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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 10</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
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              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
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              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../1.2/feat.1">Are 
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      <td width="428" height="936" align="LEFT" valign="TOP"> 
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8">Still 
          Sick of Games!</font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          Jeff &quot;<a target="_self" href="mailto:jeff@solomania.com">nonick</a>&quot; 
          Solomon</font></b></font></p>       
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">While the exact causes 
          of gaming sickness might be too complicated and unknown at this point 
          for me to discuss competently, I can share several reader experiences 
          that show that there are certain patterns of gaming that are more likely 
          to activate the problem. In the end, these real-world testimonials will 
          probably prove to be more informative than a detailed textbook definition. 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> The first set of feedback 
          that I'm going to share relates to my original hypothesis that a certain 
          level of technical prowess is required in a game before it can become 
          "realistic" enough to cause gaming sickness. Based on the research that 
          I had done for the original article, I concluded that most people didn't 
          experience gaming sickness prior to the <b>Quake 2</b> era. Boy, was 
          I wrong. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> I dramatically underestimated 
          the ability of older games to generate feelings of sickness in people. 
          From the feedback I've received, it is abundantly clear that people 
          have been experiencing these problems with games that date to well before 
          <b>Quake 2</b>. On this subject, Charles Burkett wrote: </font></p>
        <p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <i>The game 
          that caused me the worst motion sickness was <b>Wolf3D</b>, hardly a 

          realistic virtual environment. The second worst was <b>Duke3D</b>. However, 
          <b>Descent 2</b> in hardware mode (which can run at up to 100fps and 
          is very sharp in the graphics area) causes no motion sickness for me. 
          I think my motion sickness (don't know about others) comes from a fast 
          frame rate coupled with quick turning in the game (I'm a mouse user 
          in most cases, but I use a joystick in <b>Descent 2</b>, which makes 
          me "turn" much more smoothly). I used to get VERY sick playing <b>Wolf3D</b> 
          when sliding in front of walls and looking for secret doors. The walls 
          flying by at a quick pace made me almost immediately nauseous. </i></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Rory Kostman concurs, and 
          offers an explanation as to why older games like <b>Wolfenstein 3D</b> 
          and <b>Doom</b> might actually cause more severe gaming sickness compared 
          to newer games: </font></p>
        <p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>Many people 
          I know were terribly susceptible to both <b>Wolf3D</b> and <b>Doom/Doom 
          2</b>. These same people have no trouble at all with <b>Quake</b>. <b>Wolfenstein</b> 
          was very enclosed, with no weapons bob, which was very nauseating. One 
          particular map in E2 (huge maze of secret walls) was the worst. <b>Doom</b> 
          never bothered me, but several of my hard-Quakin friends absolutely 
          can't play <b>DOOM</b>. Five minutes and we're all examining their lunch 
          in a bucket. </i> </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Rory's theory is that newer 
          games like <b>Quake</b> that use techniques like weapons bob can more 
          accurately simulate virtual environments, therefore causing less bodily 
          confusion than older games that offered clunkier renditions of 3D worlds. 
          This is similar to a theory I posed in the original article that stated 
          that gaming sickness would eventually become less common as technology 
          and game engines became advanced enough to fully sell the concept of 
          a 3D world. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Sam Winzar conducted an 
          informal experiment along these lines. He explained that he often suffered 
          from severe gaming sickness, and then sent the following message: </font></p>
        <p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>I decided 
          to try an experiment: I purchased a video accelerator card (Creative 
          Labs, Voodoo2, 8 megs) and have started to play <b>Quake2</b> in the 
          office lately. The results have been surprising: Very little sickness. 
          When it does appear, it seems to be tied to overall exhaustion (end 
          of the work day, etc.) and the ambient light in the room. <br>
          </i></font> 
        <p align="CENTER"><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I've been 
          able to play for up to an hour without feeling sick. </font></i></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Sam's comments, in addition 
          to several other very similar stories I've received, lead me to believe 
          that we may already have reached the point where newer technology is 
          making things better, rather than worse. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> The majority of feedback 
          I've received seems to finger <b>Wolfenstein 3D</b> and <b>Doom/Doom 
          2</b> as the worst gaming sickness culprits. I could go on for pages 
          reprinting messages that attest to this. However, there is still evidence 
          to support that claim that, at least for some people, things are still 
          getting worse. Several readers who had never experienced sickness while 
          playing older games reported that they found themselves unable to play 
          <b>Quake 2</b> or <b>Sin</b>. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Robert Kenyon conducted 
          an informal research study, and concluded that for him, newer hardware 
          and game engines cause more gaming sickness. Here's a breakdown of his 
          personal tests: </font></p>
        <ul>
          <li><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Quake</font></b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> 
            played in software mode on a 100MHz Pentium produced no symptoms.</font></li>
          <li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <b>Quake</b> played with 
            3DFX hardware acceleration on a 100MHz Pentium caused slight symptoms 
            which could be alleviated by taking short breaks. </font></li>
          <li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Quake 2 </b>played 
            with 3DFX hardware acceleration on a 200MHz Pentium caused severe 
            symptoms after 45 minutes of playing that lasted up to six hours. 
            </font></li>
        </ul>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Clearly, this is a very 
          informal study conducted by a single person, but it shows that, at least 
          for Robert, a newer game engine coupled with better hardware produced 
          the most serious symptoms of gaming sickness. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> So, we now have two clearly 
          documented camps of sick people: one that experiences less sickness 
          with newer games, and one that experiences more. The most obvious conclusion 
          to draw from this is that gaming sickness is, to a large extent, extremely 
          subjective. Clearly, no one is going to tell Sam that he's wrong, and 
          that he should actually be feeling <i>more</i> sick when he uses his 
          Voodoo2 card. The converse is true for Robert. </font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+1">(<a href="index3.php" target="">continued 
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    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
      Illustration &copy; 1998 Mike Sanzone. Still Sick of Games is &copy; 1998 
      Jeff Solomon. All other content is &copy; 1998 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
      productions</a>. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited, so don't 
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