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Vibrating Controller Alert
mgibbs writes: "According to this article at the BBC, all those game consoles with vibrating controllers can be hazardous to your health. This would have been nice to know before all those hours killing The Flood in HALO; and here I thought all those pins and needles were from the exciting game play."
WARNING: The Surgeon General (in conjunction with Jocelyn Elders) has determined that masturbation, while an enjoying, normal and healthy activity, can cause carpal tunnel syndrome in practiced too frequently with the arm and wrist in a non-ergonomic position.
Mark my words; I'll bet we see that someday...
Karma: Excellent Birds (mostly as a result of listening to Laurie Anderson)
theewse gammesss alll the ttimme anddd I'mmm ffine.
If your child is spending 7 hours a day in front of a console I really think you need to work on your parenting skills. A TV isn't a baby sitter. Let them spend hours and hours staring blankly at a screen when they become old enough to know better.
- Jimbob
Doctors are calling for vibrating computer game controllers to carry health warnings after a teenager developed a painful condition known as hand-arm vibration syndrome.
They are basing this freaking out on one single case??? Perhaps a study is in order, anyone want to get paid to play games all day?
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Isn't doing ANYTHING for seven hours straight every single day hazardous to your health? This is more of a fact of life than a problem with video game systems.
And they come home aching at the end of the day. My girlfriend works in retail, and comes home frequently quite unwilling to stand if at all possible. The fact of the matter is, repeated activity (IE, not sleeping) for prolonged periods of time can have adverse effects.
Heck, even sleeping can be hard on you. Anyone else ever made a transatlantic flight? The 7 hours in a seat (Even 1st class) is murder.
- Zdnet (weird link, I know)
- ThisIsLondon
But then if I know my health experts, and I think I do (cough...eggs...cough), next year they'll tell us how vibrating controllers are good for us.I'm not a gamer, but when I was a teenager living in the suburbs playing videogames took most of my time because of the lack of anything else going on. Yes, I did my homework and all that fun stuff, but when you're a teenager (a the person in the article is) you've got free time coming out the ass.
I don't think its a sign of bad parenting to let your kids do something they enjoy. Sure videogames are truly a time waster but finishing that RPG on my Master System or whatever was fun and rewarding.
Major problems include: PLAYING VIDEO GAMES SEVEN HOURS PER DAY!
quis custodiet ipsos custodes - Juvenal
repeated activity (IE
Yes, repeated use of IE will cause pain.
Assembly line workers do the same thing for 8 hours a day plus.
Yup, and I've got a wicked case of CTS to show for the three and a half years that I worked in a factory. I did the same job for more than a year because I was faster at my job than any one else on the line and my supervisor didn't want to rotate me. So, I spent 8 hours a day doing the same job -- not just in the same factory, mind you, doing the same repetitive motion -- for more than 12 months. Eventually I couldn't even sleep for more than a few hours without waking up due to the pain in my wrists and hands.
Happily, I got out of there without having to have surgery or anything -- I know a few people who had surgery and never regained full strength in their hands. I did go through about a month of physical therapy and learned a few exercises to help relieve the strain. I can't use normal keyboards or laptop keyboards for any period of time without causing pain, though. I've stocked up on ergonomic keyboards just in case the models that I like go out of production. (The original M$ "Natural" keyboards rock. The new models suck -- one doesn't have normal arrow keys, the other is too clunky with all the extra function keys. The cordless Logitech ergo keyboards rock too...)
Anyway, factories are required by OSHA to allow workers to rotate jobs or try to make sure that their jobs aren't going to cause RSI. I'm not sure it's 100% possible -- the human body was not designed to do repetitive tasks for 8 hours a day for years on end. But they're supposed to make an effort to prevent it.
And kids, if your hands hurt because you've been playing video games too long then it's time to go read a f&*^%ing book. Pain is the first sign of RSI, and if you heed it you won't have serious problems. If you ignore it, you're in for a lot worse than hand cramps.
"Sony, which manufactures the top-selling Playstation games, said it had never received any feedback or complaints about hand-arm vibration syndrome after 61 million sales world-wide of Playstations I and II.
:-/
It stressed that there was occasional, but no constant vibration during either game."
Thanks, Sony, I'm glad knowing that your two games, the Playstation 1 and Playstation 2, are the safest games I can own. Where is my Dreamcast copy of Playstation 2? I see the kids in the picture enjoying it!
The research in this article (one extreme case among millions leading to warnings) is astounding. Then again, they do have "WARNING: HOT" on coffee nowadays. Have to protect the public from themselves
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
If by uselss you mean, simply and non-sensationally reporting a statement made by a genuine and otherwise respected doctor, and a contrary statement by Sony; then yes I agree, British newspapers are useless. Although, I always thought that's what newspapers were supposed to do. I.E. keep their opinions to themselves - after all that's what we're here for.... In this case, it is the doctor himself who is being senstational. I suspect he's never seen or used a vibrating controller. If he had, he would realise that these things are no more dangerous than a purring cat. "Vibratory White Finger" is usually experienced by roadworkers and miners, not minors.