Mirrors Edge Nausea

The first-person “runner” game Mirror's Edge puts you in the shoes of Faith Connors, an acrobatic parkour expert who leaps from rooftops to escape police. This gameplay mechanic has caused many gamers to become nauseous, due to the motion sickness induced from the frenetic pace combined with the first-person perspective. Clive Thompson, who addressed the issue in a Wired.com article, suggested that the effect was due to the game's simulation of the player's “proprioception”—the body's sense of itself.Wired: Victory in Vomit: The Sickening Secret of Mirror's Edge (November 16, 2008)

First-person shooters—like Halo 3 or Half-Life—put you directly in the role of the main character. You see exactly what they see, and control their movements as though you actually were the character. However, Mirror's Edge is a slightly different experience in that it simulates proprioception, which is the body's sense of itself. When you control Faith as she balances precariously while walking across a tight rope, you wobble and can see her legs and arms flail. When she lands from a zip-line dive and goes into a roll, the view flips upside down and you see Faith's knees tucked in. This effect is new in video games, and is possibly the cause of the nausea gamers experience while playing.Wired: Victory in Vomit: The Sickening Secret of Mirror's Edge (November 16, 2008)