Lexmark DMCA Battle Far From Over >>
<< And Don't Forget The Seed Patents...
 tdicon 


Culture

by Mike Masnick

Mon, Nov 3rd 2003 12:37am





Do You Have Nintendoitis?

from the video-game-injuries dept

Twenty years ago, or so, (uh oh, dating myself) I remember playing a track and field game on my Atari 800, which involved having to move the joystick back and forth as quickly as possible. It wasn't long before I worked out the most efficient method: place your palm flat on the top of the joystick and move it as fast as possible. This was much faster than actually holding the joystick and moving it back and forth, but it did have one negative: it really hurt. You would rub raw a circular spot in the middle of your palm that could hurt for days. While I may have been an early victim of video game injury, it's clear that I wasn't the last. Players of video games are discovering all sorts of ways they can injure themselves while playing games. Taken to extreme levels, players can get RSI problems, somewhat jokingly referred to as Nintendoitis. Another problem some players get is that the players "over develop" the muscles on one side of their body - which has the sound of an urban legend written all over it, but apparently has happened. Others report that they have "Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome", which is more commonly seen among jack hammer operators. There are, also, less direct risks: such as tripping over cables and getting beaten by a "girlfriend/partner/housemate" who wants you to stop playing video games all the time.

5 Comments | Leave a Comment..


If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...
 

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1.  

    Cryotherapy

    identicon
    dorpus, Nov 3rd, 2003 @ 2:54am

    In addition to the usual stretching exercises that physical therapists tell you to do, another very useful exercise is to dip your arms in a bucket of ice water for 10 minutes before going to sleep every night. The cold water reduces swelling in inflamed tissue and helps restore normal circulation.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Yep, Track and Field Arcade

    identicon
    curtisk, Nov 3rd, 2003 @ 5:40am

    is one of my worst video game injury memories. Not the two-button-smash-fest, but the track ball version. The track ball allows you to kick serious ass on that game but for a heavy price. Think about how hard and fast you have to "slap" the trackball horizontally across the control panel and how frequently(virtually non-stop), add heat from the friction created and the properties of human skin and BAM! Horrible, horrible blisters and splits in the skin of your hand

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Chris, Nov 3rd, 2003 @ 6:24am

    Those Atari 2600 joysticks also caused a bruise where the corner of thing dug into the palm of the hand not controlling the joystick. BTW, The game you are refering to was Decathalon.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Atari track and field

    identicon
    achacha, Nov 3rd, 2003 @ 12:34pm

    The best way to win was to rotate the joystick, it registered 4 clicks in 1 rotation and you could go twice as fast... a small oversight in the game design, but the pain it caused was all the same... I must have broken at least a dozen on those joysticks, they were so poorly made.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    Re: Atari track and field

    identicon
    begley, Mar 9th, 2005 @ 6:29am

    the new gen of consoles willl hav 2 hav wirless controls and there is always an excuse for people we weak hands its your own fault for cheating press the buttons right 2 stop injuries because lets face it thats cheatin

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


Add Your Comment

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Save me a cookie
  • Note: A CRLF will be replaced by a break tag (<br>), all other allowable HTML will remain intact
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>


Lexmark DMCA Battle Far From Over >>
<< And Don't Forget The Seed Patents...
 tdicon 

A word from our Sponsors...
Follow Techdirt
Flattr rss rss

Powered by Postrank

From the Techdirt Archive...
A word from our Sponsors...

Close

Email This