Can Video Games Make You Sick?

I remember first picking up an Xbox. I was surprised to find out when it did not come with many games. Fortunately I had waited long enough that there were no "silver" titles which sold the games that sold over a million copies for a discount price. I was excited when I picked up Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

Many Generation Xers and the older portion of Generation Y will remember playing the 3D version of the game on their older 286s. For it's time, the graphics were revolutionary and it was one of the first 3D engines. Later titles such as Doom and the still popular Quake would build on its foundation. However, when I popped the CD in my Xbox and started to play the game I quickly got a severe headache and became nauseous. When I turned the DVD off these symptoms quickly disappeared.

While Return to Castle Wolfenstein was the worst game for causing this symptoms, other games such as Elder Scrolls: Morrowind and the popular first person shooter Halo caused a mild headache. I wondered why this was. Other games such as Crimson Skies, one of my personal favorite titles did not give me any problems. I found that switching views in Morrowind caused the symptoms.

The next thing to wonder is why video games would cause such a reaction. Flashing lights in video games have long been known to cause seizures in people suffering from epilepsy. The idea that video games might cause something similar to motion sickness at first seemed a little strange to me but after going online on the forums, I found it is in fact not an uncommon complaint.

The condition even has a name: simulator sickness. Simulator sickness mimics the motion sickness symptoms of headache, nausea and dizzines although thankfully I never experiences the latter. It is not yet known what causes the condition and naturally as it is a relatively new phenomenon to be experienced by the general public not much research has been done. Military studies, however, have been conducted. At least one theory suggests that the brain is merely responding to visual cues while playing the game that causes it to think the body is in motion. Another suggests it has to do with the virtual reality of the systems not being friendly to the body's own responses when you do things like turn your head.

People who are prone to motion sickness should be more prone to simulator sickness but that is not necessarily the case. 20 to 40% of pilots in an air force study were lucky to succumb to this peculiar illness. Strangely enough, the majority of those who experienced were actually less prone to moving related illness. The likelihood that a person will suffer from either goes up as they advance in age.

Treating simulator sickness is a sticky issue. While drugs such as Dramamine may decrease the symptoms, they do not eliminate it entirely. Herbal remedies work sporadically if at all. People on the Quake forums suggest if possible switching the game from hardware acceleration to software acceleration. There is only anecdotal evidence to back this up, but doing so lowers the rate at which the game renders frames and makes the lighting effects less intense.

Like alcohol, the best way to avoid any problems with video game simulator sickness is simply to limit or eliminate your exposure. In fact, it is probably good not to drink alcohol while playing such first person shooters as that can make the symptoms worse. If you are playing and start to feel nauseous or a headache, it's probably a good idea to go and do something else. Maybe break out a copy of Pong or even better, a good book.

Sources:

http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.2/feat/index2.php