Halo 2: Bungie, Beer, and a Bucket

[digitalpress]

This isn't a review of the game, though I suppose it's a testimonial of sorts. Bear with me, I've got a question for you.

I have enjoyed my first three nights with Halo 2 but after about an hour of the first night I started getting that woozy feeling. It wasn't the first time I've experienced this, as Timesplitters 2, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and the original Halo - all hi-res first-person shooters - had a similar effect. I simply never got into Timesplitters 2 or RtCW, I believe due to a psychosomatic effect of not wanting to feel sick again. I played the original Halo all the way through, eventually, but rarely got more than an hour at a time. I never got over it.

I expected this with Halo 2, but I don't have the patience to play an hour at a time for a month, so I resolved myself to the fact that I would sit and play with a bucket nearby if necessary. I got three hours into the game the night before last, with several moments of my stomach playing "You Need To Stop Now" and waiting for the encore "You're Going To Need a Bigger Bucket". Fortunately just a moment on pause prevented what I thought was inevitable.

So how rabid a gamer do you have to be to play through a game that is making you ill? Or did I think that by "playing through" I might ultimately conquer or adjust to the queasy, jumpy, hi-res world spinning around me?

Last night I suddenly found myself with free gaming time so back to Halo 2 I went. Lo and behold! I never really got that feeling through this session. Two and a half hours and barely a peep from my significant stomach, other than the occasional extended burp, but that was just from the beer. Am I over it? Did "playing through" cure me? I don't know - but last night was a good sign.

So I've wasted five minutes of your time basically to ask a simple question. Have you ever gotten dizzy, sick or nauseous while playing a videogame?

[anagrama]

Descent used to make me feel kinda unsteady, though I never really played it for long enough to suffer any real complaints.

[Oobgarm]

Your post is exactly what I would have said myself. I had to stop a couple of times ont he first night of Halo 2 since it made me feel a bit off-kilter. Headaches popped up on Wednesday evening while playing, nothing a simple half-hour break couldn't cure.

I was also a victim of this when I was in my huge Goldeneye phase. I would play it a lot, especially when I was going through the last few levels on 00 Agent. I felt sick to my stomach and had horrible headaches.

It's strange, cause stuff like F-Zero GX and other blazingly fast games don't do anything like that to me.

[Daltone]

I remember reading that the original Turok used to cause motion sickness, but I never had any problems myself. The worst I get from games is eyestrain, and headaches if things start getting choppy.

[Berty]

duke nukem 3d used to really mess with me alot. I think that it also has alot to do with all of the colors.

[Maddrox]

When am playing 4 player mode in halo I get dizzy... Its hard playing in that little box on a 21 inch tv :P

[morphx]

Motion sickness doesn't raelly effect me much. However a common gaming ailment for me is drying eyes. Ill play Katamari Damacy for example glued to the tv not blinking for fear of missing something then have to pause after 10-20 minute mission time passes and blink like crazy for 5 minutes to get normal again.

Oh and one time I walked into a wall because I played Virtual Boy for to long and lost some depth perception. (Damn you Vertical Force)

[Zubiac666]

I've experienced this, as Timesplitters 2, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and the original Halo - all 60fps first-person shooters

I'm pretty sure that Halo runs on 30fps(correct me if I'm wrong).
I know for sure that Halo2 runs on 30fps.

btt: Never had something like motion-sickness caused by a game.
only once I puked in front of my TV while playing F-Zero GX totally drunken.
:/ what a mess...I tell ya

[pixelsnpolygons]

I would say yes, but I have never actually felt like I will vomit. I have found I simply have to stop playing FPS's after a few hours - max. Halo 2 included. I'll pick up again tonight.

[digitalpress]

I'm pretty sure that Halo runs on 30fps(correct me if I'm wrong).
I know for sure that Halo2 runs on 30fps.

Uh, I honestly don't know, nor do I particularly care.

Since the amount of frames per second isn't really important to the point I was trying to make, I've edited my text.

[pseudonym]

the spinning room in super castlevania 4 got me a little dizzy the first few times i played it.

[Nesmaster]

i voted no, because its only happened once. i played crystalis(NES) for about 8 hours straight. i felt very nauseated afterwards. that was the only time though, hell i wasnt even affected when i played SA for 14 hours :P

[8-Bit Master]

I've only felt kind of sick one time in my life because of a video game. Just after I got my N64 I played Super Mario 64 pretty much nonstop for two days. Eating and sleeping (for the most part) went on hold until I finished that game. After the second day, I didn't feel that good but I finished the game anyway. LOL

[Ed Oscuro]

Hmm...I can't really think of a game that's made me feel ill. Sure, I've had my joints complain now and then, and sometimes my left foot has fallen asleep...burning eyes a bit too with N64 games...but no motion sickness.

Reading in a travelling car will make me sick to my stomach, though. So that's an inverse of the problem - I'm actually moving, but focusing on something that isn't. I suppose the reverse problem of motion sickness in games would be getting sick from moving scenery while you're focusing on something that's stationary, but I think it's the actual movement that does it to me.

[goatdan]

It completely comes down to the humidity for me and how I'm feeling. If I've eaten something that doesn't agree with me and I've got a bit of a headache, I will definitely feel ill while playing. At the same time, if it is a little warm and humid, I will definitely feel ill playing games or just about anything extreme.

An example of how this works with me in a different setting: I love riding coasters. I once rode Batman at Six Flags 20 times in an hour and fifteen minutes, while consuming two hot does, two things of nachos and four Cokes. I was completely fine. It was a cool, non-humid night.

One summer night this year, when it was warm and humid, I rode Batman four times in an hour and almost lost it.

It all comes down to the humidity. Same thing with games. I can play 3D FPSes forever if it is cool and not humid. Put it together, and I've been hanging around the bucket myself.

[bargora]

I never experienced motion sickness while playing Doom using only keyboard controls. However, the times that I tried using mouse + keyboard controls I started to get that unhappy tummy feeling.

The main difference, as far as I can tell, is that in Doom the mouse lets you turn much faster than the keyboard does. So I would suggest that you go into the Halo 2 options and incrementally decrease your turning rate.

Of course, if that solves the problem, you gotta hope that your stomach will tolerate turning rates high enough to let you remain competitive. Good luck.

[norkusa]

It's strange. I expected to get violently sick while playing Halo 2 for the first time, but I never did. I noticed that the game moves slower than most FPS games, so I think that has something to do with it. I felt a *little* woozy after playing for a couple hours, but it was nothing to grab the barf bucket over.

If anyone cares, here's a list I've made a list of all the FPS games I've played and their degrees of sickness I've felt from them:

Very Sick:
Red Faction II (this one made me the most sick)
Doom
Final Doom (PSX versions only)
Golden Eye
Return To Castle Wolfenstein


Slightly Sick:
Splinter Cell (not a FPS, but makes me sick for some reason)
Serious Sam
Castle Wolfenstein
F-Zero GX

Not Sick:
Ghost Recon
Halo II
Metroid Prime
Quake III - Arena
Super Monkey Ball (I know it's not FPS, but I've heard some say it makes them sick anyway)

[Nez]

I've only feel weird playing Gaurdian Heros (SS) I don't feel sick, I feel numb. It's very very wierd service it to say that I don't play that game anymore.

[tritium]

Goatdan: Don't come to Miami, it's always hot and humid here...

As for motion sickness I do occasionally get it with some games. Generally if the game movement is choppy, or different than what I am used to. I had it when Doom first came out, but I did get over it. There are some games I just won't play because of it. Wolfenstein 3d (original), Console versions of doom, Golden Eye(N64),

I'm not sure what causes it. I tend to get over it after playing for a few days...

EDIT:
I have trouble walking after marathons like my Quake 2 CoOp 15 hours.

-Tritium

[punkoffgirl]

Yes, I have. Specific games that I can recall right now are the original Halo, and Katamari Damacy. That's it at the moment, but I think there may have been another..
Anyway, Halo made me feel ill enough that I had to go lay down. I never tried forcing myself to sit and play despite what my stomach was telling me, but I have a pretty good idea that I probably WOULD have vomited. But then again, I have regular kinds of problems with motion sickness, too, besides the games. For instance, I get seasick in the ocean, and I can't ride certain kinds of rides/rollercoasters, either.

[rbudrick]

The only times I can think of that I get sick playing is when I play a Virtual Boy....I don't think there's ever been any other incidents...

-Rob

[Captain Wrong]

Yep, it's an FPS thing for me.

[kainemaxwell]

Happens to me sometime soff and on if I play a game too hard. First time I can think of it really hit was when I first got the PS2 couple years back. I was playing FFX and a couple other game spretty hard and I made myself really sick from it.

[MarioAllStar2600]

I have read about people getting motion sickness while playing games, and feel bad for them. I have heard of the bucket solution, and taking dramamine before I play, but who wants to do that?

One game has gotten me sick. I played Serious Sam for like 3 hours straight one day. I started feeling a little sick and just went to get food. That is the worst thats ever happened to me. I cant take FPS for long periods of time.

[Sotenga]

I haven't experienced virtual motion sickness, though it looks like this one game, Breakdown, could do the job... or maybe not. I dunno, I've yet to play it. But no, I don't often get sick when playing games. Hey, I can ride pretty much any rollercoaster, and the worst I'd get would be an overturned stomach. But barfing? Heh... hasn't happened yet.

[ubersaurus]

I've never gotten motion sickness from any game. I've done FPS marathons for hours before and all that gets me is some eye-drying.

[goatdan]

Goatdan: Don't come to Miami, it's always hot and humid here...

Well, humidity in and by itself doesn't bother me. It's what I'm doing when I'm in the humidity.

I'm just fine roller coasters once in humidity. And if it is HOT, I'm fine. It's just a certain temperature and humidity that do it to me, and that is only after a good number of rides.

I can tell if I'm going to get sick playing a video game within about 2 minutes of starting. It's a very simple feeling to me. If that is what I'm feeling, I'll stop playing and go back a few hours or days later, and I'm fine :)

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I have NEVER been sick from cause of a videogame, and I play everything. Racers, FPS, anything that some people get sick from. Sooo lucky, I know. Heh

[neuropolitique]

I got sick once while playing Wolfenstien 3D, the first time I had ever played a FPS. What sucked was that I was at a friends house, but at least I made it to the bathroom first.

Haven't had a problem since that one time. Once in a while a game will get to me a little, but I just close my eyes for a minute and get right back to it. I notice that it is generally really smooth FPSs that have that effect. After a few hours of playtime, though, they usually lode that effect on me.

[Daria]

I've never been sick in a car or riding a rollar coaster. I've even ridden "The Zipper" (think big metal cage that flips you upside down) while eating a bag of Swedish Fish at the County Fair. But give me an FPS and you'd better be damn sure that the path to the bathroom is clear.

I first noticed I had this problem while playing Albion, it's old PC RPG with first person dunegon segments. A really good game, and one I was determined to finish at the time. I started getting these splitting headaches just felt sick to my stomach. So I kinda had to give up playing it.

Not all First Person games affect me either, I was able to play Morrowind just fine. Ocassionally I had to take a break but the game was definately playable.

Others with wonky perspectives though are just about unbareable. My mom for instance has this thing for the Dracula adventure games done by Dream Catcher. The back grounds are really just flat images that stretch as you examine them at a 360 degree angle. Definately headache and vomit inducing.

As for FPS in particular I don't play too many of them. But I don't recall having any difficulties with Blood or Quake. So go figure.

[bargora]

Sitting in lobbies waiting for SB:LOC matches, I've heard several complaints about Halo2-related motion sickness. At least one guy said that he got over it after playing for a few days.

[jdc]

Nope, not I. I play them no problem.

I can't WATCH a person playing an FPS though. That can be a bit tough sometimes. It's a bit different somehow when you aren't controlling the action on the screen.

For the same reason, I never could understand how people can play split screen multiplayer and claim that "it rocks". IMO split screen multi should be made a thing of the past and excluded from games. It sucks.

[wberdan]

nope, never.
although i have played plenty of video games *while* sick... LOL




willie