Yes, you can get ‘simulator sickness’ from playing video games

The lockdown and the launches of gaming smartphones and the new Xbox and PlayStation consoles saw a groundswell of new and/or returning gamers. The immersive past-time became an outlet for many in a time of loneliness and distancing but it also brought an unhealthy product of its own: simulation or simulator sickness, a type of ‘cybersickness’. Often coming in around 30 minutes into focussed game-play, the symptoms are similar to that of motion sickness: fatigue, uneasiness, dizziness, headaches and, if it gets worse, vomiting and subsequent weakness. The irony here is that unlike motion sickness, you are very much in one stationary position while playing.