Videogames

[dennis08]

On the rare occasions when I do play videogames i react differently than most people. I usually play first person shooters and I get strange symptoms.

When I play a game I start to feel hot and I start to sweat especially at the arm pits. Also I start feeling a headache coming on and my eyes are itchy.

This happens about 20 minutes into game play. IS this normal or is it just me?

[CoolStuff]

Odd. I would feel lucky if I were you. I wasted too much of my life playing video games. (probably still do. i started playing at least an hour a night since summer started, so that's about 60 hours I could have used somewhere else).

[dennis08]

Sorry to hear. It is strange. I guess I’m not susceptible to things that make videogames so popular.

[bdp]

FPS give my friend similar symptoms. He has determined that it is motion sickness, and if he takes a break every 30 minutes he's fine.

[silicon toad2000]

is this only on your computer or anywhere you go.

I would maybe be checking that the monitor, video card and all that are matched up and set right like refresh rate and such.

[CoolStuff]

Oh back to the topic, I didn't realize I could answer it. I've actually noticed that some people do have this (even people who like to play), especially when they're watching people play. I've noticed older people also say this about video games. As younger people, I think we are more easily immersed into video games, and the type of video games there are today (FPS).

bdp, (what does that stand for anyway? i have an idea, but I wanna make sure), it's not always motion sickness. I get motion sick in a car after reading for 30 minutes, even if I frequently look up. But I could play FPSs for 12 hours straight. (or at least I have done that maybe a few times in my life, and it wasn't motion sickness). The opposite also happens. My friend gets motion sickness from FPS (about an hour, or less if he's not the one playing). But he doesn't get motion sickness in a car.

[Jams]

Some people get what's called '3D sickness', it's related to motion sickness but is caused by the screen distortion when representing a 3D scene as a 2D image. FPS games are usually the worst because of their 'fish eye' field of view, car racing games can also cause it.

My advice, stick to 2D games and you should be fine!

[realignedliving]

It sounds like motion sickness - like the other members have been saying - but I'm willing to say part of your problem also lies in getting truly involved in the game.

I agree with the other members too - frequent breaks would probably alleviate symptoms, if helping to cure the problem is what you're after.