superior graphics though.

goLUCKY

I'd say go DS... it's got the biggest library of games. I've never heard of anyone getting motion sickness playing it, unless they are in the backseat of a moving car.

DRG

The only time I've ever felt sick from playing a game was my PSP while riding in a car. And that was specifically pseudo-first person games (Tony Hawk, Grand Theft Auto). Oddly enough, playing GTA on the PSP for long spells did cause me to have intense internal torso and chest pains. I still haven't figured out exactly why.

Breakfast with Girls

Actually, I would think that would be even worse for someone with motion sickness, since their entire field of vision would be taken up by the screen. Generally, if you can see plenty of (stationary) things around the screen, you won't get sick -- that's why portables are usually okay, as said earlier.

Take a look at the genres you're playing. RPG and strat games are unlikely to make you motion sick (not a lot of vertical motion), but FPS definitely will, and probably third-person action-adventure games where you're platform jumping.

I get motion sick when I'm a passenger in a car, especially with a bad driver -- just being in a car, I mean; reading or playing video games is out of the question. But most video games don't do it to me except FPS on a big screen. Bourne Supremacy got to me in the theater, though.

BeanDip0001

yeah go see your doctor and tell him, there is a test they can do. sometimes motion sickness or vertigo is the pre seizure deal.

Brooklyn

Place something on top of the television that will stand out, like a candle (can
still be seen if you turn the lights out). This will help where motion sickness is
concerned as you'll somewhat focus on the stationary object instead of only
the motion of the game.

tor_greg

Chew ginger.

This works according to Mythbusters. heh

Blade

I almost sold my Xbox 360 over this. I have a projector so my screen is something like 90"+. King Kong was usually ok, but got to me sometimes. But when I put in Call of Duty 2 and GTA San Andreas, it really hit me bad. Project Gotham Racing 3 was no problem though. And Perfect Dark Zero didn't bother me too much either. I was more upset about sucking at the game. I ended up returning my unopenned copies of Halo TriPack and Half Life 2 and picking up Oblivion instead.

Oblivion has been much better (unless I'm whipping around rooms or caves too fast) except for that damn horse. That makes me pretty sick too.

I was going to try some of those sea sickness wrist band things. Maybe I'll try the ginger. Dramamine makes me way too tired.

I was also thinking about connecting it to a computer monitor and seeing if that helped. Have to finish Oblivion first though.

iggystar

I seem to remember getting sick from a handheld, but I'm going to go to Best Buy and see if the DS or PSP won't make me ill. That would be great. I don't really like first-person games so that won't be an issue.

The last time I was "involved" with a video game was when my ex-husband was playing Tomb Raider and Resident Evil. I would help him navigate by reading the cheat book while he played, "turn left here, pick up that plant, push this stone...no left! not right". I didn't have to fully focus on the screen so I didn't get sick.

Mikael79

I've had great results with ginger. I used to get motion sickness back when I first started playing FPSers, but that's stopped. What still happens is motion sickness when I try to read while riding in a car. And ginger really seems to solve that problem.

iggystar

So you just get a piece of ginger and start chewing it?

Breakfast with Girls

karnblack

A backseat video game player?

Blade

No, I think we have a candidate for wife of the year.

iggy,

Per here http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsHerbs/Gingerch.html

How to Take It

Pediatric

Ginger should not be used by children under 2 years of age.

Ginger may be used by children over 2 years of age to treat nausea, digestive cramping, and headaches. Adjust the recommended adult dose to account for the child's weight. Most herbal dosages for adults are calculated on the basis of a 150 lb (70 kg) adult. Therefore, if the child weighs 50 lb (20 to 25 kg), the appropriate dose of ginger for this child would be 1/3 of the adult dosage.

Adult

In general, ginger intake should not exceed 2 to 4 g per day (this includes the ginger obtained through diet such as from ginger ale, ginger snaps, and ginger bread).

* For nausea, gas, or indigestion: 2 to 4 grams of fresh root daily (0.25 to 1.0 g of powdered root) or 1.5 to 3.0 mL (30 to 90 drops) tincture daily. To prevent vomiting, take 1 gram of powdered ginger (1/2 tsp) or its equivalent every four hours as needed, or 2 ginger capsules (1 gram) three times daily. You may also chew a ¼ oz piece of fresh ginger.

madara

Yikes I have only had this once with Descent on playstation and everytime I tried to play Quake 2 on the pc. I could not imagine having this problem on all games. Hope you find an answer.

devilshalo

When Doom and Quake first came out, I had this bad. I'd force my way thru the game and come out in a cold sweat. You want real motion sickness, try scrolling thru the microfiche at your local library.

Blade

I played Doom so much when it first came out that I got used to the motion sickness...kind of like being on a boat for long enough, you get used to the rolling motion of the sea as it goooess uppp and dowwwnn....upppp and doooowwwnnn.

glasschicken

My girlfriend does the same thing. Especially with Resident Evil and Zelda.