Have you had any side effects from games.

[mjs warlord]

The most obvious one is blood shot eyes because you forgot to go to bed .
In an old flying game i used to sway in my chair but thats not really a side effect its cos i was in the pilots seat and forgot i was in my computer chair.

In 22 years of pc gaming their have only been 2 games that i have had to stop using.

Windlands is a game where you swing round the game on a rope just like tarzan in the jungle , i think it must have given me some sort of motion sickness because i swayed in my chair just as if i was actually their and swinging through the trees ..... me tarzan not happy i never did find jane ....

Devils tuning fork .... this was a game where you was in complete darkness and you only saw flashing wire framed objects when you moved , it made me feel ill. It reminded me of the flashing strobe lights that used to be all the rage in discos , if the DJ set the light flashing as i was carrying a tray of drinks i used to have to stop walking and shut my eyes.

 

[Alm]

As I work on a computer and my hobby is gaming I spend a lot of time in front of a screen. I often get eye ache but I do have anti glare VDU glasses, I just have to remember to use them.

Also I played Skyrim in VR and it was my first experience moving in VR where my brain felt a disconnect between what I was seeing and what my body was doing. It made me feel really ill and I haven't gone back to it.

 

[mjs warlord]

The only time i used VR was at a computer fair , you had to stand in the middle of a circle of gym mats and then put the headset on , it was a climbing simulation and i could hear people laughing as i stretched my arms and legs to move up the cliff ...... and then it happened .... i threw myself across the floor onto the mats because i had just lost my grip and fallen off the cliff.

I guess thats why they had mats on the floor ... can you imagine doing that in your home surrounded by furniture.

Only one company actually made a point of saying you need to be in a room free of objects that you could fall on or crash into.

 

[Pifanjr]

Outside of general lack of sleep, I think the worst I've had was when I had a LAN weekend with a couple of friends and we ended up playing for so long I couldn't walk any more when I finally got up. It took quite a while before my legs could properly support my weight again.

Luckily I was a teenager, so a couple of hours of sleep on an inflatable bed was all I needed to fix any problems.

 

[Brian Boru]

I was a teenager, so a couple of hours of sleep on an inflatable bed

Ah yes, the GODs when I was inflatable and bounce-backy!

I work on a computer and my hobby is gaming I spend a lot of time in front of a screen. I often get eye ache

Same here, but without the eye ache. My sight isn't great, and I only wear ordinary glasses, but no other eye trouble, touch Zed.

Lack of sleep or waking up in my chair are the only effects I can think of in ~35 years of gaming.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I used to get pains in my wrists from using KB+M for long periods, back when I could actually play for long periods of time. Started using silicon rests for both hands and that went away.

 

[mjs warlord]

As you know i have been a gamer since 1982 and a pc gamer since 2003.
I forgot to mention that after 21 years of mouse clicking i have a large lump of raised bone on the first joint of the 2 fingers i use on the mouse.

 

[Alm]

I have a small callous on my right wrist from using a mouse and leaning on my desk for years.

 

[Brian Boru]

pains in my wrists from using KB+M

Oh geez, how could I forget that! I'm a natural leftie, but fairly ambidextrous—I was forced to write with my right hand as a young 'un, and also used both in handball. I was a leftie mouser for ~20 years until I got 'the tingle' and had to switch to my right hand plus discover the joy of wrist rests.

I should probably take up multiplayer games and use both together!

 

[Slasken]

I get nauseated from a few games, especially first person games, but also some third person games like Fallout 4.

 

[Pifanjr]

I have a small callous on my right wrist from using a mouse and leaning on my desk for years.

They pointed out that callous area during my computer science degree as a way to spot whether someone uses a computer a lot.

 

[Johnway]

Occasionally i get headaches but that's because of stress or disorientated movement. Its very rare though and usually its because i didn't drink enough water or it was something else (like not drinking enough water, going out in hot weather before coming home).

On rare occasions my eyes water uncontrollably but that was when i played timesplitters 2, hasn't happened since then.

The one rare occasion when playing ghost recon: advanced warfighter where staring at a green screen (due to having night vision enabled) for so long it messed with my vision (the room was more red\yellow).

The only common effect is having a numb ass. My gaming chair is a wooden chair with no padding. Its quite literally a wooden chair, i don't have enough room for a proper office chair (it obstructs movement/room flow) and having a generally uncomfortable chair ensures i need to move around a bit.

 

[ipman]

Yes I had the right arm (M) aches for a while until I started using memory foam mouse mat. I did learn some exercises to help gamers strengthen their fore arms before that. Popeye.

Also after eye strain bought some good PC glasses. I also have a good office chair with a memory foam support cushion and I think it's important to have comfortable trousers. It's easy while gaming to become oblivious to our bodies until we stop so comfort is paramount.

I think it won't be long before I'm immersed in a pod, Matrix style

But other side effects; after getting used to right lane driving in GTAV I had to make sure I switched to left lane riding of my motorbike in real life, same as when coming back from Europe.

I also sometimes see an object in the real world and momentarily think 'I have to collect that'.
And occasionally gaming scenarios play out in my dreams.

 

[Brian Boru]

I do have anti glare VDU glasses

Another thought on that:
My PC glasses are specifically for 18-24" range, maybe that's why I don't get eye ache/strain? I have to take them off to read close-up stuff like product packaging. No special coating on them.

some good PC glasses

 

[Slasken]

also sometimes see an object in the real world and momentarily think 'I have to collect that'.
And occasionally gaming scenarios play out in my dreams

Haha

I remember thinking about shooting down cameras after playing Splinter Cell

 

[Zloth]

Let's see - I would get pain in my wrists until I got an ergonomic keyboard so I don't have to bend my wrists quite so much to type.

My VR headset did make me queasy once, after playing quite a while. I was enjoying the game and didn't feel all that sick, but it took several hours for the queasiness to fade. After that I learned to bail as soon as I felt even a little sick. (Though I didn't use the VR glasses for much longer. It's hard to get them over my glasses and they would fog up a lot.)

Portal 2 with 3D Vision made me queasy, too. It has pretty strong FOV. That always causes distortion even in 2D so that objects near the edges of the screen look closer than things in the center. With 3D Vision going, though, your eye triangulation is telling you the same thing, so turning around was warping the whole world. Ouch.

The only other effect has been the weird eye perception thing you get with some games that have repetitive motion on the screen. If you watch something like the old Space Invaders game for hours, then try to read a book, you expect the words to move like the Space Invaders, causing some bizzaro effects.

They pointed out that callous area during my computer science degree as a way to spot whether someone uses a computer a lot.

My wrist is as smooth as a baby's.... wrist. Silicon wrist rest for the win!

Another thought on that:
My PC glasses are specifically for 18-24" range, maybe that's why I don't get eye ache/strain? I have to take them off to read close-up stuff like product packaging. No special coating on them.

Mine, too. VERY handy! And rather annoying when you forget and try to drive wearing them. "Huh, why can't I read that sign? Arg."

 

[Pifanjr]

I also sometimes see an object in the real world and momentarily think 'I have to collect that'.
And occasionally gaming scenarios play out in my dreams.

I've only had that if I'm very tired. My brother however went through a period of playing Mario Kart: Double Dash time trials a lot and would start thinking about the best way to drift through corners while biking to school.

 

[ipman]

I've only had that if I'm very tired. My brother however went through a period of playing Mario Kart: Double Dash time trials a lot and would start thinking about the best way to drift through corners while biking to school.

It does seem to be a big part of some games, collecting stuff>Skyrim comes to mind. I sometimes wonder how much junk I had stored in those chests and also with that game and many others I'm usually a millionaire in whatever currency or credits.

I'm still playing Days Gone and in that post virus world the collecting makes sense, scarce resources yadder, yadder. So one time I saw on someone's inside window ledge a flagon that's usuful in DG and that's when the real and virtual worlds overlapped, or so I'm telling the judge

I can see how regularly driving in GTAV and learning how to escape the cops would cross over to real joy riders, learnt skills are transferable. I love sliding those cars around corners using a touch on the brake and seeing the cop cars pile up. Also learning how to evade helicopter pursuits.

@Zloth Good to get some feedback on those silicon wrist rests. I'd read mixed reviews, but the memory foam ones will do for now.

@Johnway I can recommend one of these shaped memory foam cushions. Preup is a good one, good for posture, support and I never get a numb ass. Can't imagine sitting on a wooden chair. Ouch!

I wonder if gamers bodies will evolve slightly differently. I think gaming has changed the way I think and in many ways playing as a hero in a game could make you more positive and confident in real life.

 

[Zloth]

@Zloth Good to get some feedback on those silicon wrist rests. I'd read mixed reviews, but the memory foam ones will do for now.

Does the memory foam go back to the same shape?

 

[ipman]

Does the memory foam go back to the same shape?

I think it did at first but is slowly becoming compressed, so I know what to try next. I wonder if heating it would cause it to reform.

Another side effect> when I'm involved in some sort of battle like with the dreaded zombies, I tense up and react enough to start moving stuff like leg rest and PC case. My body reacts to some degree.

 

[Supreme Manager]

Spending long hours sitting in front of a screen lead to health problems such as eye strain, headaches, repetitive strain injuries, and poor posture. And i regret it now.