Anyone ever get vertigo playing games? (1 Viewer)

[Lee L]

A thread in after hours reminded me of this. Does anyone ever get vertigo or just that weird uneasy afraid of heights feeling playing games? I have on games like MOH Frontline, on the bridge, I went to the top to snipe some guys and just about couldn't move when I almost walked off the beam. In Splinter Cell, on the last level where you have to jump on all kinds of ledges to get into the Presidential Palace and on Indiana Jones there are several places where you have to jump from chains to ledges, etc and I am tense and my heart is pounding the whole time.

I do have a Widescreen HDTV, not sure if that makes it worse or not but I thought was interesting that games are good enough to give you the feeling almost like real life.

 

[RobMorrow]

Yes I get that sometimes, I remember playing Tribes and being shot up real high, and when I was falling, I'd feel a sort or rush.

 

[Joe Szott]

Yeah, all the time. I'm afraid of heights normally, so it usually doens't suprise me. It's a testament to the realistic effects of some games now days that my TV can give me vertigo, I kind of like it. Worst offender was probably ICO on the PS2, that castle is mighty big and the ledges can be mighty small

 

[Carlo_M]

Most FPS do that to me, except for some reason Unreal on XBox.

Oh, I've found that moving while I play (as if I'm actually the character, but only leaning as opposed to running around) helps alleviate the vertigo. It's when I sit totally still while playing that I get sick...

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

I've felt that rush as if I'm falling in a number of games. Most recently, I felt it playing Metroid Prime and Super Mario Sunshine. It is the oddest sensation, I must say. I know I'm not falling, and I know that no harm will come to me (and in some cases, the character I'm playing as), but I still feel a bit of a thrill before leaping off of a high ledge in a game.

I guess this means that sky diving is right out for me then.

 

[RossH]

Yeah, I get that, although it's nothing new to me (I get it in movie theatres all the time, although I am getting "better"). If I play SSX Tricky for too long or any FPS game, I usually get it. I used to get it from Tony Hawk 2 on my PC, or TH3 on the PS2.

Like Joe said, I think it's a testament to the quality of games these days.

I've always stayed away from the gimmicky video-glasses or helmets, not sure I want to find out how bad those would mess me up!
But I find deep breaths of fresh air help...and drink lots of water.

Another weird effect is after playing Amplitude for long enough, if I look around my room, my furniture seems to be moving down into the floor...anyone get this?! No doubt a result watching the constant scrolling toward me in the game. I also get it after watching long movie credits, when I look away, I can still see stuff scrolling upward. Bizarre, but it isn't permanent.

 

[Kenneth English]

It doesn't happen all the time but now and again I get motion sickness playing HALO and RTCW. When the cold-sweat and nausea start to come on I know it's time to quit.

I never had this problem when all I played games on was my PC. I chalk it up to the difference between viewing on a 17" computer monitor and a 52" big-screen TV.

Oddly, only shooters seem to affect me this way. I can play driving games like MIDTOWN MADNESS 3 or PROJECT GOTHAM all day long with no ill effects.

 

[Mario_Y]

It happened to me with Descent. Another time it happened with my friends' big screen and Xbox; try moving to another spot when you're playing...