Some gamers call me a wimp, but games like Spyro send me reeling and running for the bathroom in a matter of minutes. I get a massive headache, nausea, and sick to my stomach. I can play Portal, Ape Escape, Ico, Shadow of the Collosseus for longer. I think the problem has to do with the free-floating (or controllable) camera.
Is there a way to still play these games and not get sick?
Among other things, you may be sensitive to:
Depending on your platform and environment you probably don't have much control over these. You can try the following, but as David said you should probably consult with your doctor also.
I would talk to your doctor.
Anybody that tells you to try anything could risk your health and I would NOT advise.
Mythbusters looked at the various anecdotal and pharmaceutical cures for seasickness (which as I understand has the same triggers as stationary motion sickness), and they got positive results from Ginger extract.
Results here: http://mythbustersresults.com/episode43
Your Mileage May vary, but I tried them, to play Halo reach. Normally just looking at the Halo reach Demo makes me feel dizzy and nauseous after a few seconds. I took two ginger pills, waited an hour and then happily played Halo reach for the next four hours with no discernible side effects.
Like I said YMMV, but Ginger pills definitely worked for me.
The first thing I'd say is ask yourself the following:
Massive headaches and nausea may not just be caused by the game you're playing (though that can be a factor), but also by the exposure to flashing lights. The human brain actually has a hard time with flashing lights, especially at certain frequencies. Since a game often doesn't control this, it's not uncommon to experience these types of symptoms.
My advice is the following:
My wife got simulation sickness really easily. As an example, she could play Sims 1 and 2, but not 3. I've been with her for 15 years so I would like to add one more piece of advice to the ones already there:
It is something that affects different people to different degrees. It's similar to motion sickness where the motion cues you get from your eyes don't match the cues you are getting from your ears.
You can only try various things to see what minimises the effect for you:
You will need to try these things individually or in combination to see what works best for you. Unfortunately, it might be that none of them actually help.
Some people suffer from motion sickness if the field-of-view of the games is different from what the brain expects. This is specially noticeable in first-person-shooters. For these people, tweaking the FOV might solve the motion sickness.
See also:
I used to have this problem when I started playing FPS games on my PC, and I know how much of a drag it is. I found that on my PC monitor if I dropped the game resolution to less than full screen it would minimize the motion sickness feeling. And after playing in less-than-fullscreen for a while the sickness went away.
As a bonus to overcoming that form of sickness I can now read in a car without getting sick, which is pretty cool. I used to get very queasy very soon if I put my head down to read while in a car.
If you're console gaming on a TV I would suggest moving away from the TV enough that it isn't taking up the biggest portion of items in your view. If you make the screen dominate your field of vision it will enhance the feeling that you're really moving.
I find myself suffering from headaches quite quickly when gaming (not when browsing weirdly) and have found the following things useful:
Only play in a room which is well lit
Try to put your monitor against a light background, so there is less contrast between the screen and the surrounding environment
I don't know if anyone else has had any experience with this, but I've also looked into glasses with a special anti-glare coating on them in the past the most "recommended" of which being from these guys: http://www.gunnars.com/technology/
They might help with the headache side of things?
I get this, and, for me at least, it's plain old motion sickness. Generally, I just try not to sling my mouse around as much until I get used to it. Like with seasickness, you can habituate yourself to the motion, and it'll stop bothering you. In my case, 6-8 hours cures me, and as long as I play regularly, the symptoms never return.
Of course, it can also be epilepsy, so might want to get yourself checked, or check yourself by looking at a seizure pattern (goes without saying, make sure someone is around).
I had this problem all my life and pretty much never played FPS or similar games. Anyway, when Skyrim came out someone suggested to me that I try travel sickness pills. I bought a pack, took one an hour before I started playing, and for the first time in my life felt completely fine playing in FPS! I found that, after the pills ran out, I was so used to playing that the sickness never came back.
It's possible that Dramamine or other motion sickness remedies (like those bracelet things) could help for this kind of thing.
I heard that you can use some bracelets called "Sea Bands." They supposedly put pressure on a nerve in your wrist that is supposed to send the signal for nausea to your brain. By putting pressure on it, it prevents the signal for nausea to go to your brain and prevents motion sickness.
Sony's game manual suggests when playing video games to avoid some of the ill induced symptoms by doing the following:
If you read most game's manuals, the warnings are on the first page. I've failed to do that at one point and now I'm wiser than before ha!
From my personal experience, your brain and normal breathing is off track which can put your body into fight or flight mode or panic mode over long or short periods of game play. Remember , your brain controls your breathing patterns. Why you think you feel exulted after playing some of those fast paced high action games? Thats where the Nausea and feeling like you want to vomit comes into play.
No other answer addresses Spyro directly, so this might help as well:
Most Spyro games have two camera modes: "Active" and "Passive".
You might find Passive mode a bit easier to deal with, as it will not throw the camera around too much, instead relying on you moving the camera yourself to reorient when needed.
The only thing I can suggest is fresh air and a break. Having a fan pointing directly on your face helps a lot and gives you a bit of extra time.
My advise is to read the first page of your manual that tells you how to avoid some of these issues...Now here'a a really big problem that people overlook when playing video games, its your off pattern breathing.. You playing games and your mind concentrating on the game and your breathing pattern gets off track ..That signals the brain that something is wrong and that's where you get your NAUSEA in the stomach as well as the HEADACHES comes in ..I stopped playing because i can't balance my brain and breathing correctly... The games are in excitement mode and your brain is not use to that kind of constant action ..Again most of the games are in hyper pattern speed in which the brain cant keep up with as well as your breathing ..It's more to it than just flashing light, sitting far away from the tv and etc ...If they just kill the hyper speed patterns from games in a more slower moment , then it would'nt be such as bad...
P.S. Mind and breathing if they are not regulating normally, then you are going to have some health issues......
Video games re-wires the brain because it was not made for this kind of activity and in many instances can cause you great distress.
From my personal experiences from playing high action intense games will put your body in fight or flight response or great distress for some people. Blurred vision, tense muscles, continued headaches and etc. are signs too from flight response too.
If you play games like mind games, Family Feud, puzzles, board and card games or casino games, they require any excitable reactions. You can play them for hours with little or any side effects. For as high action games, the brain regulates your breathing and when the two are out of balance, the body goes into total chaos. Why you think you have nausea after you played certain games?
And that doesn't end there. Why you feel fatigued after you play certain games? The brain can't keep up with the hyper speed patterns of some games while it's trying to regulate your breathing as well. It can't keep up with 2 jobs (brain). The best thing to do is try to balance your breathing and brain in practice mode because high action games overstimulates your brain like your in a flight or fight response.
It's not always about frame rate and lighting. Your out of regulating breathing is cause you nausea along with your brain. Play smart and safe.
As for me, I've retired from high action intense games.
