Unhappy gamers claim new Nintendo Switch title is making them ill
Video games can make you feel all sorts of things including excitement, sadness, and joy, but a worrying trend has emerged among gamers in Nintendo's latest title that's left them feeling rather ill.
There are plenty of games for you to dive into if you've just picked up a new Nintendo Switch 2 console, especially as you can opt to pick up almost every game that has released on the last generation in the previous eight years.
You might opt for Mario Kart 8, or perhaps you want to try out the performance boosting updates for Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, but plenty are also gravitating towards Nintendo's latest blockbuster 3D platformer, Donkey Kong Bananza.
It debuted to glowing reviews and widespread praise from fans of the digital ape, but a small group of unhappy players have been met with an issue that prevents them from enjoying the experience - it's making them feel ill, and no, it's not because DK isn't naked.
How are people feeling ill?
As reported by Nintendo Life, a new thread posted on the r/nintendo subreddit by u/vruchtenhagel has made people aware that Donkey Kong Bananza - particularly the game's opening 45 minutes - is making people feel nauseous.
Advert
"I've never experienced motion sickness in all my years of gaming, but as I'm writing this on my phone, I'm close to throwing up," the poster illustrates.
"The camera in Ingot Isle feels incredible claustrophobic, and the music is only making it worse. Has anyone else dealt with motion sickness in a game before? And if so, how do you manage it? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!"
Typically you only tend to get motion sickness in first person games, especially with lower frame rates, or when using a VR headset due to the proximity of the screen to your eyes.
It's rather bizarre then that a third person platformer is causing such a significant response for some players though, and it doesn't appear to be an isolated issue either.
Is this a widespread issue?
There are quite a few people in the comments of the Reddit thread that are sharing their similar experience with the game's opening section, with some offering some handy tips to help clear the feeling too.
"I was looking for someone who had a similar experience to mine," writes one comment, adding that they "felt really, really sick in the first area as well, never had something like that happen to me before."
Another added that they "played for about an hour and experiencing the same feeling," so the original poster is definitely not alone.
Nintendo Life have conducted a poll of its readership to see quite how widespread this issue is, and while only 8% answered 'Yep, all the time, it's unplayable' to a question about motion sickness, 31% in total reported feeling ill at least once or twice when playing the game.
How to fix motion sickness in Donkey Kong Bananza
There does thankfully seem to be a fix if you're feeling motion sickness when playing Donkey Kong Bananza, as most people recommend that you play around with the 'screen shake' option in the settings menu.
This will make Donkey Kong's actions feel less dramatic, but it'll do a lot to help reduce the motion that the camera undergoes when playing, and aid in alleviating any unpleasant feelings that you'll have gained.
Many have also requested that Nintendo adds an option to zoom the camera out further, as that will help reduce the amount of moment you need to see in such a chaotic game. Hopefully the developer will listen to the requests and add the quality of life feature in a future update.