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Videogame Injuries - The Ugly Truth
Thanks to the BBC for their article discussing the problems of injuries sustained while playing videogames. The author discusses the "definite physical element" to some gaming, commenting in relation to F-Zero GX: "Those [real-life] finger tendons and neck muscles can suffer when your game of choice involves efforts to overtake a craft travelling at 1,400kph." He also discusses stranger problems: "Possibly the most bizarre games-related condition that has been reported is Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (Havs), something previously recognised in operators of jackhammers, but now increasingly associated with joypad vibration." What terrible injuries related to gaming have you sustained?
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"Those [real-life] finger tendons and neck muscles can suffer when your game of choice involves efforts to overtake a craft travelling at 1,400kph."
because we all know the speed number on the screen has such a huge influence on how much stress we put on our hands
We've secretly replaced Slashdot with new Folgers Crystals - let's see if it notices.
If you used to play NES games with the official controller, you know what I'm talking about. The unergonomic design of the original controller caused blisters for many an old-school gamer.
Back when I sometimes played on the Nintendo 64, Mario Party was a real pain in the hand. Literally. I was starting to get blisters when I realized I was using the control stick wrong.
It's funny how I was just wondering this, and then it was posted on slashdot. I bought the new Tony Hawk today, and went pretty crazy and played it for about 8 hours, and my thumbs hurt like crazy. I'm developing a blister on my left thumb.
Damn, I'm a nerd.
I once got my head cut off by one of those giant pink walking warthog things in Doom.
Oh. wait. You're talking actual injuries here? Oh, sorry.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I definitely think that the largest physical harm from video games is done to your eyes. I know that looking at computer monitors set at 60hz definitely can cause some eye strain, and in my case, even some vision problems. I can't say that 100% of my bad eyesight has come from computer monitors and tv screens, but I feel it definitely has had a negative impact on my vision. I'm at the point now where many types of contacts are not available to me because of the strength of my perscription. Bad vision runs in my family, but nobody's is as bad as mine. Since I have started using 85hz or more on my monitors, I have noticed my eyesight has stopped getting worse, and I don't get headaches from those 12 hour gaming sessions. Am I the only one who has noticed that refresh rates have a large impact on eye strain?
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"Quake Claims 500 Hours"
SAN FRANCISCO--Rescue workers are still searching frantically for any signs of unwasted time in the wreckage of high-school student Jeremy Fanshaw's life, following a devastating Quake game that claimed an estimated 500 hours of his time. "Ordinarily, a game of this magnitude would destroy 40 to 50 hours," Red Cross worker Linda Wallis-Hupford said. "But, tragically, Jeremy went back to play the game from the beginning, then he started playing at harder and harder skill levels, and, eventually, he downloaded software that let him create his own levels and skins." As rescue efforts continue, experts are warning of a possible Quake II disaster that could last even longer, with more stunning graphics.
taken from The Onion
Abstinence :'(
Ahh the pains of being a gamer
Error 407 - No creative sig found
after coding 8 hrs a day, then coming home and gaming for a good 2-4 hrs my hands really hurt most of the time. shoudl probably game less... YA RIGHT! :>
Stop using emacs! Convert to the insert mode religion. Just kidding. /me ducks and runs.
Never mind fingers, eyes, or arms my ego is seemingly destroyed after every new game purchase.
I picked up a second hand copy of Jedi Starfighter and have been playing that for a couple of weeks and I am feeling pretty good. My ten year old nephew comes over and utterly embarrasses me in the very first head to head battle we play. He, of course, has never played the game before and made it look like I needed video game special ed.
I am back to Tetris for a while to heal my ego.
You can't mention the maladies provided by video games without mentioning the numerous physical benefits that they provide:
1) Calluses. Nice, thick calluses provide an insulation from the various pains of daily life. With such amazing home remedies as Gran Turismo 3, Mark of the Wolves, and, for the truly hardcore, that goddamned stupid analog stick on the Nintendo 64 controller, you can develop the sort of calluses that make seamstresses and lobstermen fell inadequate and immasculated.
2) Survival. If the dead ever rise from their graves, let's face it folks, the average man is fucked six ways from Sunday. He'll be snackfood in fifty-nine minutes shy of an hour. But not you, mighty gamer. You'll know exactly what to do. If there's a gun shop, you'll loot it. If there's a window, you'll avoid it. If something looks like it has a pair of impossibly silky, sexy legs, you'll run like a scared little girl because you know exactly what's above that hideous, evil beast's waistline. And if you happen to encounter a diminutive young medic on a train bound for Hell, you'll know exactly how she can help you: by being a pretty little pack mule to hold your crap for you.
3) Puzzle solving. Yeah, okay, so Bob down at the office can build an entire IT infrastructure in under two hours and Robert's just fucking MacGuyver (which comes in handy if you need MacGuyver's phone number, I guess), but you know REAL problem solving. If someone needs to arrange some blocks, you're Johnny On The Spot. And if someone says to you, "Hey, do you know which arcane artifact of ancient power this one-of-a-kind shiny magical crystal fits into?", you'll know exactly which one it fits in: the one that's the same shape. That's just the sort of awesome problem solving knowledge and skill that you bring to the team. They might not see your value today, but after someone decides to put a new lock on the bathroom door that only unlocks when you've pressed the corresponding color-coded switch on the other side of the building, you'll really start to shine.
And finally...
4) Advanced Military Tactics. ZERG RUSH KEKEKEKEKE.
seriously, after work on a Friday i started playing Gran Turismo 3 and decided i was gonna get 100% by the end of the weekend, thus requiring that i not sleep... at all. Sadly, i only made it to about 75%, but while walking to work Monday morning i kinda passed out and walked onto the street, its a good thing the driver slowed down cuz it only knocked me off my feet and gave me a slight concussion from my head hitting the pavement, plus i got 3 payed days off work.
but nonetheless, the injury was Gaming related in a way
/. is overrun by bed-wetting elitist nerds
let it be known, for anything other than servers, a *nix OS sucks
I have found over the years that I get severe pains in the area of my right hand furthest from the thumb when I play heavily mouse based games. I came to the conclusion that the mouse simply wasnt big enough to support my hand across its entire width as I have quite large hands. I solved the problem by sticking two mice together side by side with double sided sticky pads.
If they can make pointing devices for people with small hands you'd think they could make them for people with big hands but there you go.
Oxford Dictionaries Online
There I was, finally going after boswer in Super mario 3. I fly in from the secret entrance at top and start my racoon tail assisted descent. Suddenly, my NES locks up and the screen goes whack. My rage was uncontrolled. I decide to try out my shinobi skills and throw an atomic karate chop. My target of choice was my right knee. Those physiscists amongst you will better be able to describe what happens when a large force is applied to a small metacarpal, but the end reslt was 6 months of a cast and no video games. FU%$&NG BOWSER!!! I never did finish.
People who think they know everything really piss off those of us that actually do.
Sounds like a load of crap to me.
I used to encounter some wrist strain after long hours mousing around in CS or other FPS games...
Three things solved that:
1. I got a trackball(a very good one, the Kensington "Expert Mouse") and switch between the two devices regularly. Since I use a different hand for each one my strain is cut in half.
2. While I was at home my typical computing pose was to lie on my bed with the keyboard and mouse at the same level, which caused much elbow brusing after doing it for 8 hours or so. Now I'm at college and I actually sit in a chair like most people.
3. After starting on some regular weight training, I think I've built up my forearms/wrists enough so that mousing isn't difficult on them. I've heard studies say that it also improves the reflexes... (not sure about that one yet)
I also used to have some eyestrain, even with the monitor on 75hz. Now I have an LCD and I can stare at it all I like without ill effects. It's a huge benefit, and with this one at least, I've never encountered trouble with blurring while playing FPS games - by the time objects move fast enough to blur with this one, they're moving at only slightly below my own visual limits, so it's never been a problem.