PopCap Titles Life-Savers

GameSetWatch has a humorous look at a recent press package they received from PopCap Games. From the article: "'Earlier this summer I had a terrifying situation where an unexpected interaction of two new prescription medicines sent me into a panic attack so severe it made me attempt suicide. When I got home from the hospital that night, I sat there playing the endless version of Bejeweled 2 for most of the night, while the last of the overdose I had taken worked its way out of my system.' This, kind readers, is why casual games are actually pretty hardcore."

Comments

Not a serious attempt.

[grub]

a panic attack so severe it made me attempt suicide. When I got home from the hospital that night

If the hospital sends you home "while the last of the overdose [you] had taken worked its way out of [your] system" then it wasn't much of an attempt so much as a whiny cry for attention. At the least they'd make you swallow a disgusting charcoal drink or pump you out and keep you for psychiatric evaluation.

Re:Not a serious attempt.

[Mmm coffee]

My mother had a major stroke at the beginning of the year. After taking a few tests and shrugging their shoulders they sent her home. While trying to get her into the car she was obviously very disoriented and it took ten minutes to get her in because she couldn't understand even the simplest of commands. I trusted the doctor. My mistake.

When we got home it took half an hour to get her inside and into bed because she couldn't understand how to walk. After a few hours she shat herself, and we called the ambulance again. They could not believe that the hospital sent her home, and they drove her to the same hospital. The nurses on that shift took one look at her and said "Oh yeah, that's a HUGE stroke. We're surprised she survived."

While walking outside to get a breath of fresh air I noticed a billboard on the wall of the ER. On it was a graph on a huge poster proudly showing that the amount of time patients spent at the emergency room was well below quota. As if this was a good thing.

This was a hospital in Wichita, Kansas, USA. From personal experience, it doesn't matter if you're having a cough or an obvious life threatening stroke, if they can find even the slightest reason to send you home then they will. In my mother's case, the tests said nothing was wrong even though something was visibly wrong.

This story is entirely plausible.

Re:Tetris

[Anonymous Coward]

rumor was that it affected the GNP of the US the year it came out

Wow, what a non-statement. Of course Tetris affected the US's GNP. Some people were less productive at work because of Tetris. Some people probably came up with ideas that improved efficiency at work. People playing Tetris drove demand for purchasing computers or game machines. People having their computer on to play tetris used electricity, and so caused higher sales for energy and oil companies. Some video games were purchased less because people's game time was spent playing Tetris. Some video games were purchased more because people got hooked into video games by playing Tetris.

An INTERESTING fact or even rumour would say that "Tetris significantly (Where minimum significe is statistically defined) increased the GNP in the year that it came out." Then examining the major sinks and sources for capital provided by the existance of the video game Tetris. Otherwise I could just come out and say "bottled water affects your lifespan" in which case I'm not helping anyone by imparting that information. Could be that bottled water encourages people to drink more water, which leads to better hydration which leads to better health which leads to a longer life span. Could be that certain minerals found primarilly in bottled water slow down aging processes or prevent cancer. Could be that bottled water contains toxins that shorten your lifespan. Could be that the stress of living a lifestyle which allows bottled water to be regularilly purchased will shorten your lifespan. Could be that.. whatever. The phrase "bottled water affects your lifespan" is a non-statement, as well as the phrase "[Tetris] affected the GNP of the US the year it came out."

You've never been there...

[hackwrench]

Unfortunately in my case, the build up in my system was so slow that it wasn't immediately obvious that the medications were the problem, and I had to deal with the effects for quite some time until switching meds cleared things up.

the death of RTFA

[Bootle]

The entire damn article (almost) was quoted in the summary!

What can we say instead of RTFA??? The end is nigh (for our attention spans at least).

Re:Games are no cure all

[darkmayo]

Just like watching movies, seeing plays, listening to music, reading novels etc.

Right?

Re:Games are no cure all

[FooAtWFU]

Seriously, outside pure escapism , games do nothing good.

Sometimes a few ounces of pure escapism can be a good thing, you know? Keep you from going slightly crazy, work out your anger nondestructively...

Har har!

[cornface]

GameSetWatch has a humorous look at [...]

had a terrifying situation where an unexpected interaction of two new prescription medicines sent me into a panic attack so severe it made me attempt suicide.

Har har! Overdosing on drugs and trying to kill yourself is funny!

I hate you, slashdot.

Re:Har har!

[pnice]

had to do it

Re:Addicting games

[superpulpsicle]

You people are hyping up bejeweled big time. I downloaded a free demo and find it disappointing to have it not be as addicting as heroine.