Fallout 3 gave me Tinnitus

It was sometime this year. I’d gotten Fallout 3 the year before and had been playing it for a while, maybe a month or so.

I was wondering around the D.C. Wasteland and just as I was enjoying my scenic jog, I encountered one of those Super Mutants. You know, the green, ugly b@stards that look kind of like the Incredible Hulk, except they’re bald, and have an affinity for assault rifles.

I went straight into V.A.T.S. mode and targeted him with my Laser Rifle. I opened fire and watched as the flashes hits the monster and disintegrated him. At this point, the sound that was generated and came through my new headset that I’d gotten for Christmas was excruciatingly loud and painful.

It turns out that actions, and therefore sounds, in V.A.T.S. are slowed down considerably, and that sound lingered for perhaps too long. For the next week or two, I had a strange feeling in my left ear, which lingers to this day somewhat. It felt blocked, and if I whistled, it created a strange feeling and sound. At night, when I tried to sleep, that ear became very sensitive, and picked up every sound; crackling and buzzing, whistling and whining. I figured it must have damaged my ear somehow, perhaps the ear drum. Maybe I had tinnitus.

Whatever the case, I kept it to myself and never saw a doctor. Fallout 3 damaged my ear. I came to the conclusion that if you use V.A.T.S., and you have a laser or plasma weapon which characteristically, and usually, melts or disintegrates enemies, turn down the sound on your speakers or headset.

Thank you. Of course I still play the game.

Fallout 3 gave me Tinnitus