What Is Motion Sickness?
Motion sickness caused by video games is sometimes called simulator sickness (it was first identified during the use of flight simulators). It is caused when there is a disconnect between what your eyes see and what your body feels. The same experience can happen any time you think you’re moving when you’re really not. For example, if you’re in a parked car when the car next to you starts to back up, you might think you’re moving when you’re not, and it can trigger a sick feeling in your gut. The most common theory about why you get sick is that your body thinks you’ve been poisoned and you hallucinate the movement you see but are not feeling. This causes you to get nauseated and—if you don’t stop playing right away—vomit in order to flush the toxins from your body.
How Do Games Cause It?
Not all games cause motion sickness, but certain games do. Some games have a low field of view that makes you feel like you’re falling or too low to the ground. But, in most cases, it comes down to camera movement and having something on which to focus your eyes. Some things that happen in video games are more likely to cause sickness. One of the biggest contributors to video game motion sickness are games that have two types of movement going on at once. This is often the case with third-person and first-person shooters. For example, a head bob (as you walk, your view slightly bobs up and down) and a weapon bob (your weapon moves up and down) paired together can easily cause motion sickness for some people. When there’s only one movement—a head bob or a weapon bob, but not both—there might not be any signs of motion sickness. If you can focus on something stationary, like the on-screen gun or the wall in front of you, you might notice a reduction or elimination of motion sickness. When everything is moving at different speeds and you can’t hold your focus on one thing, that might be when motion sickness creeps in. Here are some games that might cause motion sickness, and why:
Call of Duty has a head bob.Halo has a gun bob.BioShock has a gun bob.Gears of War has a camera that follows you around in a sort of realistic way, so while the camera bobs on its own, Marcus’ head bobs, too.
Other games can make you sick from just watching. You don’t need to be involved in the gameplay. These are usually games with player-controlled cameras. When you watch someone else play and the camera doesn’t react and move the way your head thinks it should, you may feel motion sickness.
Treatment and Reducing the Risk
If you feel any symptoms of motion sickness, stop playing immediately. Open a window, or go outside, and get some fresh air. If you do experience motion sickness from video games, you can do a few things to prevent it in the future:
Turn on more lights. Playing in a dark room is bad for your eyes.Sit farther away from the TV.Your body can get used to it after repeated sessions—a pattern of playing and getting sick, stopping, then restarting later when you feel better. Do this until you stop getting sick entirely and your brain realizes that what you see and do isn’t harming you.Some medications can help (for example, Dramamine, Bonine, Meclizine, and Benadryl), but they might also make you drowsy.If you don’t have luck reducing motion sickness while playing certain games, you may have to withdraw from those games. Stick to games with simpler movements.
