50 replies to this topic

[Cybergoth]

Mendon, on Mon Mar 7, 2011 8:34 AM, said:

Can your motion sickness also happen during 3D experiences, such as watching a movie in 3D or playing a 3D game on the 3DS or PS3?

I've already seen numerous 3D movies in theaters, without experiencing any problems so far: Avatar, Last Airbender, Despicable Me, Resident Evil Afterlife, Tangled, How to Train your Dragon.

At least these I can enjoy

No home/gaming experience so far though.

[Itchy Koala]

Cybergoth, on Mon Mar 7, 2011 9:36 AM, said:

Mendon, on Mon Mar 7, 2011 8:34 AM, said:

Can your motion sickness also happen during 3D experiences, such as watching a movie in 3D or playing a 3D game on the 3DS or PS3?

I've already seen numerous 3D movies in theaters, without experiencing any problems so far: Avatar, Last Airbender, Despicable Me, Resident Evil Afterlife, Tangled, How to Train your Dragon.

At least these I can enjoy

No home/gaming experience so far though.

3D movies/games are more known to cause headaches than motion sickness

[Christophero Sly]

I never recall getting motion sickness from anything ever, but last night I finally sat down to play Metroid Prime, and after about 10 min., I started having problems. However, I'm not sure I'd call what I experienced "motion sickness". It just felt like my eyes were struggling to find something to focus on in the game, and they literally started bugging-out. They started twitching and reflexively trying to close, like when you get up in the middle of the night and turn the light on, or when you step outside into bright sunlight without any sunglasses on. Though the strangest thing about the sensation was that it was much more of a mental discomfort than a physical one. I battled through it for 45 min. or so, but that was all I could take. And about 5 min. after I stopped playing I got a headache, started feeling nauseous, and got incredibly drowsy. It's weird, but just thinking about playing the game is making my eyes twitch right now.

The only time I've ever experienced anything that even resembled this was the mental fatigue I felt after playing Superman on the 2600 for several hours straight trying to beat the game in less than a minute. The flicker in that game really caused a lot of visual strain, and immediately afterwards, I was overcome by a profound drowsiness, but when I laid down and closed my eyes, I would see the game flickering on the backs of my eyelids and couldn't sleep. Not a fun experience. I didn't see Metroid Prime on the backs of my eyelids, but I did experience the identical sense of profound drowsiness.

Anyway, a very odd sensation. Anybody ever have this problem with Metroid Prime, or similar symptoms with another game?

[Cybergoth]

Christophero Sly, on Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:24 PM, said:

Anyway, a very odd sensation. Anybody ever have this problem with Metroid Prime, or similar symptoms with another game?

Not with Prime, but similar symptoms in many other games.

This may be interesting for some with these kind of problems:

Two weeks ago I went to a neurologist with my problems and he did record an EEG of my brain, while I was sitting next to a strobe light that would constantly flash and speed up in frequency over a couple of minutes. While the EEG did not really show signs of something like an epilepsy seizure, another anomaly was found, that according to my doc does show up in ~5% of the EEGs he records. The phenomenon was, that my brains alpha waves, that normally would run at a frequency of about 15Hz, did actually sync up to the frequency of the strobe light. He said something like that my brain would go into a "photo-driven" state.

He said that while so far there's no hard scientific proof that this might really cause something like the migraine symptoms I get with some games, it is though very likely.

[Gabriel]

There are several games I have a problem with.

Doom was the first game I ever experienced which would actually make me sick (as opposed to just hyperbolically saying a game made me sick). After periods of playing it, I'd be dizzy and nauseous. Most other FPSes do the same thing, but oddly, some don't. For instance, Mechwarrior II on the PS1 and Metal Head on the 32X never caused the symptoms despite being similar visually to every other FPS of the time.

I can play Halo 3 for extended periods, but Call of Duty makes me want to hurl almost immediately.

Wipeout was another early game which I identified as making me sick. I don't even have to be able to see the screen. If the game is playing close enough for me to hear it, I become violently ill. I used to be able to tolerate it, and even play it for a while, but now if it's playing anywhere near me for more than about a minute, I have to go hug a toilet. The sequels don't have this effect on me, though.

Burnout Paradise caused the most immediate and violent ill feeling in me that any game has. I tried the demo, drove about 50 feet down the road, and immediately had to run to the bathroom to vomit. I felt like shit for several hours after that.

What's odd is that I don't get sick at games which make some of my friends ill. I can pinwheel the plane in Ace Combat, turn and burn all over the sky, and not even get disoriented while my friends are needing to look away because of dizziness. Tempest 2000 makes everyone I've shown it to dizzy, but it has never bothered me at all.

[thegoldenband]

I've never gotten any kind of real-world motion sickness, but many first-person 3D games definitely make me feel ill, and even some third-person 3D games have done the same. When it hits, I feel overheated (waves of heat), vaguely nauseated, and my stomach starts tying itself in knots. Maybe I get a headache too, sometimes. It's actually an extremely unpleasant feeling, and I find it entirely credible that it's the brain's response to thinking it's been poisoned (as some research suggests), because that's exactly how it feels -- toxic.

The most consistent offenders have all been N64 games: Goldeneye, Monster Truck Madness 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Forsaken come to mind. Forsaken was probably the worst -- I couldn't play it for more than 3-4 minutes. Driving games aren't usually a problem, but the wildly whipping camera in MTM64 made me feel horrible after about 20 minutes of gameplay.

As for other consoles, Toy Commander on the Dreamcast has done it, which is a shame as I was enjoying that game. I also seem to remember that Doom (on the Macintosh) made me feel a bit queasy, and FPSes are likely to be an issue -- but like Gabriel, I've had no problems with Metal Head 32X or, more surprisingly, the Halo series.

Also like Gabriel, I find that the experience sticks with me more than I'd expect. The thought of playing certain games immediately sets my gut on edge. I think there must be an involuntary component to it that's hardwired, not unlike how you can't stand the taste of a particular food for a while if you barf right after eating it. That response no doubt helped our caveman ancestors refrain from that second helping of fly agaric mushrooms or pokeweed berries -- if they lived to tell the tale, that is.

[Cybergoth]

thegoldenband, on Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:57 PM, said:

The most consistent offenders have all been N64 games: Goldeneye, Monster Truck Madness 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Forsaken come to mind. Forsaken was probably the worst -- I couldn't play it for more than 3-4 minutes. Driving games aren't usually a problem, but the wildly whipping camera in MTM64 made me feel horrible after about 20 minutes of gameplay.

Did you per chance ever try N64 games again on a LCD TV, or the virtual console offerings? I found nowadays I can tolerate them much more than the original CRT experience.

[Christophero Sly]

It's interesting that we only have reactions to specific games, and that certain games bother some individuals, but not others, and vice-versa. That leads me to believe that what's going on here isn't broadly a case of "motion sickness". I think individuals just have sensitivities to the unique ways that certain games render and set in motion their 3D environments.

I've been playing more of Metroid Prime, and I think what's causing me problems is the fact that there's a slight warp effect in the textures when 3D environments in the game are rotated around an axis (the player). Textures on the periphery of vision carry a slightly faster motion relative to textures at the center (focal point), and my eyes struggle to track the discrepancy. I've been able to reduce my symptoms by moving back about six feet from the screen and by taking things very slow (being careful not to make any quick or jerky movements). I'm able to play for about an hour this way before a mild headache sets in and I have to quit.

I suspect that if Metroid Prime used dual analog control, I wouldn't be having this problem.

Cybergoth, on Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:03 AM, said:

Two weeks ago I went to a neurologist with my problems and he did record an EEG of my brain, while I was sitting next to a strobe light that would constantly flash and speed up in frequency over a couple of minutes. While the EEG did not really show signs of something like an epilepsy seizure, another anomaly was found, that according to my doc does show up in ~5% of the EEGs he records. The phenomenon was, that my brains alpha waves, that normally would run at a frequency of about 15Hz, did actually sync up to the frequency of the strobe light. He said something like that my brain would go into a "photo-driven" state.

That's very interesting. Did you feel anything out of the ordinary while in this "photo-driven" state? Besides a headache, I mean.

[cimerians]

Portal is not disorienting enough! Lets make players walk on walls too!

Seems to me even people who dont experience nausea were getting sick so Valve pulled the gel from the game.



http://www.destructo...ck-199581.phtml

I finished portal on the Xbox 360 even though I turned 5 shades of green in the process.

Portal 2 is next on my list cause I love it too much to care about my health.



15 minutes bursts of play time is all I can do before I lay on the couch ready to hurl the rest of the night. Takes me forever to finish these games.

[SpiceWare]

I'd heard about that - I'm sure it would have ruined P2 if they'd left that in.

Based on other FPS games, I'd planned to do the same and play 10-15 minute rounds with Portal. Don't know why, but I didn't get sick. Portal 2 affects me though, I can play about 1 hour in before I have to stop. Much better than other FPS, but not as good as the original Portal.

I'm hoping to fair better with P2 on the Mac, just waiting on PSN to come back online so I can activate it.

[potatohead]

Are you playing on a CRT, or newer LCD / Plasma display?

The CRTs have some pretty significant motion artifacts because most games drive them full interlaced mode these days, which motion blurs and tears, unless you've got progressive scan.

The Dramamine is pretty effective stuff. You may find a very small amount works too. I don't get motion sick, but some members of my family do, and a half of one of those will do pretty well. Put it in the tea...

You may find your lighting and overall position can improve things too. Finally, display seating distance is important. A big display seen up close is great eye candy, but it's very immersive too, and that can trigger the motion sickness. Try a greater distance and or smaller display.

[cimerians]

potatohead, on Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:08 PM, said:

Are you playing on a CRT, or newer LCD / Plasma display?

The CRTs have some pretty significant motion artifacts because most games drive them full interlaced mode these days, which motion blurs and tears, unless you've got progressive scan.

The Dramamine is pretty effective stuff. You may find a very small amount works too. I don't get motion sick, but some members of my family do, and a half of one of those will do pretty well. Put it in the tea...

You may find your lighting and overall position can improve things too. Finally, display seating distance is important. A big display seen up close is great eye candy, but it's very immersive too, and that can trigger the motion sickness. Try a greater distance and or smaller display.

You're right on a lot of that stuff. I have a much better time and feel very little affects when I play on a PC with a great monitor and video card. When I switch over to the PS3 and a normal LCD its worse. I've tried Bioshock and Oblivion both on a PC and on a PS3\console and I don't get sick as much on the PC.

[Seob]

I also have some problems with motion sickens, but it's usually more due to "bad" programming of the camera. Mostly i play in short sessions and stop when i start feeling bad. Also i turn on lighting because that also reduces the changes of motion sickness for me. The only game i can't play is Saints row. The camera work on that game is so bad it makes me sick in mnutes.

[atarigal]

You guys are gonna laugh, but the movie Moulin Rouge did the same thing to me. The swoopy doopy Baz Luhrmann cam was too much for me and I had to turn it off halfway through. I'm kinda afraid to buy any modern gaming systems if they have the potential to give you motion sickness.

[Itchy Koala]

I finally (unfortunately) found the first game to make me feel like I was going to vomit. I tried out Prey for 360, I barely went through 2 missions (and if you've ever played prey, you know thats about 10 minutes of gameplay) and I had to shut it off. I didn't even want to go that far, but I had to hit a save point.



I'm really bummed, I was so exited to give the game a whirl. I guess I'll try some of the methods mentioned earlier to see if I'll be able to continue playing.

[82atari5200]

Cybergoth, on Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:28 AM, said:

Hi there!

It's so sad. Out of the first 4 PS3 games I tried, I could only enjoy Heavenly Sword

Bioshock, okay, that was just an experiment anyway. I didn't have much hope for it, since I had problems with most Ego Shooters since the original Descent. I think the only one I could play in the last decade was Metroid Prime 3.

Oblivion hit me by surprise, since I was extra playing it in third person view, which so far almost never gave me any problems.

I got very wary after that, so when I felt just the slightest bit of health problems with the Uncharted demos, I immediately dropped them from my shopping list. Also Fallout 3 / New Vegas and Bioshock 2 for obvious reasons.

So I tried the Tools of Destruction demo and had no problems with it at all. I ordered the full game, really enjoying the first 3 levels. Then came the part where you have to search 6 parts for the Lombax ship. Instead of blasting straight forward like before, I had to look around and scan the area for parts. It started to feel odd, but I could stand that for some 20 minutes. Then came the part where you switch to Clank. Enable his time slowing powers, accompanied by some vision blurring and... GAME OVER for me!

I'm a bit puzzled now what to do next. E.g. there is GTA IV on my shopping list. There's no demo for it, but I had no problems with Bully on the Wii. Does that mean I can play GTA IV as well, or should I respect all the warnings I see when Googling [GTA IV +"motion sickness"]?

Not only would I hate spending yet another 20-30 Euro on a game I can't play - I already hate just the process of figuring it out the hard way, which usually knocks me out for the rest of the day (and even some of the night)...

I'm feeling depressed. I hope at least JRPGs like Valkyria Chronicles and Eternal Sonata work for me.

Greetings,
Manuel

I can play GTA IV, Rock Band Games with no problems. Call of Duty, Fallout, and pretty much every other FPS gets me dizzy.

[Cybergoth]

82atari5200, on Sun Jun 5, 2011 9:00 PM, said:

I can play GTA IV, Rock Band Games with no problems. Call of Duty, Fallout, and pretty much every other FPS gets me dizzy.

I've been playing two third person games lately without any problems, Castlevania and Devil May Cry 4, so I think I'll stick with these for a while, maybe trying Brütal Legend next.

[Steril707]

Yeah, experiencing the same problems.

First game was DOOM in 1993. I didn't even know what hit me, I just went vomiting on the toilet that day, leaving my friends playing a LAN-session. First off, I thought that was the food I had eaten before playing. Later on, when I went on playing Doom, I noticed the symptoms came back.

I cannot play almost any 3rd Person- Games. It's getting much better though with the newer games. N64 games (also 3rd person, like mario) were instant puke alert.

I heard that Nintendo had special Motion Sickness sensitive beta testers checking out every scene in Mario Galaxy for symptoms...
maybe that's the reason why I can play the whole game without any complaints. Same with Zelda.

[Cybergoth]

I got to play a lot of games without problems lately just by sticking to 3rd person. Tonight I ran into problems once again though, with "Enslaved" - I guess it's way too colorful for the wonky controls and stuttering graphics...

[cimerians]

The Resistance games make me sick as well but not until about 20 or more minutes into these games. (Not sure if I mentioned it already)
Usually if I'm running around and turning constantly to prevent from dying. I think I'm getting better at this because I've played tons of Borderlands and then Skyrim in first person and I'm doing OK.
(Skyrim NEVER bothered me, maybe because of the great graphics or framerate, I dont know). I dont think I'm totally cured. I think for me its the combination or resolution, graphic detail, Frames Per Second etc.

A perfect example of a game that gets me sick:

Half-Life for the PS2.

The "fish bowl" effect from older games really makes me sick. In this sample video you can kind of see how the world rotates like a "bowl":

[NE146]

Does the distance of yourself to the TV/Monitor make any difference at all?

Put it this way.. would you get motion sickness if you happened to watch whatever game it is on a tiny screen (e.g. PSP/Ipod/DS/etc.)? Or heck even an iPad? Just theoretically of course.

[AtariLeaf]

cimerians, on Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:51 PM, said:

Portal is a perfect game for inducing vomiting.

I was going to mention this since I recently downloaded the original portal off steam since its free. I must be changing because it never bothered me when I first played it years ago but this time around I'd get that sweaty nauseated feeling and would have to turn it off.

[Keatah]

God I loved Descent.. I've got to get it jamming again in DOSbox!

[cimerians]

NE146, on Fri May 4, 2012 3:34 PM, said:

Does the distance of yourself to the TV/Monitor make any difference at all?

Put it this way.. would you get motion sickness if you happened to watch whatever game it is on a tiny screen (e.g. PSP/Ipod/DS/etc.)? Or heck even an iPad? Just theoretically of course.

Yeah it helps at least for me it does. PSP....no issues. Half Life on youtube no issues. etc.

@Keatah
I love that game and it never gave me issues at all. Will there ever be a Descent IV???

[AtariLeaf]

Descent was hell on me. Couldn't play for more than 5 minutes without becoming sick