Motion Sickness Remedies for Games?

MagikSlinger asks: "A friend of mine gave me Silent Hill 3 for Christmas (yeah, I know it's old), and I finally got around to playing it. Within 2 minutes, I had to stop and step away from the computer: intense nausea and pressure right behind the eyeballs. I got really, really motion sick playing the game. Does anyone have home remedies, set-ups, video options to make it bearable?"

Comments

Change the FOV

[Nomihn0]

Change the field of view so it matches what your eyes expect from a 1 foot viewing distance. Your typical FOV is around 120 degrees, in real life. First person shooters often have 90 degree FOVs which are non-proportional to the size that the monitor or television is in your true FOV. Fix it and you should have a virtual, space-accurate, "window" that you look through.

Also, try taking Dramamine about an hour before you begin playing. Seriously.

--Best of luck!

Re:Change the FOV

[zephc]

Ginger also apparently has benefits against motion sickness (for some anyway). The parent's FOV change suggestion is your best bet though.

Re:Change the FOV

[gutnor]

Open the window. I already had that kind of problem when playing in an overheated room with not enough fresh air.
And try to play for session no longer than when you feel you could start getting sick. It seemed that positive playing experience (i.e. not being sick ) was more encouraging for my body and after a while my bearable session time could increase. ( I had that problem with HL2 and I could barely survive 5-10 min in the beginning. At the end I could bear 1 hour session without problem. )

It seems for that also help to try different setting. I can't give you precise advise but check the refresh rate and your screen resolution. For LCD try to adjust the resolution, I have more problem with mine LCD than with some friend's ( mine is older and has a sligthly worse response time ) and generally much more trouble with LCD than with CRT ( but I never tried the brand new LCD with 8ms response time )

I'm more quickly sick in more agressive light conditions, and using a lower brithness/contrast for games ( to avoid the eye burning white an LCD can produce ) helped a lot.

OK...

[Spy der Mann]

First of all. Have your eyes checked, you might need glasses.
I often get motion sickness when I play 3D games, but usually it takes at least an hour of continuous play for that. A couple of minutes is VERY RARE.

To see how bad your condition is, try going to the theater and watch a movie (yes, the theater). If you end up with nausea and headaches, you DO need to see an optometrist.

Second, try not to move the point of view very often. When you do that, you might get migraines. This happened a lot hwne I played Prince of Persia for the first time.

Also, you might try using the 2D controls instead of the default 3D ones (to see if the camera is easier on you), and please, DO NOT RUN OR TURN AROUND LIKE CRAZY! A couple of 360 degrees turns on a 3D game is enough to leave you on the ground.

Try to take it easy, click on the map often (triangle) to see where you're going. If you get tired, press pause and close your eyes.

Try also adjusting your monitor to deliver a smaller view area.

Blink often, and if you get the least bit dizzy, press pause and look elsewhere. Do not stare at the screen so much.

A strategy I use is to close your eyes or look elsewhere when the camera is doing a quick pan. Remember that there's a button to adjust the point of view to first person.

If all of this fails, give up on the game and stick with your old games. It's not worth it. Finally, if you got money and good lawyers, try suing Sony for not putting warning labels on these games :P

Ginger

[Luis Cypher]

I get this also.
After a few minutes play I am sick , 30 minutes I start to vomit and need to lie down for a few hours.

There are things that work such as motion sickness tablets.

However if you intend to play a lot I suggest taking ginger, it actually does work and wont slow your reflexes.
Another thing is "head bob" if the game has an adjustable head bob (like F.E.A.R does) try different settings, I get the sickest, very quickly, in games wich have no head bob at all.

Ginger and Light

[Malkin]

This is nothing to be embarassed about. I occasionally have problems with games that are jittery, have tunnels with low ceilings, or use any kind of camera-bob.

Dramamine does really work, but if Dramamine makes you too sleepy, some people get good results from eating candied ginger, or drinking a real ginger beer/ale with a high ginger content. (If you live too far out in the suburban wasteland to find a good craft ginger beer, you can homebrew it with basic brewing equipment -- but don't go to too much trouble, unless you've verified that ginger actually helps you, first.)

Also, make sure that you play in a well-lit room (yeah, I know, it's a horror game, but playing a dark room will make your head hurt).

Another thing it could be is...

[Cherveny]

Another possibility if motion sickness pills don't seem to work could be that you are mildly epileptic. Some types of game designs can bring out forms of epilepsy that people don't even realize they have until they try playing such games.

In this one instance GLARE is your friend

[Sting_TVT]

We all attempt to minimize glare as a rule but having worked with UAV operators/observers in Iraq, we found that having a light to medium level of glare helped to settle stomachs and separate the POV. Possibly the only good thing to come out of iraq besides my Katamari times.

Re:Sea-band

[jamesh]

My wife swore by them during her 3rd and 4th pregnancies (and maybe 2nd too, can't remember).

She also swore at me lots, but that's another story :)

Ginger has official MythBusters support :-)

[Jugalator]

They had to figure out who in the MythBusters crew was susceptible to seasickness. Adam was a sure bet because of previous seasickness during the Jaws Special. Sure enough, Adam got quesy within 3 and half minutes on the chair. After a half an hour in the chair, Jamie was still fine. Kari and Tory were both fine as well. Grant became the final test subject. He lasted longer than Adam, but he got sick as well.

Remedy Testing

Homoepathic tongue tingler. They used a unnamed spray that you squirt under the tongue as often as needed. Grant was sick within 10 minutes and vomited some small chunks. Adam was sick within 4 minutes.
Wrist straps: They wore little gray wristbands that are 'Barry Manilow's choice.' Adam was sick within 90 seconds. Grant got sick as well. They've gotten pretty quick with bringing a bucket to Grant.
Ginger pills: It worked! Adam and Grant were both fine.
Small shocks on the P6 Accupunture point (on the wrist):Z Both Adam and Grant got sick.
Placebo: They told Grant and Adam they were getting an over-the-counter pharmaceutical remedy, but they actually gave them vitamins. Adam's reponse: "I hate this [bleeping] chair" after three and a half minutes. Grant: "This is among the most effective, if not the most effective."
Over-the-counter pharmaceutical drug: Worked on Adam and Grant, but it made them both a little loopy.

Only thing that worked without any side effects was the ginger pill.

Ginger pills: plausible

(source)

So there you have it. :-)

Flunarizine

[acariquara]

It could work - if not, try Flunarizine - I got it also, helps a lot. Do not get the tablets, they will knock you off, try getting the droplet version. 5 to 10 drops works best on an adult male without (much) drowsiness. I find it faster and longer lasting than Dramamine.