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GameToo Much...... And Die!

A 24-year-old South Korean man died after playing computer games nonstop for 86 hours, police said yesterday. The jobless man, identified by police only by his last name Kim, was found dead at an Internet cafe in Kwangju, 260 kilometres southwest of Seoul, they said. Quoting witnesses, police detective Oh Myong-sik in Kwangju said the man had been virtually glued to the computer since late last Friday and had no decent sleep and meals. The man collapsed in front of the counter early yesterday but soon regained consciousness. He then went to the toilet where he later was found dead, the police officer said. Initial investigation ruled out the possibility of murder, police said. An autopsy was planned. Source Article can be found in The Sydney Morning Herald In related gaming news: sam_handelman writes "In an article on the front page of the online edition, (free reg required) the new york times takes a rather negative look at the rise of broadband gaming in South Korea. The author, Howard W French, is a Times staff writer, with a background in staggering human tragedy, which may help to explain why he thinks my hobby is an epidemic. There was a wired article about Korean broadband (summary: they have lots), which we already discussed."

16 of 851 comments (clear)

  1. Skip NYTimes reg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    This link will go directly to the article in question, no reg required.

    Thank you, Google News!

  2. Re:Anyone know what game he was playing? by greenfly · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those of you who *don't* remember that, the negative worlds were an easter egg of sorts in Super Mario 1 that I believe the developers put in there to test the water levels.

    You go to level 1-2, which is underground, and go to the very end of the level, but not through the final pipe, if you stand on top of the pipe and knock out all the blocks to the left of it (but not to the right) and jump backwards a special way, you can walk through the wall and jump in one of the warp zone pipes before they list worlds 3, 4, and 5. If you do that you will warp to a negatively numbered world which is an water level that keeps going.

  3. Must have been high. by Puggles · · Score: 3, Informative

    Lack of sleep doesn't do it, nor mass amounts of monitor radiation. He was probably overdosed on some drug. He probably died like Elvis - a pH imbalance getting hightened by his duties in the bathroom.

    Besides, if this could happen to just anybody, EverQuest would have far fewer players...

    --

    Pereant, inquit, qui ante nos nostra dixerunt.
    "Confound those who have said our remarks before us."
  4. Re:Deep Vein Thrombosis? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    IAA physician. (BTW, do Americans (or is it a New Zealander in this case?) really call all physicians "doctors"? Cute.)

    isn't it the case that sitting anywhere for too long can cause blood clots to form in the legs?

    No. You get a harmless and physiologically normal venous pooling of blood, but if you get clotting from sitting still you suffer from a disease.

  5. Re:Let it be known... by Inthewire · · Score: 4, Informative

    Have you *ever* tasted meth? It isn't something you'd overlook in water. Coffee wouldn't mask it. It's not an oderless or tasteless substance.

    --


    Writers imply. Readers infer.
  6. Re:In other news... by VoiceOfRaisin · · Score: 2, Informative

    "A man recently died after drinking 15 gallons of beer."

    TERRIBLE example. seeing how alcohol is a POISON.
    last i heard, videogames arent.

  7. Heart attack (sheer speculation on my part) by sam_handelman · · Score: 4, Informative

    If he died on the toilet it was probably a heart attack - if you have a weak heart, constapation can kill you; stimulant drugs are also a possibility.

    Sudden death syndrome maybe, although I don't think they ever diagnose that it anyone unhealthy/obese, if he was, though there is a teat for it.

    Until recently (barring drug overdose, genetic or developmental abnormalities) 26 year olds did not have heart attacks. So, looking into my crystal ball, this will be used as ammunition for the argument that videogames reduce your level of physical activity, and are somehow responsible for the recent rise in cardiovascular disease among the very young - I can't find the ref. on google, can anyone else?

    If you want to avoid having heart attacks:
    1) Get exercise. This is NOT the same as don't game, and I myself utterly reject the notion that videogames are somehow responsible for droping levels of physical activity.
    2) Try not to be angry all the time. I know this can be difficult if you are a member of an oppressed minority group or work in tech support. Depression and overuse of simulants = also bad.

    --
    The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
  8. Re:Let it be known... by theLOUDroom · · Score: 2, Informative

    I just found this link: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_383454.html

    --
    Life is too short to proofread.
  9. Sleep Deprivation is VERY bad for you. by alchemist68 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Dude, do you have any idea the brain damage you inflicted on yourself? Sleep deprivation is very bad for you. Go to a Medical College Library and look up a book called "Principles of Sleep Medicine, Vol.1 & Vol.2". What you can read in there will scare the shit out of you so much that you'll go to bed every night for the rest of life consistently on time if you don't want to be either dead at 50 or drooling and smiling at a wall when you're 65. Sleep deprivation is very VERY bad for you.

    Why?

    Sleep not only controls our circadian rhythms, but also apetite control, immune system function, and cognitive performance. I think you can see where this is going.

  10. Re:I don't get it. by Pfhor · · Score: 3, Informative

    Its called manual disimpaction.

    Friend of mine is an EMT and has fun stories about that.

  11. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Pretty sure you're talking about the same thing. Gamma Hydroxybutyrolactone (or something like that) is the actual chemical. I've heard it called Georgia HomeBoy too, which makes about as much sense. Anyway, I tend to agree with the original poster - it was a nice substitute for alcohol back in the day - didn't last as long, no hangover, easy on the liver. Doesn't make you act quite as stupid either. But then they demonized it as a date rape drug, even though alcohol is a factor in way, way, WAY more rapes than GHB ever was. Not sure what this has to do with video games though...

  12. Re:Urban Myth by pyman · · Score: 2, Informative

    I heard about this on 92.9 FM, a local radio station in Perth, Western Australia, yesterday morning.

    --
    a ^= b; b ^= a; a ^= b;
  13. Re:Not according to this site by ChrisN79 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I know we are getting off topic here, but this -2 stuff is definitely a hoax. It even says so elsewhere on that web site. Some sort of April Fool's joke or something. Here is the link: http://www.smbhq.com/new.htm Scroll about a third of the way down and read the message for 4/3/02.

  14. Would you like to know more? Re:Man you moderators by PsychoKiller · · Score: 2, Informative

    What, are you curious about the precise methodology of feces extraction that was used?
    How many of you would have clicked through if there had been a link "Would you like to know more?"


    It's a scissoring motion with the fingers.

    Ah, the joy of having a girlfriend that's a nurse. I know all kinds of things about colons should not be known.

  15. Similar but worse.... by Etrigan_696 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I knew a guy that was almost this stupid. He took his student loans from college, didn't pay tuition and didn't go to class...Well, he took his big wad of cash and bought a Playstation and ALL the games on the market for it.
    He then went back to his trailer (he lived in a trailer with ratty carpet and wall-to-wall fleas)and hooked up his Playstation. His fiance had left town to visit her family, so he spent the next 72 hours playing playstation games.

    Here's the terrible part. His fiance had just got a teeny little kitten. It was barely weened. The guy got to playing games and completely forgot about the kitten. 72 hours later, it was dead in the bathroom behind the toilet from dehydration. He didn't notice for another couple days... when it started smelling like...well...a rotten kitten.

    So now, when my son plays video games too much, I tell him the story of the guy that played so many video games, his cat died.

  16. You have got to be kidding! by Conspiracy_Of_Doves · · Score: 3, Informative

    You mean to say you actually took something SERIOUSLY that you saw on answersingenesis.com? Sorry, try getting your information about evolution from a source that actually understands evolution. I have yet to find a single creationist who understands the basics of evolutionary science.

    Natural selection is one of the methods through which evolution works.