Slashdot Mirror


Another Man Dies After Marathon Gaming Session

loserMcloser writes "Another Chinese man has died after spending three days in an internet cafe for an online gaming marathon session. He apparently fainted and died at the cafe from exhaustion. 'The report did not say what the man, whose name was not given, was playing. The report said that about 100 other Web surfers "left the cafe in fear after witnessing the man's death."'"

58 of 486 comments (clear)

  1. oblig. futurama by Joe+the+Lesser · · Score: 5, Funny

    Scruffy gonna die the way he lived

    --
    "I only speak the truth"
    Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
    1. Re:oblig. futurama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you die in the real world, you die in the game!

  2. And the culprit is .... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... the lead paint on the game controller.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:And the culprit is .... by Fozzyuw · · Score: 3, Funny

      And the culprit is ....

      Too much over-time at work.

      --
      "The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
  3. anyone else hear that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's the sound of Jack Thompson creaming his pants

    1. Re:anyone else hear that by Esion+Modnar · · Score: 3, Funny

      No, that was him releasing his bowels.

      --

      They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
    2. Re:anyone else hear that by sentientbeing · · Score: 5, Funny

      Whats the problem?

      He'll just respawn back at the entrance.

      --

      ------
      beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his mind he dreams himself your master
    3. Re:anyone else hear that by EvanED · · Score: 3, Funny

      He'll just respawn back at the entrance.

      "No, don't you get it? If you die in Bejing, you die in real life!"

    4. Re:anyone else hear that by chemisus · · Score: 5, Funny
  4. Only one thing to do then .. by PriceIke · · Score: 4, Funny

    Guess we'll just have to ban online gaming. How many more have to die??

    --
    It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
    1. Re:Only one thing to do then .. by RingDev · · Score: 3, Funny

      Funny, I thought China already had laws dealing with online gaming... Maybe they just need more laws. Laws will save us all! Yea laws! Because if it's illegal, no one will do it. We just need to make it more illegal.

      -Rick

      --
      "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
    2. Re:Only one thing to do then .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, the last thing they would be expecting is the Spanish Inquisition.

    3. Re:Only one thing to do then .. by mstahl · · Score: 4, Funny

      It worked here for the war on drugs... oh wait.

    4. Re:Only one thing to do then .. by Dirtside · · Score: 4, Funny

      We just need to make it more illegal.

      What we really need is to define the standard metric unit of illegality. Here's some options:

      - Five-megabyte unauthorized song downloads
      - Men's room foot-tappings
      - CIA agent identity leakings
      - Sports memorabilia thievings

      Come up with your own!
      --
      "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
    5. Re:Only one thing to do then .. by BorgCopyeditor · · Score: 3, Funny

      Damned liberals with their nanny-state! Saving children from death! How are children going to learn the fatal consequences of dangerous actions if they are constantly protected against them? How are they going to learn to survive on their own if we don't let them die a few times?

      --
      Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
    6. Re:Only one thing to do then .. by BorgCopyeditor · · Score: 5, Funny

      the standard metric unit of illegality

      I propose the "hijink."

      --
      Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
    7. Re:Only one thing to do then .. by MBGMorden · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Gun control basically is the same thing: for a gun to really be a problem one must already be prepared to break the law. So given that a willingness to break the law is already a prerequisite for a gun crime to take place: do you really think that the culprit is gonna give a damn that he's breaking a law by obtaining or carrying a gun?

      To put it into Slashdot terms: it would be like the government outlawing encryption to prevent terrorists from communicating. If they're talking about blowing up a building do you really think they are afraid to have a copy of PGP installed on their computer? Nope. All outlawing encryption does is take it away from the people who were originally using it for non-illegal purposes, or make criminals out of those who refuse to give it up even if their original actions were perfectly legal. Same applies to guns.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    8. Re:Only one thing to do then .. by kernel_panic · · Score: 3, Funny

      I guess the same can be said about driving a car, or having a penis.

    9. Re:Only one thing to do then .. by theridersofrohan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Gun control basically is the same thing: for a gun to really be a problem one must already be prepared to break the law. So given that a willingness to break the law is already a prerequisite for a gun crime to take place: do you really think that the culprit is gonna give a damn that he's breaking a law by obtaining or carrying a gun? That argument has two major holes:

      a) It is assuming that people are rational beings and that all actions are well premeditated. It's pretty well known by now that people are irrational (hey, how's that for a slashdot audience, this is a blog entry by the gmail creator!). Basically, in a surge of emotion (think domestic fights, a depressed / severely stressed kid (say a highschool shooting)), if one can easily have access to guns (by opening the local cabinet, going to a store, etc.), they can cause massively more damage, significantly more easily.

      b) That the massive number of guns going around in a society will always be used by the people they were intended in the way they were intended. This is patently not true, as demonstrated by kids getting access to their grandfather's gun, or various people we (the west) have massively funded and provided guns to (think Bin Laden and the Mujahideen's in Afganistan vs the Soviets, or Saddam versus the Iranians).

      There's also, of course, a moral argument. The only primary purpose of the gun is to kill. The whole protection stuff is completely secondary; a gun 'protects' by killing, or threatening to kill. I, personally, think that society has an obligation to protect its citizens, and banning a device the purpose of which is to kill is a good idea.

      Guns don't kill people, people kill people. And monkeys kill people. If you give them a gun. (to quote eddie izzard)
    10. Re:Only one thing to do then .. by sanosuke76 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Disturbed teenagers? Yes, they'll still get them.

      Drug-runners? Yes, they'd keep getting them. In fact, if you were to ban weapons here in the US, they'd become the new pipeline for all firearms, and the ones illegally obtained would become MORE dangerous, not less. It's a felony to possess an illegally obtained semi-automatic rifle, and it's a felony to possess a select-fire AK-47. If you're gonna go, go all out.

      Random jerks on the street? They'd still have them. The number of times I have been asked if I was carrying a weapon, either by law enforcement or anyone who I couldn't just lie to about it if I were, has been precisely zero.

      Of course, the problem with states like California and New York is that we simply don't have enough guns on the street in the RIGHT hands. States which allow individuals who've passed psychological profiles, proficiency tests, and regular testing/certification in exchange for the right to carry concealed weapons which they've qualified with, tend to have their crime rates go down. This is a reasonably well documented (on both sides of the argument) talking point to research, so I'll let you guys do your own reading on the matter. One pro-gun book to begin your search with is "More Guns, Less Crime" by John Lott. There are, of course, contrary viewpoints which are worth looking into as well, but they'll frequently reference Lott's work, so it's a good general purpose search term to dig up both ends of the argument.

      I actually work at gun shows on the weekends in California (just handled the Ontario one yesterday, actually), and you would probably not believe the number of folks who own unregistered assault weapons (not to be racist, but it seems that a quarter or so of the Hispanic guys out there have an unregistered MAK-90 in the closet, and ask me for folding stocks to dress it up with, making it even MORE illegal!) and usually at every show someone will mention an unregistered fully automatic weapon they have at home. These are only the turkeys who talk about it openly to everyone, and go to shows - which I would estimate at maybe 10% of the scofflaws out there. If it's not working in California, one of the "poster child" states for gun control, you can be pretty sure it's not going to work elsewhere. Every time they try to "tighten it up" here, more folks just start ignoring the law, and substantial numbers of the police become less interested in enforcing the laws which are starting to go well beyond what they consider reasonable.

      The real answer to a reasonable amount of gun control, would be to restrict the scope of the more onerous and less adhered to laws, to only apply as sentence enhancements for violent crimes (or individuals with a weapons related conviction within the past 10 years). There really is no good reason why the 35yo guy with a clean record who wants to drive out every weekend to punch holes in paper with his AR-10 semi-auto rifle, and never uses it for anything else, should be treated the same as an on-again off-again drug abuser with a history of misdemeanors.

      The purpose of guns is to accelerate lead to velocities at which it can travel in a straight line, until intercepted by a target. The designation of that target is entirely up to the shooter. I happen to legally build AK-47 rifles, assemble AR-15's for friends, reload my own ammunition, and own somewhere around 80 guns (yes, I do have records of all of them, I just don't feel like counting for a slashdot poll). None of them have been used in a crime, and I don't foresee that changing at any point.

      --
      My 229 is all the Sig I need http://thegunwiki.com/
  5. Die with a smile by BlowHole666 · · Score: 4, Funny

    All you need is a beer helmet and a chick giving you a blow job and you could die with all your bases covered.

    --
    I smoked pot once. But I DID NOT inhale. Will you hire me?
    1. Re:Die with a smile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      die with all your bases covered. All your dead base are belong to us.
  6. But is it true? by cduffy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is coming from state-run media, it doesn't contain enough details for easy independent verification -- and the state has indicated that combating "Internet addiction" is one of its goals.

    There's a lack of truthiness here.

    1. Re:But is it true? by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The very definition of 'truthiness' is "this is the truth because I say it is" (see Colbert Report, S01E01). That is exactly what is going on here, and of which you say there is a lack of. 'Truthiness' is not synonymous with 'truthfulness'--it is the antithesis of it.

      --
      This guy's the limit!
  7. This could have been avoided by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    This wouldn't have happened if he had been running Linux.

  8. Re:$5 says... by njfuzzy · · Score: 5, Funny
    So technically that means he died at work? Go figure.

    What? It did say he was Chinese, right?

    What?

    ...I'm just sayin'.

    --
    My Photography - http://ian-x.com
    The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
  9. The problem with today's youth is ... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is precisely the problem with the youth of today compared to my Great Generation. Just one gamer kicks the bucket and 100 others run away from the scene scared. Come on guys, show some courage. Show some sticktoitiveness.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  10. Re:Darwin for the Modern Era by kevmatic · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hehe, actually, it isn't that a new concept.

    For instance, game console manuals have been reminding you to take breaks for many years. The Game Gear manual, I know, had it.

    Earthbound (SNES), too, actively alerted you after like 3 hours that you should really take a break (your dad calls your cell phone). It also had billboards about it (Mothers against Obsession or something).

    I remember playing Earthbound till it alerted me several times. It helped; I'd be like "Oh CRAP, I have been playing a long time."

  11. Re:Wonder why.. by mark-t · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, it *IS* the most populated place in the world... racial differences notwithstanding, statistically the odds are that for any given random human trait, you are most likely to find it there in the highest quantity.

  12. Mega Kill!!! by Cedric+Tsui · · Score: 5, Funny

    Double Kill
    Multi Kill
    Mega Kill!
    ULTRA KILL!!
    M-m-m-monster Kill.
    LUDACRIS KILL!
    H O L Y S H I T!

    R E A L I T Y KILL!!!!!

    1. Re:Mega Kill!!! by The+One+and+Only · · Score: 4, Informative

      LUDACRIS KILL!

      There's no evidence he's ever done that. "Ludacris" is a rapper. "Ludicrous" is the adjective you want.

      --
      In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
    2. Re:Mega Kill!!! by pimpimpim · · Score: 3, Funny

      And even worse, he forgot 'wicked sick'!

      --
      molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
  13. Microsoft Vista Prevents this Problem by 517714 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The (lack of) stability of the Operating System prevents running a computer for such marathon sessions.

    --
    The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
  14. Doesn't happen here? by king-manic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm an Asian gamer with a mild addiction to warcraft 3. I don't understand how Asia can have a few of these incidents and the west has so none.Is there a distinct cultural difference to explain this? Or is it just statistic's? There i about 2.5 billion people in Asia proper vs 1 billion in all of the west. I don't understand how addiction is going to force you to sleep or drink or eat. I suppose I don't understand because all of my addictions are mild and state endorsed (women, video games, food, and tea).

    --
    "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
    1. Re:Doesn't happen here? by vidarlo · · Score: 4, Funny

      I suppose I don't understand because all of my addictions are mild and state endorsed (women, video games, food, and tea).
      Excuse me sir, but I regret to tell you that you're quite addicted to food. Withdrawal will include death and unpleasantness.
    2. Re:Doesn't happen here? by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm an Asian gamer with a mild addiction to warcraft 3. I don't understand how Asia can have a few of these incidents and the west has so none.Is there a distinct cultural difference to explain this? Or is it just statistic's? There i about 2.5 billion people in Asia proper vs 1 billion in all of the west. I don't understand how addiction is going to force you to sleep or drink or eat. I suppose I don't understand because all of my addictions are mild and state endorsed (women, video games, food, and tea).


      Perhaps we have a lot less to escape from.
      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:Doesn't happen here? by king-manic · · Score: 4, Funny

      I suppose I don't understand because all of my addictions are mild and state endorsed (women, video games, food, and tea).

      Excuse me sir, but I regret to tell you that you're quite addicted to food. Withdrawal will include death and unpleasantness. Meh.. I can quit any time I want to.
      --
      "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
    4. Re:Doesn't happen here? by happyemoticon · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In my experience, Asian gamers take it a helluva lot more seriously. I used to play SC2 against my roommate. I just wanted to pick it up and play every once in a while, and learn a few tricks. I could beat almost anybody else on the floor. My roommate, though, his goal was to become a monster. And so we were pretty competitive for a few months, and then I lost interest in improving while he just kept at it. He became nigh-unbeatable. It was pretty much the same deal with respect to CounterStrike and two other Asian guys in the building or Starcraft and another set of people who liked that or whatever else we were playing back then.

      As for whether this applies to general work ethic, or sports, or arts, I'm not so sure, but it seems very true of gaming.

    5. Re:Doesn't happen here? by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I used to play SC2 against my roommate. Hey man, can I borrow your time machine? Cool, thanks!
      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
  15. Re:$5 says... by slughead · · Score: 5, Funny

    >He died playing WoW. Do I have any takers?

    If that were true, I'd say his life just improved.

  16. Not really an epidemic by OrangeTide · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A lot more people die from sky diving every year, and I think most of us accept that sky diving is not an epidemic social problem.

    Real problems could include: chronic disease, car accidents, criminal violence, ...

    I think it's more of a problem that 100 people fled the scene than one guy dying from his compulsive personality disorder.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    1. Re:Not really an epidemic by TopShelf · · Score: 4, Funny

      A lot more people die from sky diving every year, and I think most of us accept that sky diving is not an epidemic social problem.

      Hey, some people are addicted to computer games, some are addicted to gravity...

      --
      Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
    2. Re:Not really an epidemic by GrayCalx · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hey, some people are addicted to computer games, some are addicted to gravity...

      I tried going off gravity cold turkey... I crashed hard.

      /I'm here all week... tip your mods.

  17. Re:And I thought ... by nelsonal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd guess it's one of two things, either he's earning money by farming loot and if he logs/leaves he will reduce his income substantially (because someone else will get his location or it takes a long time to reach). Or he's really just on the receiving end of a variable schedule reward system and he misses the dopamine hits too much to leave.

    --
    Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
  18. In other news today ... by u-235-sentinel · · Score: 3, Funny

    The State has confirmed today that it has struck a deal with Comcast to provide monitoring services stating had Comcast's service been in place, no one would have died as their Internet service would have been terminated in time to save the victim.

    Comcast has yet to release a statement about the deal however the President has been heard stating in the back "It's Comcastic!!"

    --
    Has Comcast disconnected your Internet account? Same here. You can read about it at http://comcastissue.blogspot.com
  19. Re:Darwin for the Modern Era by Babbster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This isn't a reason for games/console to remind players to take breaks. This is a reason to make even better games that will ensnare more of the world's obviously pathetic genetic material and flush it down the same toilet that this guy went down.

    I've had VERY long gaming sessions, even ones where I (quite foolishly) remained sitting for 12 hours in a row. But, one of the reasons I've never gone much longer that is that there were warning signs that I should quit, from yawning to blurred vision. There's no doubt in my mind that people who die in this fashion suffer symptoms long before they keel over, and at the very least there are the symptoms that everyone suffers when they need sleep (like, you know, falling asleep).

    Of course, there's plenty of blame to throw around to others as well. How about the staff of this cafe? What could possibly possess them to let this guy keep going? What was he ingesting in order to remain awake for that ridiculous period of time, and why didn't they either stop him ingesting it or stop serving him? Heck, after 24 hours I'd probably call an ambulance on spec! But, it's China, so who knows how people react...still, just the process of one human caring about the welfare of any other should have caused some reaction.

    To reiterate my original point, though: Now that it's over, it's probably just as well that he's gone. Not only was he dumb as a half-bag of rocks, but the fact that he could do this to himself in a public place tells me that he's probably better off dead than living in his community.

  20. Chinese != Korean by ToastyKen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Did I miss something? As far as I've heard, the only other case of death from gaming exhausting happened in Korea, but the submitter says "another Chinese man"...

  21. hypocrisy by Lord+Ender · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A few weeks ago there was a post about a programming competition sponsored by Microsoft in which students were expected to stay up for 24 hours straight and eat soda and junk food while coding.

    People here are laughing about this guy because he neglected sleep and nutrition to compete in this contest. They are saying "darwin award." Where was this same sentiment when Microsoft caused students to do the same thing for a different contest?

    Health should come before work and play, people! Your job is worthless if you are dead or ill from a terrible lifestyle. Don't let your boss force this behavior on you, and don't let companies like Microsoft force it on students.

    --
    A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
  22. Re:$5 says... by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, the first Marathon was fatal.

    Nobody ever learns from history.

    --
    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  23. Re:$5 says... by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 4, Funny

    >He died playing WoW. Do I have any takers?

    If that were true, I'd say his life just improved.


    Perhaps he thought his Second Life would kick in.

    --
    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  24. And can the Internet really you? by Mjlner · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The paper said that he may have died from exhaustion brought on by too many hours on the Internet.
    The article gives the impression that the Internet has something to do with his death. Exhaustion is exhaustion, regardless of whatever reason you have to stay awek. He could have just been gardening.
    It would definitely be more relevant to know whether he was using any stimulants to stay awake.
    --
    Lemon curry???
  25. Was it really out of fear? by Hel+Toupee · · Score: 3, Funny

    The report said that about 100 other Web surfers "left the cafe in fear after witnessing the man's death.
    Are we sure it wasn't just the smell?
    --
    PERL:
    All of the power of Voodoo with most of the understandibility!
  26. Only on Slashdot by Critical+Facilities · · Score: 3, Funny

    He apparently fainted and died at the cafe from exhaustion. 'The report did not say what the man, whose name was not given, was playing.
    How funny/sad is that? No "did he have a medical condition?", no "was there evidence of foul play", no "is there an autopsy scheduled", just "what game was he playing?"
  27. Obligatory by sam_paris · · Score: 4, Funny

    Did he drop any good loot?

  28. 24 hours? lol by everphilski · · Score: 4, Insightful

    24 hours is nothing. You've never pulled an all-nighter to get a semester project completed?

    Are you telling me you can't see the difference between a voluntary competition (hint: its kinda fun to pull an all-nighter every now and then... I have a wife and 2 kids and if I come across a fun project, I still do it from time to time) and a man who was either incapable of determining his tolerance or chose to ignore it (most likely the latter)?

    And I suppose you would have people oppose the voluntary fund raiser Up till Dawn as well? I mean, think of the college students that will be kept up all night and have to go to class in the morning!

  29. Backfiring of "one child per family" policy by ObiWonKanblomi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I heard a really good article a few weeks ago on NPR where sociologists were looking into the root cause of internet/gaming addiction in China. One interesting theory is that this generation of gamers is the product of the "one child per family" policy in China. Essentially this generation in China is full of only-children. This is bound to cause social issues, and this internet/gaming addiction is only a symptom of a larger sociological problem.

  30. ObTron by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 3, Funny

    "I want him in the games until he dies playing." -- MCP

    --
    "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
  31. Re:Marathon session by Pojut · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nonsense! We rinsed out the bongs twice a day during that week ;-)