Nerd Mentality

Down with the Sickness

Posted March 30th 2006 by Daniel Nelms.

The year was 1992, and id Software released a game called Wolfenstein 3D, and this was my first experience in the world of first-person shooters. It had a great premise: kill Nazis, kill more Nazis and escape from Castle Wolfenstein. It was the first of many FPS video games that I have attempted to play throughout my life, and without going into too much disgusting detail, the game made me sick.

I'm not saying the game isn't fun or that it's not considered one of the most influential titles to affect the genre (it is both of those things). I'm saying the game literally made me nauseous. For years I thought I was the only one, but one day I decided to do a little research on Google and after a short time I found the same two words over and over again to describe exactly what I had been feeling:

The symptoms of simulator sickness were first noticed in the 1980s, and it was found that these symptoms were similar to that of motion sickness, even though no real movement is involved. Most of the research on this subject would indicate that it is caused due to imperfect simulation of a virtual environment. While one can easily argue that games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake are far from perfect graphical simulations of reality, many the same symptoms also arise with the far more advanced games that we play today such as Ghost Recon, or even third-person games like recent Zelda and Grand Theft Auto titles. Much of the latest research behind this affliction is carried out courtesy of the United States Military, although whether these tests were done on lab monkeys with their eyelids stapled open or on regular gamers isn't known. Still, even with all this medical science jargon being somewhat difficult to decipher, I will attempt to convey my own experience with this subject.

After reading through some research, it seems to me that the general malaise, dizziness, vertigo and nausea could be attributed to the fact that while two of our greatest senses, sight and hearing, are telling the brain that we are moving, our inner ear and equilibrium are telling us otherwise. The confusion in sensations may cause the body to react oddly, or in many cases, cause violent illness. Essentially, sensory conflict will make you want to puke your guts out.

Even though this theory may make sense, the question arises as to why gamers still get sick when playing games that have superb, smooth graphics, some that have amazing framerates or simply look good enough to mimic reality. Case in point Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: smooth flowing graphics, good visual effects, good lighting and most importantly, it looks like something you would see on a Saturday morning cartoon. So if the theories we know today are true, why is it I can watch a cartoon and be fine but if I play Wind Waker I get vertigo and feel I want to crawl under a rock and die?

The answer perhaps lies in our subconscious. As we watch a cartoon, in the back of our minds we realize that our bodies are stationary while we watch a separate image on the screen which remains in motion. For the most part we remain aware of our situation and do not feel the need to pass out or crawl into a fetal position (not including the Japanese children who fell into foamy-mouthed conniption fits while watching the Pokémon television show). Perhaps when we decide to play a game and thus raise the interactivity of our involvement, our bodies and minds begin to conflict.

Regardless of what theory you subscribe to, the sad truth is that there are little to no ‘facts' about the cause or cure of simulator sickness, so let me offer you some advice that has helped me personally:

1.If it makes you feel dizzy, stop playing?

This may sound obvious to you, but people often overlook the fact that often the simplest way to avoid a problematic issue is to simply avoid it. Are you playing a round of Starfox and you suddenly feel like time and space have split open, engulfing you in its unmerciful maw? Yeah, it's time to walk away no matter how much you want to finish.

2.Try playing in the dark.

Like some other gamers with this problem, I feel like that the more immersed I feel in the game, the easier I can tolerate playing. Beware: If someone interrupts you as you play with the lights off, you may suddenly go into a coma from which you may never awake. Alright, that's not true, but playing in the dark really helps me.

3.Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Most of us don't drink enough water and many of us are a little dehydrated and don't even realize it. At the very least try and sip some ice water while playing and avoid stimulants like coffee or soda which can aggravate the anxiety your body experiences. Richard Simmons also suggests using this method to shed unwanted pounds, and if you can't trust Richard, who can you trust?

4.Rest well after you play

The only thing I've found that makes me feel any better after playing is a good night's sleep. If you decide to play and get nauseous, remember to rest to relax your eyes and help repair the possibly permanent damage you've caused to your poor, game-addicted brain..

Otherwise, just try what works for you. Maybe keeping the room at a nice temperature or lighting scented candles will help you feel less nauseous. One point to touch on, though, is that it might be a mistake to try an over-the-counter motion sickness medication such as Dramamine or the Tommy Lee Jones-endorsed Tetralezine. Although many people instinctively draw connections from simulator sickness to that of actual motion sickness, these meds work by acting on the balance mechanisms in the ear, calming them down to avoid vomiting from constant change in movement. However, since there's no actual inner-ear sensations since your body isn't moving during gameplay, such a drug will likely have no effect on simulator sickness.

Of course, motion sickness medication could have a favorable placebo effect on those unaware of its ineffectiveness, but that would only work if you hadn't just read that it wasn't effective. Oops! New research indicates that Women's One A Day is the perfect cure for simulator sickness?

If you find that nothing helps, you'll just have to pick and choose your games according to which ones make you sick, much like the unfortunate children with peanut allergies that must pick and choose which delicious candied sweets they can eat (those "may contain peanuts" must be like Russian Roulette to the poor bastards). But fret not, every day more and more obscure, fairly unimportant afflictions are finding their cure in safe, affordable pharmaceuticals with only a short laundry list of side-effects; perhaps now that simulator sickness has the internet-celebrity endorsement of N-Philes®, we'll see a cure yet! Hang in there!

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