Why I Don't Play First Person Shooter Games

I keep getting asked why I don't play first person shooter games and usually when I'm asked this question it's with raised eyebrows or a level of suspicion as if I have something against the FPS genre. I don't. I don't think third person view is better than first person or vice versa. I know many people that love FPS games and if that's your jam, more power to you. There are a ton of great ones from what my friends and family who play them tell me.

There's nothing nefarious going on with why I don't play or review FPS games. The answer is simple. I can not play them and I don't mean my skills are lacking and I suck. I mean that I can't physically play them without feeling like I'm going to be violently sick. In many of the FPS games the camera bobs crazily or rotates quickly and then I end up feeling like I've ridden the world's craziest roller coaster and I am about to die and I'll be laying on the floor praying to every deity in the universe that the vertigo will pass, the room will stop spinning, and my urge to vomit will go away quickly.

My face when I try to play FPS games. It's not pretty. 

I recall how bad the camera was for Borderlands when I tried to play it on the Xbox 360 and I couldn't even make it past five minutes. There was no way to turn off the bobbing which really sucked. A friend informed me that on the PC you could turn that off. To this day, I still don't understand why they didn't have the ability to turn it off on the 360. I've tried playing FPS games on the PC and I end up with the same result; trying not to puke all over my shoes. 

I've tried all the suggestions my friends offered. I've tried having enough light, sitting at a proper distance, and the "stare at the horizon" so I have a focal point trick. None of it works for me. Maybe it works for others, but with me the vertigo returns and in some cases I'm even sweating ridiculous amounts. I tried to play Thief on the PS3 too, because I really wanted to play. Boy, was that a mistake. Five minutes in and not only did I have a headache, my stomach was doing flip flops, and I had that familiar sensation of the entire room spinning. It sucked and I was disheartened that I would not be able to play the game. 

I can't play from this view, which bums me out. 

Would I love to be able to play FPS games? Yes. Yes, I would. I would love to be able to play awesome games like Bioshock and Dishonored, but I can't. I'm just one of those gamers that can't handle them because they mess me up and make me physically ill, so I have to sit out on many of the cool FPS games out there because honestly, the idea of hurling does not thrill me. Besides, there are plenty of other great games for me to play and enjoy that are in third person view. That's okay with me. Sure, it sucks that I can't play in first person view, but I can play in third person view with no problems and as long as I can still play video games I'm happy. In the long run, that's all that really matters.