Man dies after online game marathon

[Nick F]

I wonder what he was playing ? I bet it was WOW.


SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) -- A South Korean man who played computer games for 50 hours almost non-stop died of heart failure minutes after finishing his mammoth session in an Internet cafe, authorities said on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old man, identified only by his family name Lee, had been playing online battle simulation games at the cybercafe in the southeastern city of Taegu, police said.

Lee had planted himself in front of a computer monitor to play on-line games on August 3. He only left the spot over the next three days to go to the toilet and take brief naps on a makeshift bed, they said.

"We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion," a Taegu provincial police official said by telephone.

Lee had recently quit his job to spend more time playing games, the daily JoongAng Ilbo reported after interviewing former work colleagues and staff at the Internet cafe.

After he failed to return home, Lee's mother asked his former colleagues to find him. When they reached the cafe, Lee said he would finish the game and then go home, the paper reported.

He died a few minutes later, it said.

South Korea, one of the most wired countries in the world, has a large and highly developed game industry.

[5cupa]

is that recent? as theres a been a few in korea/asia due to DVT

[Nick F]

is that recent? as theres a been a few in korea/asia due to DVT

happened last week I think. Found it on the CNN website.

[Krikkit]

Wow, that's dedication. I wonder why his body didn't just knock him out before it killed him... Most curious really, I suppose in another 1000 generations we'll have a system to knock us out after too much gaming

[Dav0s]

that must have been one vey addicitive game

[SilentDeath]

50 hours isnt THAT long. Anyone thats been to a 3day LAN will have played for the same amount of time...

[Pirate Pete]

yeh that is dedication uncut really

tough break to the guy, gaming absorbed his life

mabye gaming is the new and MUCH geekier form of drug abuse.......

quitting your job to play more? as long as the game payed in real life i wouldnt be to bad with that...but where would he get the cash to buy more games?

Pete

[scottyman]

probably ingested a coffee or other stimulant - that'll do it to your body.

[Dougal]

probably ingested a coffee

Wow, he didn't drink it!

This bring a whole new meaning to the acronym "WoW".

But they do like their games in the far east, remember when someone killed someone else for taking a sword in game?

[Lee H]

He probably got fed-up with bubble-boys and that caused his blood pressure to rise, and then he found out how much his Epic mount would cost.

Saying that he might have had an underlying heart condition similar to the one which causes fit atheletic adults to simply die.

[shiato storm]

think this is old news, read something very siliar to this last month, guy plays so much he neglects basic living requirements like food etc and dies just for the sake of playing a bit more...

[iranu]

Tis a shame he didn't live closer to fireman PrivatePyle with his defibrillator thingamabob....

[Dougal]

Tis a shame he didn't live closer to fireman PrivatePyle with his defibrillator thingamabob....

Then the headline would have been

"Man dies in fireball after online game playing session, Pyle denies all responsibility, but grins"

[Allen]

It's a shame some people don't have any self control when it comes to games. as it always looks so bad to the non-gaming community. Remember, around half a million people play WoW alone in Europe, so it must be higher than that in Korea (and USA for that matter), there are very few incidents really, so comparing it to a drug habit can't be fair.

The most I've ever played in one sitting (without eating or sleeping etc) can not be more than 6 hours or so, and even then I have regular stretching/cigarette breaks! Except for one or teo times round a mates house where we ate/drank/smoked at the desks so didn't move for a fair time.

[jonny4288]

Thats a bit much 50 straight hours, wonder if the internet cafe will be partly responsable for the guy's death

[Fatboy]

Thats a bit much 50 straight hours, wonder if the internet cafe will be partly responsable for the guy's death

Interesting, although given that there are very few isolated cases of this nature, I can't see them being held responsible, although if it does contiune there may be a bit of a "No, we can't serve you, you've had too much..." thing going on.

What would happen if you go from one internet cafe to another? "You look tired, have you been playing for 50 hours straight ..... oh, you're just tired..." I'd be very surprised if anything happens at all.