I don't generally have motion sickness problems from games I'm playing myself, but watching games played on youtube I've found that it's just easier and nicer to watch when the person is using a controller.

(I've been watching some PlayFrame lately, they use controllers and post very generous warnings for flashing lights, it makes the experience so much more pleasant.)

controllers do smooth a bunch of things out

there are definitely games I play exclusively on controller (although there are also ones I will only play on mouse and keyboard)

I think there are definitely pros and cons to both

I think part of the thing people are talking about with "mouse better" is that you can swing around faster. But I spent a couple months trying to do trap-on-the-run with a WoW hunter and the tool does not guarantee the capacity.

true

I mean, I do think that for at least some people they are going to be able to aim better with a mouse than a controller

it gives better granular control for that

but yeah not everyone is going to benefit from it

@BESW yeah, second-hand is a lot worse, when your brain can't anticipate sudden motion

@AndrasDeak I can't watch play vids of Return of the Obra Dinn except in my peripheral (even with controller), but I played it with a mouse with almost no problems.

I played some Doom and a lot of Duke Nukem in my childhood (with a mouse of course). I'd always end up being a bit sick. When stuck in closed areas, more than a bit.

Now that VR is a thing, those recordings are even worse for me than FPSs.

I've never had a chance to try VR, but if I could I might pass anyway. It's almost guaranteed that I'd be really sick really fast, and I hate the lingering queasiness.

i've found there's a number of settings in games that are more prone to make me sick

I disable head bobbing and motion blur whenever I can, and in some third-person games I'll turn off the auto camera.

(In some games manual control of the camera isn't viable, but I'll take it when I can get it.)

Heck, even firefox's smooth scrolling can be uncomfortable

@AndrasDeak Yeah, PlayFrame's series for Moss talked about needing new skills to make the recordings watchable, by learning how to move your head deliberately.

Yeah Head bob in particular just seems like practically a deliberate recipe for motion sickness