The Daleisphere - Latest Comments in Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Mary Doyle — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 05:49:57 -0000

hi I just came across this while looking for the default camera controls for tomb raider underworld. I don't understand the x & y axis things but a friend was playing my game on Xbox and since then well I'm in a whirl. I was diagnosed with vertigo in 1984 I was 16 then and had always had travel sickness. I was put on a medication called STEMITAL it controls the middle ear this is where vertigo comes from but I know that your eyes can cause it too- when your playing a game on a PC or a console your eyes are doing all the work because you are concentrating so much, if you feel dizzy then stop the reflexes of your eyes are on overdrive, this can lead to a full blown vertigo attack the solution is bed rest use at least 2 pillows don't lie flat out it will only make it worse lie on your side not your back. you will also notice that you are slightly photo sensitive (the light effects you) don't drive, drink,play PC or console games or watch TV programmes that have flashing images, remember vertigo is of the family of epilepsy and migraine - see your doctor get some motion sickness tablets. also once the initial attack has gone does not mean it has gone a vertigo attack can last from 1 to 8 weeks if not treated.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Shaco — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:46:09 -0000

The third Deus Ex game came out (Human Revolution) and I get really sick from playing it. Stupid head bob!

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Michael — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:56:57 -0000

I stumbled on this page while googling "video game nausea", though in my case it's from a road cycling simulator/trainer. I'm aware I have vertigo, just didn't think the two were related, and they can be. This may help you: http://www.youtube.com/watc... when it works, it's magical.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

hall0ween — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:00:37 -0000

Just found this, while searching for my son, who has been getting headaches and throwing up after playing his xbox, he is 9 years old, nomatter what game he plays after an hour or so he is nausea, sleepy, cant stand the light or noise, andcomplains of headaches, he threw up before, so for his own health im gona have to stop him playing his games, incase it gets worse, his twin brother is absolutely fine though.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

George Helyar — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:47:15 -0000

I just got this from watching a YouTube video of someone playing through Duke Nukem Forever.

I believe the frame rate issue is actually a mild form of epilepsy.

The worst game I ever got it on was Dog's Life where you have weird colours, tunnel vision, low to the ground camera, massive side to side head bob, etc.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:17:16 -0000

Sarah, I wouldn't avoid a game just because it makes others nauseous. There are lots of games that make others nauseous that don't bother me at all. The important thing is to find what common denominators specifically make you sick and avoid those games.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Patrick — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:40:27 -0000

True about the frame rates issue. MIB II Crush Down almost killed First Person gaming for me. I also didn't like elevators as a child... still don't or maybe it's because I've gotten used to them?

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

sarahssmiling2 — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 16:41:17 -0000

I have that problem too with certain games. I just got my son Monkey Ball step and roll, and I well, I almost passed out from the dizziness. I don't play those games you mentioned, but now I can be sure that I probably couldn't even if I wanted to. Oh, and 'Star Ocean'. Can't even hear the music without getting nauseous.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:08:39 -0000

Your camera nausea is the exact opposite of mine Nivesh. The more control I have over the camera, the faster I can move it to where I want it to go, the less nausea I feel. The more the game controls the camera or limits my ability to move it the sicker I feel.

There is no game I could ever play and get used-to-it as you suggest by playing in short bursts. No amount of starting or stopping or short interval play ever cured me. A game that makes me sick always makes me sick.

Darkness, hunger or fatigue have never made me nauseous. But, playing at the end of the day can get me very 'riled up' so that when I try to sleep after and I'm still buzzing from the game it can take a very long time to 'calm down' and fall asleep. A glass of wine helps! :)

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:03:52 -0000

Ha! Far Cry made me sick too. I'm not a PC gamer, though that is one game I did play on the PC for as long as I could stand it, which wasn't long.

It uses the Crytek CryENGINE. I should add this to the list above when I get a chance.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:01:39 -0000

Alister, the game you are referring to is/was Prey. It's on my list above and it made me very sick too! I never tried Fable 2 as I didn't much like Fable 1 - not my kind of game. Head bob is definitely a killer for me. Funny how you say "just thinking about it is sickening". The same is true for me. I just think of the game Prey and I instantly remember how it felt playing it and I start feeling it. :) I do think herz and res can have an affect on gaming. I'm certainly feeling less nauseous since I moved to a high-def plasma screen from the old CRT I used to have.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Nivesh Ramawthar — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:02:45 -0000

I am more than a casual gamer and experience all the symptoms with some games or the other. It seems to be a problem related to the individual. Like some people get sick when reading in a moving vehicle (like me). My problems are with games that have rapidly moving cameras in different directions. This can be games which changes view all the time (like devil may cry) or a game which allows me to control the camera 100% and i constantly rotate it all over the place to view areas rapidly (as i would in reality) - this is why i get ill when playing GTA4 or Darksiders - and some games like Arkham asylum also give problems when i rapidly change camera angles. Games like god of war and fifa (where all action takes place in the same steady locations) are perfectly fine and i can play for hours.

so i think it is a case of how your brain interprets the rapid motion in relation to your actual state - similar to reading in a moving vehicle where you are physically moving at one rate and your eyes are moving at a different rate while focuses in a specific general are. In gaming the screen in taking your eyes everywhere at rapid speeds but you are stationary. However, if the speed is in a constant direction (like in driving games) than there is no problem - this is why i have no problem travelling a super speeds in burnout - another factor here may be is that although my environment is changing - my focal point (my car) is in one place thus allowing my brain and eyes to have a relative frame of reference.

This has been a real problem with my gaming experience and i avoid certain games cos it is not healthy. I heard that if it is constantly experienced and we persist with it, it could lead to problems such as epilepsy etc. SO i avoid it. Thankfully my two fave games, god of war and fifa are problem free. but then again, this could be the converse of my theory where instead of regressing with the problem and getting worse, my brain actually adapted to the game and rendered it problem-free.

Solution: either give up the game to avoid potential problems or play the game in short bursts until it isnt a problem anymore.

Another factor i forgot about is gaming conditions - never play in complete darkness, when hungry, or tired as these factors contribute to feeling ill.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

360special — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:36:33 -0000

The only game I have ever gotten really sick feeling after playing is Far Cry 2. I have played it on ps3 and on pc and either way I feel like I am going to puke after 10 to 15 minutes. Its pretty bad, every single time I play it.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Alistair Chiu — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:10:53 -0000

Hi I found this page by typing in 'fable shaky camera' into google. Like you some games gave me headaches and some didn't. I am quite prone to headaches anyway due to tiredness, hot sun, stress etc. Quake3 I could play endlessly. HL and HL2 I can play for half an hour to an hour before getting a headache. Same with Portal, same engine.

Does anyone remember a game that came out a few years ago where you could run up the walls and across the ceiling? you were in some alien spaceship with weird gravity settings. It actually made me dizzy, so i returned it within the 14 day period and got a refund.

I just bought Fable on Ebay and tried it, i can't play it for 2 minutes without getting a headache. Its all to do with the camera, during the cutscenes i'm totally fine but when controlling the avatar, its really bad. I worked out its probably 2 things: One is the head-bob you get when strafing left or right. The other is lack of direct mounselook control. When you move the mouse, the character turns at its own rate a split second later. What that means is that I don't have control over the rate of movement with my mouse. That feeling as the camera accelerates and turns and then slows down is really nauseating. Just thinking about it is sickening. Its the first time i've experienced something like this in a FPS.

I know its got nothing to do with detail, res and hertz because I first played it on default setting then cranked everything up to max.

I think i need to have control over acceleration of movement.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

ParaTweeT — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:42:55 -0000

I find that Modern Warfare 2 and Bad Company 2 will both make me ill. I can still play for hours but it I can have a nasty headache later. Breaks help but other than that I don't get motion sickness ever. I ha e noticed that when I play I have a tendency to try to follow the camera more than it moves. I do know that my peripheral vision is highly tuned from years of drill practice. I do notice slight offsets in color on my TV and I know the backlight wavelength of florescents isn't good for your eyes either. So maybe one of the new TV's that includes Yellow and has LCD Backlight might be easier on the eyes and at least reduce some of the visual stress. Getting closer or maybe even adding blinders (such as the wrap around glasses comment earlier) might help.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:03:37 -0000

Hey Jerry, I think you are on to something!

I don't recall the game, but I remember playing a shooter where if you were using the sniper rifle, if you were zoomed and you reloaded, the game automatically zoomed you out during the reload and zoomed you back in after the reload finished. This always made me nauseous. I would have preferred no zoom change at all, or just leave it at the zoom out, but the double zoom over the course of a second or two always churned my stomach!

...Dale

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Jerry Richards — Sun, 23 May 2010 14:04:31 -0000

I don't think you mentioned one source of dizziness. It is a real problem in the original xbox game Black. It has to do with zooming. Some games instantly switch to scoped view and back again, which is fine. This type of zooming does not cause dizziness. But in original xbox Black shooter game, they actually show the gradual transition from normally view to zoomed view and back again. The thing that really makes me dizzy is the unzoom transition, which distorts everything in a backwards direction. Yuck. Another thing they did, which is quite amazingly poor judgement on their part: When you reload, everything is out of focus except the reloading of the gun. When I play the game I get nauseous.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Dale Dietrich — Sun, 23 May 2010 11:39:27 -0000

What other games have you played on the 360 Dida? As you can see from my original article Resident Evil also made me sick on the 360 as well as a dozen other games. But there are many dozens more that don't. Also, older games are more likely to make me nauseous than newer ones. Have you played newer games? All the PC games you listed below (Oblivion, Morrowind, Dead Space, FEAR 1 and 2) are all available on the Xbox 360 too. Have you tried playing any of these on the Xbox to compare PC to Xbox head-to-head.

I find it very hard to imagine that its the Xbox per-se. For me, I'll get equally nausous playing Half-Life 2 on the PC as I do on the Xbox, but many, many other games do not make me sick.

...Dale

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Dida — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:11:32 -0000

ETA: Forgot to say that the PC games that I CAN play are Oblivion and Morrowind, Dead Space, F.E.A.R. 1 and 2, etc, All games that I am convinced would make me sick on the XBox
XBox games that made me sick: Call Of Duty IV, Bioshock, Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil (All of them), etc.

If anyone else suffers from this and can play on PC without a problem like me, I think we need to start a group to encourage game companies to continue to produce PC versions of their games!

Please Email me at didadragonfly@yahoo.ca

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Dida — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:01:15 -0000

Hi there!
I just googled this topic and found your commentary.

I am one of the unfortunate sufferers of this problem as well. I LOVE gaming, and I CAN play my games on my PC. For some reason, I can NOT play games (ANY GAMES) on the XBox 360 without becoming very ill. It starts with a headache and quickly changes to nausea with headache and then I become physically sick.
Its HORRIBLE! I bought a Special Edition Resident Evil XBox 360 before discovering this. I tried motion sickness pills, ginger pills, wrist bands, EVERYTHING!
The ginger pills worked the best, but I found that I had to wait about half an hour for the ginger to get into my system to work. That made it impossible for me to say, "Hey, I've got some time, I think I'll play XBox!" No spontaneity allowed!
Well, I ended up giving my XBox to my son, (he's happy!), so the only games I can play are on my PC. And NONE of them make me sick o.O
Why would this be the case? Why can I play PC games, but not console games?

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

dizzblnd — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:56:09 -0000

I googled "video game induced vertigo" and found your blog. I find that I get vertigo during and after playing Modern Warfare 2. The next day even after I play I get vertigo. So you are not alone

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Dion — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:46:23 -0000

I also get carsick from playing FPS which is why I have not interest in HAlo. I have found that Killzone 2 tends to give me a headache so I try and play for 20-45 min at a time. I will try inverting the Y axis and see if that helps. I read somewhere that this sickness is due to the brain and the inner ear. Basically the brain thinks that your body is moving with the character in the game but gets confuse when it realize your not actually moving the picture on the screen is.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Bob N. Offagin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:04:27 -0000

I couldn't play Eat Lead or Left 4 Dead. Got extremely nauseous and it lasted for 2 days. Also couldn't play Avatar because like Eat lead, the camera centers off to one side.

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:33:00 -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! :)

Re: Video Game-induced Nausea, Dizziness and Headaches

Mae — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:27:49 -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!