Old-school games & their unfavourable health effects
I adore the original Resident Evil Four. It's a classic and in the top ten Resident Evil games for a reason. Yet dang, does it give me simulated motion sickness!
I've played a lot of old games growing up: from Narnia, SSX Tricky, Persona 3, Kingdom Hearts, Onimusha, and so forth. So, I have definitely experienced a lot of motion sickness that made me need to take a break every once in a while. Including drinking lots of water and having a fan nearby just to calm my mind better. For some reason, however, I could barely get far in the RE4 game because of how ill it made me feel. It has given me one of the worst nauseating moments ever. I wish I was overexatarating, but I'm not!
I wrote down some bullet points in order to figure out what exactly caused the issue, since normally, it's not pointed towards one thing. I came to the conclusion that there are indeed several factors, them being: stiff/snappy camera movements, high-resolution disconnect, expectation mismatch, off-center framing, and letterboxing. There are most likely more, these were the important inconveniences that needed to be mentioned, though.
The one that was obvious from the start was the battle mechanic, the swift camera movements that is. Our view jerks, sways, and snaps tightly to Leon's turns and aiming, which creates this disconnect in the inner ear. Now I played this game on the Wii (for the reason that the standard analogue stick ends up frustrating me with the directing towards the target mid battle), so it wasn't that horrible, nonetheles it eventually became a bit distracting. It did not help either that the resultion is exceptionally lower than the newer ports, such as that of a PC or PS5.
Here's a few things you can do in order to improve your experience and actually in any classic game that has given you motion sickness in the past. Now, depending on what console you are using, the experience will not always be the same, so keep that in mind as you follow this.
The first thing you should do is to go to the camera acceleration setting, adjust it to your liking, and make sure to lower the camera shake to zero if necessary. If you own a digital copy, you can look for mods that specialise in FOV. You can also turn on a permanent centre dot or crosshair to give your eyes a fixed point of focus.
The second option you can do is to change your environment. If the lights in the room are bright, make it softer. That includes your device, dim it. If you're close, back away to a more comfortable distance. Use a TV/monitor model that fits for your game, and don't choose one that shows struggles on the screen like minor glitches or a green vertical line, even if it's gone later, it's a sign that it's not working out further on.
The third alternative is to take care of yourself, basically taking a break because the Lord knows you need it. Cease the usage of screens for at least an hour, get some fresh air, and practice slow, deep breathing. If it is possible, go ahead and take a long nap. If you can't do that currently, lay your head back and close your eyes for a while instead. Bare in mind that you may have crystals in your ear. It's not always guaranteed. If your eyes start to jitter when you're following something, that's a sign of calcium build-up in your ear, and you should go to the doctor for advice, especially if your in a workforce that focuses around simulation. There are numerous medications. Still, I don't really recommend this because depend on your medical history, it can ruin your overall health, so tread carefully.
This one might be an odd fourth choice, nonetheles. It is good to mention that you should avoid caffeine before playing a video game. Although it has a weak effect that clinical overviews sometimes note as mildly counteracting vestibular symptoms, it is a stimulate that affects the stomach acid, dehydration, as well as anxiety which attributes to physical tension and a rapid heart rate, mimicking or amplifying the discomfort of motion distress.
Hopefully, all this advice is enough for anyone experiencing this phenomenon. The truth is that there isn't much you can do about it. Some individuals will adapt over the years, yet not everybody will. This is disappointing, considering we're in an era where multiple adults are playing video games, and it has become more socially acceptable.
There have been companies making items that are supposed to aid you with your motion sickness, such as anti motion sickness glasses by Neoism. They focus more on the go if you're on a plane or a car. They don't always have a significant effect, though, and some users have complained that the liquid slouches around too much when you move your head. This adds an anathor issue, which is breaking the illusion to calm your balance. So this product is either a hit or a miss.
If you have any advice yourselves that I didn't bring up, by all means, leave it in the comments so that as a community, we can help each other out. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Take care of yourselves, my dear readers, and I'll we'll hear from each other again soon. Have a lovely summer break.
