Man dies after 50 hours of computer games

[dhinojosa]

South Korean left seat in Internet cafe only to use toilet, take brief naps
Updated: 6:43 p.m. ET Aug. 9, 2005
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8888579/

SEOUL, South Korea - 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 online games on Aug. 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.

[Not_Giving_Up]

1. This makes my husband at risk

He plays like that, but at home.

[Spider Jerusalem]

2. I guess I should worry...

next time I go to a 2-day, Bawls-fuelled LAN party, eh? I'll remember to take a nap.

[BikeWriter]

3. Lightweight!

[dhinojosa]

4. How long do you play? nt

[BikeWriter]

5. I don't keep times. I've spent most of the last six years online...

I've gone two weeks sometimes without going downstairs in my house.

[LouisianaLiberal]

6. I had no understanding of the addictive properties

of computer games until I played one called Caesar 3. I played for 15 hours straight, getting up only twice during that time. At 5 in the morning I thought only a few hours had passed, and was amazed when I saw the time.

I never thought I would be seduced by a computer game, never having played one before.

[nookiemonster]

7. I only know the dilemna too well.

Civilization 3. The game would not let me go!!

15 hours is nuttin'. lol

[dhinojosa]

12. Starcraft took my life away when it came out....

Great game.

[borlis]

8. My 8 year old plays until his eyes are bloodshot

and his fingers stiff. I hope he is not next. :scared:

[necso]

9. Although it might seem

a somewhat odd point of view, even relatively small things can effectively have great powers of their own. That is, they can be seen to have significant, observable effects in (and on) the world around them at least at times (and for many common cultural artifacts, especially effects on people), above and beyond the great pull of the various natural (and cultural) currents over, through, around -- and often ultimately to them.

And some seemingly insignificant cultural artifacts can suck you right in -- and then they can suck up an incredible amount of your time, in big lumps or small. And this has its cost -- which can even be ruin in the extreme case.

I don't play games much anymore, but I can remember getting up from some particularly involved session to do some necessary task. And it was like there was something in my head pulling me back towards the screen; I mean I could actually sense this feeling falling away like it was some kind of weird buzz that I was losing as I moved away.

...As for big things, well, they could ruin us all. And they could do it without even half "trying".

[NuttyFluffers]

10. Wuss.

I remember the countless times that my friends and I pulled 3-day weekend benders on video games. Easily several sessions of 72+ hours straight on life support: no naps, no sleep, brief visits to eat and go to the bathroom and that's it. If we could have had an IV attached so we could skip even that we would have.

Probably died from sucking down too much caffeine in a 50 hour period. Hell, every now and then you hear about college kids ODing on caffeine pills or purified caffeine liquid drops. That stuff will kill ya, makes your heart work overtime.

Y'know, I've done life support playing several times for RPGs, too. With that one often takes a nap or two because some of the older games took so long to level up and draw dungeon maps that it'd take around a week or two to finish. But 50 hours straight? Child's play. Guy would've wilted like a flower if I had to take him raving...

[pinniped]

11. FPS--X-Files.

First Person Shooter- Darryl Musashi

[kick-ass-bob]

13. kick

:evilgrin: