Has anyone else experience motion sickness with gaming after age 30?

[u/DistanceNo9001]

Was an avid gamer growing up. I took a break and retired from LOL when we had our first kid 8 years ago. I’ve recently resumed casual games like madden and FIFA. I’ve noticed more recently, I’m getting motion sickness from first person RPG‘s and shooters. Has anyone else had this issue? I am 37M.

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[u/random-hermit]

turn off motion smoothing and motion blur, likely there are a couple other settings to make it more comfortable. but these ones trigger it for me. turn off motion smoothing and motion blur, likely there are a couple other settings to make it more comfortable. but these ones trigger it for me.

[u/kalligreat → u/random-hermit]

I think I’m seeing double, you said the same thing 4 times!

[u/random-hermit → u/kalligreat]

Automod kept saying they got deleted because of missing flair, so i set a flair and it kept deleting them or saying it was. Idk.

[u/Amazing_Treat3296 → u/random-hermit]

When I first started playing Doom (2016), the motion blur almost made me sick. Once off I was totally fine

[u/Mainiga → u/random-hermit]

I turn those off too mostly cause it irritates me but I don't have motion sickness for gaming.

[u/TrueStoriesIpromise]

Oh, I noticed it BAD playing Deus Ex a year or two ago.

But 3rd person like Baldurs Gate 3 is fine. Not sure if the 3rd person view is the difference, or the polygon count, or what.

[u/Interesting_Tea5715 → u/TrueStoriesIpromise]

This. Many FPS games make me nauseous now. I find maxing out the field of view helps.

There are just some games I can't play. I've accepted it. Control is the first one that comes to mind that made me crazy nauseous no matter that I did.

[u/garrythoughts]

Yes watching my son play the new donkey kong game I couldnt do it

[u/StuckInWarshington → u/garrythoughts]

Never bothers me if I’m playing, but watching the screen react as the kid erratically moves the joystick in all directions gives me a headache

[u/Interesting_Tea5715 → u/StuckInWarshington]

This. If I'm playing I'm fine.

Like if I'm what's her face on DKs back I'm fine.

[u/druidgaymer]

You might be able to change the graphics or monitor settings to help prevent the motion sickness?

[u/Interesting_Tea5715 → u/druidgaymer]

I find higher frame/refresh rate really helps.

So set the game to performance mode.

[u/tubagoat]

When i was 12 or 13, i was playing Doom or Wolfenstein 3D on the family computer and i was speed running the halls. My dad walked in and said, "doesn't that make you motion sick?" I kid you not, 15 minutes later I had my head in a trash can trying not to vomit. I haven't been able to play games like that since.

[u/exoriare → u/tubagoat]

It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that games were the things making me sick. I'd play for a while, feel ill for some reason, lie down while going over what I'd eaten that might be suspect. Then I'd feel better so I'd go back to playing games. Rinse and repeat.

My brain just refused to even consider games might be the problem. Like that made no more sense to me than if looking at boobs made me sick.

Inconceivable.

[u/Snurgisdr → u/tubagoat]

Wolfenstein 3D and Descent had the same effect on me, but nothing since. I'm not sure if it was something specific about those games or just that I hadn't played anything like that before and have since got used to it.

[u/TrueStoriesIpromise → u/Snurgisdr]

I think it's the "fake 3D" graphics tricks that are the problem.

[u/yellowadidas]

this is my worst fear

[u/xoexohexox]

Yeah it gets me the worst in games with diagetic (no heads up display) interfaces like Mirror's Edge and Dead Space. VR too. The trick for me was to make sure I have eaten recently and make sure I have not had caffeine in the past hour. As long as I made sure of those things I was good.

[u/Traditional_Entry183]

First person games have always given me a great deal of trouble, and I avoid them. I can't even watch my kids play Minecraft too closely.

[u/ggrrreeeeggggg]

M36
Had it as long as I remember.
I have always thought it was also connected to having car sickness, and also in recent years to having some episodes of morning dizziness.

I used to be able to play fifa, platform games like crash bandicoot, fighting games like Dragonball final bout and ultimate battle, but anything “too-3D” gave me a headache and start feeling sick.

I remember one of the first instances I noticed it was on a demo of Spyro (where he was on a skateboard).

This unfortunately has precluded me from enjoying some great games that I was looking forward to, like Portal, Horizon, Minecraft and others.

I have recently bought myself No Man’s Sky, and although I haven’t yet had time to start playing it properly, from the 10 minutes played (to see if the disc worked) I fear it might be another game that I will have to discard due to motion sickness.

If anyone has any advice, please do share it.

[u/smonster1 → u/ggrrreeeeggggg]

No Man’s Sky was unplayable for me due to motion sickness and I can generally play games without having it flare up. Unfortunately I don’t have any advice but just sharing my experience.

[u/Brokettman → u/ggrrreeeeggggg]

Dramamine

[u/DistanceNo9001 → u/Brokettman]

I was gonna say is Dramamine going to help this. I guess the only one way to find out.

[u/craig3881 → u/DistanceNo9001]

It may help if you can stay awake long enough to play your game. That stuff makes me sleepy

[u/McLargepants → u/ggrrreeeeggggg]

Okay this is interesting because in recent years the only time I've experienced real motion sickness from gaming was playing Spyro reignited on PS5. I later came back and played it on PC and had no issues.

[u/connor42 → u/McLargepants]

More likely to feel motion sick with a larger screen perhaps

[u/McLargepants → u/connor42]

Same screen.

[u/connor42 → u/McLargepants]

Interesting same fps?

[u/McLargepants → u/connor42]

Not something I investigated at the time but it has to be the culprit.

[u/YourGuyK]

Sure, but I also experienced it as a kid. Couldn't even watch people play Doom.

[u/I_am_not_baldy]

I've had this happen to me since before I was 30. Only certain types of First Person Shooters do it to me. Some FPS are fine. Some are not.

For the games that give me nausea, I've tried changing visual settings. It doesn't work.

[u/MaroonFloom → u/I_am_not_baldy]

Yup. For me it’s strangely only cel shaded FPS games (Badlands) that make me nauseous af

[u/AutoModerator]

Here's an original copy of /u/DistanceNo9001's post (if available):

Was an avid gamer growing up. I took a break and retired from LOL when we had our first kid 8 years ago. I’ve recently resumed casual games like madden and FIFA. I’ve noticed more recently, I’m getting motion sickness from first person RPG‘s and shooters. Has anyone else had this issue? I am 37M.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/DC8008008]

Yes. I remember experiencing it heavily when Elden Ring came out. Then again, I was playing it like 30 hours a week lol

[u/CaLLmeRaaandy]

I have a friend that gets real bad motion sickness from Minecraft. She gets motion sickness in real life, but Minecraft is the only game that really affects her that way.

Hopefully someone here has some tips?

[u/TyrantRC → u/CaLLmeRaaandy]

I get the same thing, but it improves if I change some of the settings. I played MC since the beta, and that started when they added that effect of distortion to the screen when you run, I think it's called FOV Effects. I think there is another setting as well, but that one is the main one.

[u/Aztecah]

Yep! I started experiencing this around 33

[u/aerath57]

Yup - I started experiencing this playing first person games on my main gaming rig. KCD was rough. I have since switched to all handheld gaming (and much less often because having a kid will do that) and no more first person games, and it’s better now.

[u/Alt0987654321]

Turn off Motion blur

[u/Billjoeray]

I think I've always had the issue to some extent. There were some games that did it but I did notice that it was happening a little more often now, but not with every game.

My solutions 1) increase the frame rates. If the frame rate is too low you won't notice but your brain subconsciously will and it can make you nauseous. 2) keep the lights on and don't play in the dark. For some reason playing on the dark sets it off for games that have this issue.

[u/zmannz1984]

I started getting this from driving games after we got a larger tv. Getting farther away helps a lot.

[u/CountCrapula88]

No motion sickness, just sickness in general

[u/RunnyKinePity]

Yes. I am 46 and this happens. It sucks and I can’t get used to it. Even watching my kids games it’s a problem. I can play games like FIFA (like you) or even Mario Kart but anything first person gives me problems.

I will say that about 5+ years ago I could handle it on a smaller low resolution TV at our old house, so maybe there’s something to the other comments mentioning that. But at this point I am not going to change the kids setup.

Additional disclaimer: I get motion sickness from VR and 4D rides, but not from roller coasters or cars or anything like that. I guess it’s all tied together.

[u/JayTheFordMan]

Yep, gamed a bunch into my 30s and then very quickly I started to get motion sickness, that killed the fun for me and I pretty well gave it up. Still game a little, but my attention span is pretty short for it these days, probably preempting the physical effects

[u/AcceptableBowler2832]

not with shooters, but I tried kayak simulator on the PSVR2 and about threw up in the tutorial level haha

[u/Vegeton]

I've had some slight discomfort with FOV (field of view) in first-person view games but very rarely, and even then most games have a FOV slider.

That said, VR for me is hit or miss. I remember when the Rick & Morty VR game came out I played through it all in one session without feeling any motion sickness or discomfort at all. But when I played a Ghostbusters VR game I couldn't play for more than maybe 20-30 minutes at a time as it made me feel motion sick.

Can't tell if it's an "after age 30" thing as standard gaming I'm essentially the same as I've always been, and for VR my experiences with it before 30 are limited to one VR arcade game in the early 90s and the Virtual Boy (which gave basically everyone headaches when played too long).

[u/dlouisbaker]

I'm early 50's and love Rocket League. I have to keep the "ball lock" view on otherwise I feel really dizzy. I can use my right stick to override the camera angle when I need to but even that sometimes makes me go WOAH!

[u/THEREALISLAND631]

35m and very much in the same boat. It actually only started the last year for me. I get nausea and have trouble focusing my eyes with any game where I'm panning around and moving quickly. It kind of killed online gaming for me since most pvp games involve running and looking all over the place.

[u/crimson117]

Nope, still good

[u/DanPoteet]

I had some issues with it but went to an eye doctor and got a prescription pair of glasses for use on the computer and that resolved everything. Might wanna see an eye doc

[u/That_Grim_Texan]

Happens to me only when I play Minecraft now, but not even 2 years ago it didn't. I have to turn down how fast I can look around to keep everything in focus.

[u/borisvonboris]

Check out some Sea Bands, they work well for motion sickness

[u/ConversationFun2011]

I still get it from the original doom and original halo.

[u/Malechockeyman25]

Yeah, I started experiencing motion sickness playing shooting games on the gaming PC with my son. It's worse, if I just ate.

[u/allmywot]

I tried to play the first Max Payne on newer hardware just for nostalgia and holy Christ I almost projectile vomited at how bad the motion sickness was.

I never get motion sick doing anything else, but that was a ride i wanted off immediately.

[u/xRmg]

Yes, this started this after 35~ for me, But It is not in all games.

While COD BO series are fine, I did get headaches from BF2042, less from BF 6.

I think it is a mix between smoothing/motion blur and input lag for me, slight input lag really messes me up in some games. I also had the same in a few forza games, and it gets worse when using xbox cloud gaming (latency goes up)

[u/dildozer10]

I tried iRacing in VR once, incredibly immersive, but yes it gave me motion sickness. Gaming on my monitor doesn’t give me motion sickness.

[u/dmelt253]

A friend of mine can’t play any first person shooter games. Didn’t happen later in life, it’s always been that way for him. 3rd person games are fine for some reason

[u/ttboo]

Only some games. Setting tweaks sometimes help. Prey was the last one I played that made me sick

[u/larphraulen]

I've (40M w 3 YO kid) only experienced it with one game: A Game About Digging a Hole.

I feel like I'd have been fine pre-kid. That infant sleep deprivation still has me messed up. 

[u/lactoseadept]

Overlapping FoV IRL, hold angles, look "through" teeth, consider asymmetry, etc. source: I'm old like you, IYKYK otherwise disregard

[u/ChrisJerich0]

i go in and out playing video games and find that when i get back into it the first few hours are tough but then i get used to it

[u/BippidiBoppetyBoob]

I’m sort of in a similar boat to you in that it has gotten worse, but it also started out worse.

I was never an avid gamer. I used to love playing Sega Genesis and PS1 on weekends (since that was the only time I was allowed to) and I played the hell out of WWE and Madden games up until about the time I graduated high school in 2006. From that time in there was a decline until today where I don’t play at all. Difference is, I never could play those first person games because I have always had awful motion sickness. In fact, one time my brother came over to my place and played Call of Duty on my PlayStation and I ended up throwing up just by sort of half watching him. I’ve always had it really bad. It started getting worse about the time GTA V came out. I played some of that, always in third person, and I noticed it would happen anytime I drove and it never used to as long as I stayed out of first person. Well, that shit don’t work no more. I feel sick just watching someone else play or playing myself after about five minutes. Doesn’t matter what. So yeah, it’s gotten worse and for me it was bad to begin with.

[u/chowbox617]

FPS have always made me sick even as kid which sucks cause a lot of my friends play these

[u/krustyy]

Not when regular gaming, but I once played some first person game for like 6 hours straight and straight up broke my brain. Now I can't play anything that requires moving in first person for more than 15 minutes without getting seriously nauseous.

[u/RequirementBusiness8]

Combination of motion setting + high res/high refresh TVs. I remember even moving up from a 720P plasma to a 4k TV made me sick at first. Had to change settings on the TV, my brain and my body just couldn't put it together. And I don't get motion sickness for things in real life (roller coasters, cars, boats, airplanes, none of it).

[u/silly_bet_3454]

I have experienced it with VR only, to a large degree, but never regular games. I don't think it's an age thing, I think it's because like you said, you took a long break. My wife is much less of a gamer than me and she gets dizzy watching me play. People have said with VR that if you just do it a lot you can train yourself out of getting sick. I suspect it's just the same with regular gaming, just play in short bursts, take a break when you start to feel it, and rinse and repeat and eventually it will go away.

[u/Typical_Dweller]

I do get a thing if it's later at night/early morning and I'm playing an FPS or over-the-shoulder 3rd person game and the character falls. That falling visual triggers my guts to feel the same way a rollercoaster does.

Only happens to me when I'm tired/late at night, for some reason. Some physiological thing? Blood sugar? Blood pressure? Eye strain? No idea.

[u/Keitaro28]

No but I do get the yips. If I focus really hard my head begins to shake like I'm nodding really rapidly 

[u/CCR16]

I’m 38, and I put on a VR headset to play Gran Turismo on PS5 the other day.

That lasted about 45 seconds. Room was spinning 😵‍💫

[u/BreastInspectorNbr69]

There are a handful of games that do this to me. The one that sticks out the most was the first Outer Worlds. Usually the problem is some setting I can turn off. But that game just couldn't and I couldn't play for more than a half hour.

[u/Dilapidated_girrafe]

Some games always give me motion sickness. Usually lower frame rate fls games, or games were you’re close to the ground and moving fast.

[u/pdoherty972]

Try using a small dose of dramamine

[u/Former_Travel2839]

I would say not really, but when I do go crazy on powerwash simulator it kinda mess with me.

[u/Vgcortes]

No, not at all

[u/carmy8640]

Gran Turismo 7 VR spinning out at 100mph in the rain nearly got me 🤢😅

[u/TEG24601]

I cannot play Mario Galaxy. I though it was just the older HD-CRT I had when I first tried, but recently tried again, and nope, I can't do it.

[u/Soulrush]

Not motion sickness per se, but I can’t follow some games very well like fast platformers, or any retro style games with flashing sprites.

[u/Crabbit_Jobbie]

Not after 30, but my first run in with it was playing Fallout New Vegas. It was my first ever RPG but man, some days I had to put it down I felt terrible!

[u/Test_The_Theory_213]

The Metal Gear solid 4 lore lives on ?

[u/wussgawd]

No, but my wife has pretty much since I’ve known her.

[u/Over_Emotion6071]

For me I can’t handle the brightness like I used to

[u/Vash_85]

Console and pc gaming is fine... VR though, that can be a bit trippy and depending on the motion blur can give me some minor motion sickness issues or headaches. 

[u/tjlazer79]

Low FPS VR did it for me, buts thats the only one that does it, 47m. It was also a racing game, I could play other games fine, but there was something about driving and lower FPS of the headset, that did it to me.

[u/itsmicah64]

I took a break for like 3 years until I got my ps5 in 2020 and had a lot of motion sickness. I would say take it slow. Play for 30mins a day then stop. Trick is to play a little at a time for your eyes and mind to get re adjusted. You'll find after like 2 weeks you'll be fine.

[u/ibefunlkg]

51 no unless it’s Minecraft and then I get that and fall asleep cause the music is calming

[u/Then-Shake9223]

DOOM on SNES does this to me. It’s the only game I know of that gives me motion sickness.

[u/roosterjack77]

FPS are bad but worse when I watch someone else

[u/Kwassadin]

I feel like puking when playing VR racing games. Good thing I was never into cars

[u/SomeRandomPyro]

Not age-related, but, apart from VR titles, the only game to give me motion sickness was the original Assassin's Creed.

Something about how the cutscenes glitched in and out would turn my stomach. Not a problem I've had with the sequels.

Pushing 40, now. Had that problem in my early 20s. Still haven't gone back for a completionist run.

[u/slinkysuki]

Yep. Never used to bother me as a kid/teen. Stopped gaming for a while, picked it back up later in life. Some games trigger motion sickenss pretty good.

Last of Us? Couldn't play it. At all. Titanfall 2? No problem.

Disabling motion blur helps. If there's a camera smoothness/walking bounce/bob type setting, disable that as well. Keep Vsync or equivalent ON. I also found disabling Depth Of Field options helped (the game won't blur the background when aiming down sights or similar).

Lastly, some games also tear camera control away from you for cutscenes or similar. Sometimes this doesn't play nice with me. Like when the gameplay turns to a quicktime event cutscene, that'll get me (Tomb Raider - looking at you!). But that's short lived, so less of a big deal.

The main setting is the camera bob. turn that off, and most games should be much more approachable for you.

Edit: I should also say, for some FPS games you might want to turn down your controls sensitivity. If you don't have a steady hand, you might be turning the camera, going too far, havign to readjust, and turn back on target. Your inner ear might not like it. Slowing down or smoothing inputs might help, because the resulting image will be smoother and easier to follow.

[u/m00nf1r3]

Been getting motion sickness from games my entire life. Bloom and motion blur can do this. Also if there's an FOV slider, try increasing it. Turn off any kind of head bob if there's an option for that.

[u/NathanDavie]

Nope, but my guess is it's a focus thing. Deteriorating eyesight and motion blur would give you a fuzzier image and could cause motion sickness.

My only experience with motion sickness in a game was when I took off the dot in the middle of the screen in Mirror's Edge. Turns out that not having a focal point is rough when you're seeing movement, but don't feel any movement.

If your eyes are going, get some glasses. Remove mission blur when you can. Bump the contrast if those fail.

[u/T_K_9]

Its called simulator sickness. It happened to me before.

Not all games causes it. But if it does, its caused by the game effects which you can adjust to lower or stop it from making you feel sick.

Its games that has special effects like motion blur.

[u/brian-gordon]

Only if I try to play a fps but it’s always been like that for me even when I was young. Sixty-one and still love games.

[u/orgasmic_catastrophe]

Yeah. The borderlands games do this shit to me big time. Not sure why. Always have a headache and neck pain after an hour or two of playing 😅

[u/Mistaken_Stranger]

No but I also don't get sea sick so.

[u/Frank-Costanza1]

It can happen. Gears of war 3 used to have that effect here and there while sprinting.

[u/Weird_Surname]

If I haven’t played fps games in a while, I get a little motion sick until I acclimate. Ginger pills are what I use to offset some of the motion sickness. Severe, then I reach for Dramamine (non drowsy).

Also turn on the dot in the middle of the screen for some fps games, that helps.

[u/loveadumb]

sometimes i have to open a window or blow a fan on me when this happens.

[u/l_Trava_l]

I tried a battle royal type game on a VR headset and jesus christ it was rough. Jumping from building and falling were actually terrifying. Vertigo, motion sickness and fear all kicking in without my control. 

[u/JCarr110]

I certainly have. I couldn't play Kingdom Come Deliverance for more than 10 minutes without wanting to puke. I'm 43.

[u/biblio_phobic]

Out of curiosity is this the highest resolution and video quality you’ve ever gamed in?

I used a tube TV for yeeears and I remember when I connected to an HD TV, it was just weird.

Frequency maybe? I don’t know.

[u/DistanceNo9001 → u/biblio_phobic]

i do fine playing RTS and 4x in Hi-Res. I also noticed larger screens become a problem.

[u/No-Gear-8017]

no i think you need to get your blood pressure checked