Update 1: I found this detailed technical article on Simulator Sickness over at loonygames. It has everything that you might wanna know about this subject.
It’s been a while since I posted something apart from technology. But this subject was something that inspired me to post about it. Video gaming is a big industry now and people of all ages play them several hours in a day (including myself). If you’re a gamer you should be aware of this feeling when playing certain games and it is better that one knows more about it.
To start off, Vertigo may be a bigger word for this because typical dizziness from playing a game is not vertigo or at least a severe or permanent form of it. But it is definitely serious and you should always take caution and read a game’s manual where it shows warnings about physical health. So let’s define what we are talking about here:
What is this feeling? What are the Symptoms?
When you play an FPS (First Person Shooter) game and the camera moves fast enough to shake your head, that feeling is dizziness. But if that feeling prolongs and your eyes and the head cannot follow up to it, you’ll start feeling sick in the stomach, eyes with throbbing headaches and increased Blood Pressure. This is where you leave the game, and I advice you DO leave the game. However, this is not restricted to FPS games only. You can feel sick to many a games and real life situations and there are reasons to it, which I will list down in the following paragraph. Now, you must keep note here that the amount of pressure a game can put on your health varies to the patterns involved in triggering that feeling. Some games can just make you feel a little dizzy, some will make you feel sick with little nausea/headaches and others can be extreme like triggering epilepsy and vertigo. The symptoms can be as follows:
- Varied Dizziness
- Altered Vision
- Light Headedness
- Vision Displacement
- Stomach sickness / An urge to Vomit
- Eye or Nerve Twitching
- Muscle Contraction or Aching
Reasons for this feeling?
When I was young, the first game I picked up to play on my old 286 system was Duke Nukem. I was 8 years old and I played that game for 10 minutes with a friend. That game made me sick and I vomited shortly after. My gaming career is too long to detail here but I can list down games that have made me sick over these years, and most of them are FPS games. I avoid playing FPS games or games with a dodgy camera, which is one of the reasons for this feeling. I must also say that this feeling has started to climb down in the recent years, not because of my age but because of the advance in technology and how the games are made.
The patterns in video games that trigger this feeling may differ from one person to the other and that is entirely on how a person perceives or processes the information in front of him. Let me explain this through an example:
One knows that when a pilot controls an aero plane, he pulls the control lever downwards to make the plane go upwards. Now when you play games that simulate flight behaviors, they give you the same controls. If you press down on your controller d-pad, the plane should go up. But if those controls do not respond the way, your mind thinks they should, you will feel uncomfortable and might say that it is unrealistic. So whenever you play a game, the information you engulf with your eyes is readily processed by your brain and if your brain evaluates the information to be wrong or “not the way it wants it to be”, it will cause this feeling. Thus, this feeling can differ from one person to the other. Your brother can keep playing a game for hours and not feel dizzy but you might get sick looking at him play, in 5 minutes.
I have gone ahead and tried to figure out things that can cause this dizziness to happen. I will try to incorporate more factors into this later on.
Jittery Frame Rate or Lag
It turns out that whenever a game runs in a jittery manner and without consistent frame rates, it can induce this horrible feeling. For example, playing a fast game like Far Cry or Counter Strike requires that you have a firm control over your view and keep moving fast. This also requires that the camera be updated and moved as fast as possible. Now, if the game suddenly slows down due to graphical reasons or network issues, you’ll start feeling irritated and might get dizzy.
Also, if a game is supposed to run at 30 FPS (frames per second) and it slows down on various intervals, you can start feeling the effects of that too. I have also noticed that most of the games that run on 30 FPS and 50 FPS induce mild nausea while playing. This somehow does and does not mean that games that run on 50Hz can behave the same. This is because the induction of this feeling is not entirely dependent on the game or the game platform itself. Your environment and your TV play a big role in this.
Uncontrollable Camera or Insanely Fast movement
This can be easily explained that whenever a person moves too fast or takes circles, he’ll get dizzy. This is because the eyes cannot follow the motion fast enough and a feeling of confusion will cause you to get sick. In games, games like Tomb Raider and Counter Strike can have a very fast mouse scrolling rate, which can leave you vomiting on the floor. While playing games like Quake Arena, the characters move insanely fast and the camera is totally out of control. This can cause nausea very quickly.
Camera Centering
Again, it seems that Camera plays a big role in the creation of this phenomena. This is of course true since the game is seen through it 
. Many games have a procedure built into the programming of the Camera that it tries to re center itself every once in a while or due to an object blocking the viewing angle. If this happens frequently or if it is badly handled by the programmer, you’ll instantly get sick.
Patterns (Light Strobes, Blood, Gore)
It is not always that you feel sick by moving or changing the camera angle. Certain points in a game can make you feel sick. I have heard people complaining about the water in Tomb Raider and Halo as well as COD4 that it makes them feel sick. This is also true to real life objects like Cliffs and high places. People who have issues with Motion Sickness can easily fall victim to those patterns in games.
Violent games like Quake and Gears of War have extreme Blood and Gore content. This can also lead to nausea and sickness. Some people are allergic to blood and objects alike. So this is also a contender in that.
Certain light patterns in games, for example in poker or card games can lead to light headedness and mild dizziness.
Camera Inversion
This may be one of the biggest reasons behind game sickness and nausea after other reasons attached with the camera, I explained earlier. Many games have a controllable camera but not all of them give the user complete control over it. This means that whenever the player wants, he/she can adjust the camera viewing angle as he/she sees fit in a 360 degree manner. The reason why this can cause dizziness is because of the following reasons:
- the speed and accuracy at which the camera moves when controlled by the player
- the direction of the camera when moved to as opposed to the directions given by the mouse or an analog stick. For example, if the user moves the control right and the camera moves left or if the user moves the control down and the camera moves up. This is called camera inversion.
Many games give the user an option to invert the axis of the camera according to their controls but many of them don’t. This can be frustrating and certain people get sick very easily with how the camera controls respond to their actions.
Too much information on the Screen
Ok, this is another one I’ve seen people complaining about. Some people cannot digest the amount of information being updated rapidly on the screen. This means that there mind is not catching up to the pace of the information being fed to the eyes. This can too lead you to sickness.
Ok enough Reasons, Are there any Solutions to this?
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the reason I wrote this post was to help people find some solutions to this issue. Firstly, I must tell you that these solutions are really not that effective for playing and that if a game makes you feel dizzy, stop playing it. The world will not end if you don’t play that game. Gift it to a friend if he can play it easily. You’re better off with good health than some enjoyment with a game. OK?
Now i am going to divide this into two sections. First, if a game makes you sick, how do you correct it to play it. Second, if you are already sick, what do you do help to yourself.
Section 1: Making them play Right
Play in a well lit environment
You should always play in a well lit room, which does not put pressure on your eyes while playing. This will reduce the amount of light falling on your eyes and the concentration you require to view the screen.
Frame Rate / Screen Refresh Control
Ok, most games do not let you control the frame rate they run at. But some of them do. This depends on what platform you are playing the game at. For example, if you are running the game on a PC, you can tweak your Card’s and game’s graphical options to make it run more smoothly. Good Developers like EA and Capcom keep that option in there, so you can give it a try. You can also change your VGA to run at a higher Refresh Rate to help this out.
If you are playing on a TV using a console, you can try shifting from a 50Hz mode to a 60Hz mode and see if that helps you. You can also notice that if you run a game in Progressive mode, you’re less likely to feel dizzy. Of course, you require a better quality TV for that to work.
Axis Inversion
Many recent games feature that option in Camera Control Settings. Many gamers including myself prefer that the camera moves to where I move my Mouse or Analog Stick. So if you find an Axis Inversion option in your game, try flipping that and you’re less likely to feel dizzy. For example, I always invert the Y Axis to play Metal Gear Solid 4 or else I can’t play it .
Camera Sensitivity / Mouse Scroll Smoothing
Many games have a shitty camera and that is because the programmers did a bad job programming it. If you find an option to control the sensitivity of how fast the camera moves to your controls, try adjusting that and it might help. I could never play Killzone 1 because of its awful camera and lowering the camera sensitivity helped me enjoy that game for hours.
CRT versus LCD / Old versus Modern
Ok, this is a definite must. If you have a big screen TV at your home and it is a CRT, please get rid of it and try to play your games on an LCD monitor or TV. If you can’t then you should try to sit as far away as possible from your CRT screen. Also, I must tell you here that monitors and televisions capable of running at 100Hz or higher are less likely to induce you with this sickness. So this is a highly recommended change.
Viewing Angle
This may not be a big one but the angle at which you view the game screen does matter a lot. You should not look straight or under your TV screen. Make sure that you are a bit above the screen and the TV/monitor screen is a bit tilt adjustable to help with that.
Section 2: Ok, I am about to vomit, what do I do now?
I don’t want to sound ironic but whenever a certain photographic pattern makes you dizzy, this could be bad for you. So immediately stop viewing it or you can worsen your situation to an extent of triggering Epilepsy or worse. You can search around the internet and see for yourself, the cases people have posted.
Lie Down and Close your Eyes
Lying down straight or on your couch and closing your eyes will help you relax instantly. You can also try putting your elbow bent over your eyes to help with the pain in the eyes.
Wash your Face
If you feel that you are heating up and the feeling is uncontrollable. Go wash your face twice or thrice. Drink some water and then lie down again. Do not drink milk or any Soda. This will only worsen your situation. If you feel like vomiting, you possibly won’t, but you may. It will help.
Go to Sleep
Just go to sleep, period. Sleeping for about 2-5 hours will eventually help you with this feeling. This has always solved it for me and I am pretty sure it will help you too.
What if it persists?
This is bad. If this feeling persists even after sleeping and you feel the same after one or two days and you change how you want to eat, then you should immediately consult a doctor. There is no fighting it, you should be careful with your health.
So, that was the longest post I ever wrote but I am happy that I put all the information I have ever known about this feeling in this post. Please feel free to contribute your experiences. I did not add any games that make me feel sick because it can vary from one person to the other.
Thank you and enjoy your games. Take care of your health and try not to over do it. I would like to mention Hideo Kojima and Metal Gear Solid 4 here because it was the first game that included content during it’s loading that advised the player to take a nap either if it is too late in the night or if he has been playing for too long.
MHAQS
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This is a real good topic to the gamers like me and It’s very helpful as well.
I agree with you there buddy and the solutions you mentioned here did work for me. The only thing, I like to add here is when you lie down and close your eyes any soothing Instrumental that u like the most helps alot, it helped me come over this feeling in 5min’s (Victim of Counter strike Source). Also, I would like to share that whenever I get stuck in a game at any point this feeling starts to emerge and if I cant find out what am I supposed to do to clear the area in 5min, I leave the game. This can be an advice to the people reading this post.
Hey Baatish,
How you doin my friend? Counter Strike is a killer and most idTech, Unreal and Half Life clones have this issue. I avoid them all. I agree with you about that music thing but normally when I get dizzy, I just go to sleep whatsoever
.
Me Fit how about u
You are right again , the reason I mentioned music here is because when you’re feeling sick and feel like you’ll vomit, it’s sometimes hard to lie down due to the fear of vomiting, so the music takes your mind off of that vomiting feeling and makes you feel relaxed and accelerates the process of getting to sleep.
Hello I’m a digital artist that can provide you with why this happens, you were spot on about shaky camera movements etc.
There is however a deeper reason behind why some games make you nautious and others don’t, simply put the artists that create the art work can cause seizures and so on. Basically put there are many types of geometry used in creating 3d models, depending on what is used causes the vertigo.
Polygons
NGons
Triangles
Quads
These are some of the most used techniques used in rendering solid state imagery, depending on what is used each one of them has specific poly count (poly count pretty much makes up the realism seen in game models) the danger lies in how this is created and what sort of tricks the game engine itself uses to project/renders scenes.
Your video card is a math processor everything graphics pipeline related is translated into math, the higher the poly count the greater the processing and speed is needed.
The human mind is also a math processor, our five senses are based on algebra. When you view flashy imagery while playing whether it is speed based or high renders in real time. What the brain cannot process is flushed down the drain, thus resulting in vertigo or like symptoms.
If you get sick quite often I recommend you see a doctor, severe symptoms can be life threatening.
Hi Deus,
I agree with you that certain Photographic content can trigger nausea and it is not limited to video games and video material. Your explanation is rational enough. However, it seems a bit disconnected where you talk about rendering and maths. People feel nausea in real life as well. Sun glare, environmental pressure and reflections can also make you feel dizzy. I have seen perfectly sound people feeling sick while playing a certain game or watching a photo. There is an X Factor there and perhaps a medical person would be able to explain it better.
i searched for this article because i felt dizzy playing max payne. i also had problems with half life and soldier of fortune.
I was playing SWAT4… That game rocks, but, now I feel like all I want to do is vomit and simply “do nothing”, fall on the floor, because I am sick… It also happened with F.E.A.R. and many others… Most of them are in first-person… In games like the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, I have no problem at all…
Hi Thierry,
Did you try inverting the Y Axis in F.E.A.R.? It helped me play that game. I dunno about SWAT4 but I am able to play most of the FPS games with Y Axis inverted.
Thank you for posting this! I have been diagnosed with a mild form of epilepsy in which I don’t have seizures but I have black outs. This diagnosis came after a severe concussion a few years back. The blackouts are actually called Petite Mal Seizures. I have found since my diagnosis and a bit before, that I have trouble with FPS games and some really fast motions. This really sucks as I love love love to play video games and we have all the systems. I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who has these troubles. Thanks for gathering this information and making it available!
Jeni
Glad to be of Help!
Yes, I have had discussions with people who experienced similar health problems. I am thinking about updating this post with more information. I will post game names that are known to have these issues. I am also going to put in more diagnosis information so that we can narrow down the reasons that trigger such behavior.
I wish you good health.
Thanks for this post, i only recently deiscovered this problem (dispite being a gamer for several years), and this is very useful. I have problems with Morrowind after about 10 mins, and some FPS that i play with friends.
Thanks for your tips on how to try and avoid feeling sick while playing games, i will certainly try them out!
Dramamine also works, although it can run on the pricey side. Any thing that eases sea/motion sickness.
Right. But I can’t suggest drugs to people here. One should consult a doctor and get a prescription. Thanks for the information though.
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH i just got addicted to MW2 and got ohhh soo siick didnt vomit but i had to sleep it off i didnt think anything off it tryed plaing again sitting further away i thought i was too close and i lasted a bit longer but had the same end result i play WOW and dont have any problems … i do get car sick soo am geussing i get motion sickness cuz all i need is 2m in a car and if u happy with the brake ill be asking u to pull over soo in other words i am screwed soo no MW2 for me but thanks i found this i was going crazy
Hey Paula,
It feels so bad when you can’t play the game you love. I have recently worked on a little experiment I heard from my mother. I asked my sister to try it and she agreed that it works and she and I both did not feel dizzy after playing for more than an hour. If you try it, please let me know about the results, we’ll have a discovery on our hands
. Here’s the trick:
Get a ginger pill 2 minutes before you’re about to start your game session.
It worked for me. The reason I ask for 2 minutes before game session is because the ginger should take effect in that time.
Quoted from Deus: “The human mind is also a math processor, our five senses are based on algebra”
C’mon, go out and experience RL (that is Real Life, a game, you will like a lot once you discover it). If you really mean that, you’re more than crazy.
Thank you sooo much! I’ve always played first person shooters, but 2 years ago I had a brain surgery. Since then I can only play them for like 20 minutes and then I’ll feel so sick I just gotta stop or I’ll vomit. Because of you I finally know what it is. Really sucks. Thanks!
Oh, I hope you’re doing well now. Simulator Sickness is a bigger issue than rendered by Game Development companies but I’m sure it’ll be properly addressed when 3D TVs start coming into the market.
I had to go the the emergency room after a late night of playin
MW 3. I had been playing off and on for about 6 or 7 hours. This is bad. I have been playing this game since it came out. What I experienced at first were at times a sense of lose in balance when standing in line somewhere. This continued for some months. I stopped playing for a week or so and felt some relief, but not completely.
I did the off and on thing for a while but still continued feeling strange. After my late and long playing time on this game, the next morning I woke around 7 am. I turn in my bed a something a I never felt before. I felt like I was falling, almost like my body perfectly still and my brain moving backward. This scared the hell out of me. I sat up and had to hold on to the mattress tight. The objects in my room moving horizontally. By this time my blood pressure had increased to about 160/80, this is high for me, my skin became cold and clammy. Only thing I could that it was is Vertigo. I never had it so I don’t what the sensation is. By now my body is shaking and panci sets in. My daughter calls 911 and explanes what’s happening. When the paramedics arrive I can nearly help myself on to the stretcher. On my way to the hospital I’m a little clammer now but still doubtful.
I explain all to the emergency room doctor. He orders cat-scan, the radiologist report an abnormal reading and orders Ann MRI, thank God it comes back normal. I explain the game to the doctor, letting him know that I think the game induced the disorder. He prescribes something for Vertigo and I leave the hospital 4 hours later. Get home around noon, and sleep for most of the day, get something to eat and then go to bed at 9pm p, sleep most of the night, wake and I have the sensation again the next morning. With a better understanding now of what I have, I remain clam and work through it. As I write this from Starbucks, knowing I will longer be able to play favorite game of all time or any game for fear of even worse conditions I might get. I have always seen the warning at the start of the some games about the epilepsy, I for the most part ignored it. I can only hope that I have a full recovery, that or I will have to medicate for life to treat the Vertigo.
Wow, that is one of the most serious cases I’ve known about. I’d definitely go out and say this to all who read this post and play games. Please put your health before “everything”. Games are just not worth it.
I thought this was really helpful thank you for you’re help
how interesting and thank you – im 53 years old i sew and concentrate a lot – inbetween (as a break) i play games on facebook – diamond dash and mahjong mainly – these involve really fast eye actions – i have just deleted these programmes after being so ill – sickness vertigo – very severe too – i thought i was dying – have had two more episodes in a week – but coped with them better as i wasnt so scared – am now taking pills from the doctor 3 times a day under top lip – i would never have guessed games could cause such illness – many thanks once again Noelle
I never thought 2D games could induce the feeling. Thanks for the information and I hope you have good health. There’s no point in using an entertainment which risks your health.