[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Holy Video Games, Batman!
May 26th, 2008 by Benj Edwards
No more blisters for Batman.
No serious gamer should be without a pair of batting Video Game Gloves by Champion. Without the extra padding they provide, your hands can get chapped, cramped, and blistered while pushing it to the next level! These gnarly gloves even provide a padded thumb sleeve for enhanced video game play.
If that weren’t enough, it’s clear that Batman himself uses these gloves while gaming.
“Robin, pass me the Bat Gloves.”
Discussion topic of the week: Have you ever injured your fingers, hands, or wrists playing video games?
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May 26th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
I once got a sore shoulder muscle from playing too much X-Com: UFO Defense. I was in basic school at that time, I went to the doctor, he gave me muscle relaxants and three days off-school. Which of course led to almost non-stop playing of X-Com. With muscle relaxant, I couldn’t feel my shoulder hurting. Well, it hurt as hell afterwards, but it was worth every minute of it.
May 26th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
After I put my hand through my Game Gear because of stupid Battletoads, I had a couple bruises and cuts. True story.
May 26th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Atari 2600 – Space Invaders
I was very “animated” when I played video games early on…..when I wanted my ship to go left, I moved my shoulders left….when I wanted to go right, I moved them right. My sister came up behind me once and stopped my shoulders which caused me to lose my game (which was going quite well). I hurt my hand fighting with her…….
Does that count?
Layne
May 26th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I got blisters from Marble Madness in the arcade… gloves may have helped.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I could have used a pair of those for Track & Field in the arcade. There was the version with two buttons for running, but I was fortunate enough to play the newer version with the track ball. I swear to God I’d have blisters for weeks.
My friends and I got so good at the game that we never lost. We’d eventually just have to walk away from it.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Dude, the buttons (without the guards) was the best way to play Track and Field. All you needed was a pencil (or similar object). Placed correctly, it let you pound the buttons much faster and with less stress. The trackball version was done specifically for people who knew that trick.
Layne
May 27th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Still not as sweet as those Video Maniac gloves from a while back.
May 28th, 2008 at 1:51 am
I can’t say I’ve ever hurt myself, but I had a friend who got one nasty blister in the palm of his hand from playing the orignal Mario Party on the N64. I remember he was going around showing it to everyone at school the next day. He was so proud of himself. 😀
May 28th, 2008 at 7:52 am
I actually received a similar blister from playing Decathlon on the Atari 2600, Kat. It was in the center of the palm of my hand — about the size of a quarter. Yikes.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Yes, Decathalon on the 2600 was brutal, primarily due to the last event; the 1500 meter carpal tunnel dash. I suffered similar injuries after playing that game.
I literally had a thumb turn green after playing another 2600 game (I think it was Activision Grand Prix)
May 29th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I don’t recall injuring myself with Decathlon, but it did basically destroy a couple of our joysticks after a while. Actually the new Olympics game about to be published by Sega looks interesting because it finally has some new control mechanics other than wreck yourself and/or your controller.
Later on I did start to get some wrist pain with arcade coin-ops, and I think it had to do with being unusually tall so I was having to hold my hands at uncomfortable angles to use the controllers.
June 17th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Other than hand cramps… I don’t recall anything.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I have a pair of these and Superman gloves just like them. Terrible for game play but I use the to play bass and it’s awesome! I love my batman gloves to play live, but they are falling apart after so much use. I can’t find these anywhere now, can someone help me find some where to purchase more of these? You can reach me on myspace.com/killbitchkasy or email me at kasypowell@yahoo.com I really need new pairs bad! Thanks!
May 12th, 2014 at 8:22 pm
I have never injured myself playing video games. However there have been two occasions where I have witnessed video game related injuries on some of my friends. Back in 1991, a kid I knew named Tony got the SNES. He was upgrading from an Atari 2600. He played so much SNES, that he got nasty blisters on both his thumbs. His parents had to limit the amount of time he played after seeing this. Another good friend of my since high school has also injured his hands playing video games. He gave himself friction burns on the palms of his hands playing the various Dragon Ball Z fighting games in the PS2. I think I recommended to him that he get gloves to avoid that type of injury. I had no idea they actually made gaming gloves however.