Another Gaming Death in South Korea

[Saxywoo]

Pulled from CNN on 10-AUG-2005:

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.

Just a little bit crazy, don't you think? This is the 4th or 5th time I've read something like this coming out of South Korea. Next thing that you know, they are not only going to have game ratings and maturity ratings on game, but they'll be putting addiction ratings as well. "Warning, this game is highly addictive. Play responsibly."

It's one thing to sit and play an instance in WoW for 4 hours because it just takes that long. It's another to go to a cyber cafe, sit down and play for almost 50 hours straight. Call me crazy, but you would think that the guy's family would say "hey, where the heck is ......?"

Now granted, I don't know much about the culture of South Korea, but it still seems a little strange to me. If we have any members from South Korea, can you please tell me how something like this could happen? I thought that families were closely knit, and someone not coming home unless they are away for a trip or something was inexcusable, and disrespectful to your family. Care to enlighten me?

-SaxyCorp

[Ashock]

>>Lee had recently quit his job to spend more time playing games<<


Another productive member of society dead.... Pity.



-A

[--Pete]

Hi,

>>Lee had recently quit his job to spend more time playing games<<
Another productive member of society dead.... Pity.
-A
[right][snapback]85667[/snapback][/right]

You're being entirely too harsh. Perhaps he was a registered organ donor. At the very least, he served as an example of what not to do.

;)

--Pete

[TaMeOlta]

Hi,
You're being entirely too harsh.&nbsp; Perhaps he was a registered organ donor.&nbsp; At the very least, he served as an example of what not to do.

;)

--Pete
[right][snapback]85669[/snapback][/right]

I hope he at least returned Khalim's heart .... :shuriken:

[Munkay]

I hope he at least returned Khalim's heart ....&nbsp; :shuriken:
[right][snapback]85671[/snapback][/right]

No time to, he was playing in Hardcore Mode.

Cheers,

Munk

[Zarathustra]

If he were playing WoW, his family would soon be suing Blizzard for changing their rest system from what it was in beta.

[Ashock]

Hi,
You're being entirely too harsh.&nbsp; Perhaps he was a registered organ donor.&nbsp; At the very least, he served as an example of what not to do.

;)

--Pete
[right][snapback]85669[/snapback][/right]

Well, in that case I hope they find a worthy candidate for his brain.


:blink:



-A

[--Pete]

Well, in that case I hope they find a worthy candidate for his brain.
:blink:
-A
[right][snapback]85685[/snapback][/right]

Ummmm? What brain?

--Pete

[Ashock]

Ummmm? What brain?

--Pete
[right][snapback]85686[/snapback][/right]

The one he sits on.


-A

[[wcip]Angel]

Oh dear Lord. The cheeky humour here is killing me!

...

:P

(Sorry, God. They started it!)

edit: for posterity, I want it on the record that I was drunk when I wrote this post. The fact that nobody noticed is really really scary. :lol:

(edited the day after.)

[Bun-Bun]

Oh dear Lord. The cheeky humour here is killing me!

...

:P

(Sorry, God. They started it!)
[right][snapback]85702[/snapback][/right]

This Korean guy is the butt of all our jokes!

[kandrathe]

A healthy human can go 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. The article indicated he took breaks to use facilities, and had a cot to take cat naps on, so exhaustion is a stretch. In my life I've frequently done 48-72 hours without sleeping. It is obvious to me that his death would have coincidentaly happened at whatever he might have been doing. It's just that "South Korea man dies while watching TV" does not make for sensational headlines.

[Any1]

A healthy human can go 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food.&nbsp; The article indicated he took breaks to use facilities, and had a cot to take cat naps on, so exhaustion is a stretch.&nbsp; In my life I've frequently done 48-72 hours without sleeping.&nbsp; It is obvious to me that his death would have coincidentaly happened at whatever he might have been doing.&nbsp; It's just that "South Korea man dies while watching TV" does not make for sensational headlines.
[right][snapback]85744[/snapback][/right]

I've also stayed up for 48+ hour streches on occasion (w/o naps), and all I was at the end was very tired. However, I'm in very good shape and what I was doing during that period wasn't stressful at all. I think it's fair to say that his physiology was already somehow "taxed" before he sat down for the 50 hour run. The extra load of the marathon computer game session was the "last straw".

[kandrathe]

I've also stayed up for 48+ hour streches on occasion (w/o naps), and all I was at the end was very tired.&nbsp; However, I'm in very good shape and what I was doing during that period wasn't stressful at all.&nbsp; I think it's fair to say that his physiology was already somehow "taxed" before he sat down for the 50 hour run.&nbsp; The extra load of the marathon computer game session was the "last straw".
[right][snapback]85747[/snapback][/right]

I still don't think it is fair to characterize the "gaming" as the last straw. He could have been driving on the freeway in rush hour, or going for a walk when his body broke down. It just happened that "this" time a person on the verge of death was playing a computer game, and so that makes for great news in feeding the paranoia of "Gaming is addictive and evil". Heart failure due to stress or exercise is not new, and people expire all the time while having sex, running, or taking a dump.

Someone should have had a chat with him a year earlier, saying "Hey, Lee!, you are getting fat and lazy playing video games all the time. Find some balance in your life man! Get some exercise!" But, it was either his own bad choices or some genetic weakness that killed him.

[Jeunemaitre]

If he were playing WoW, his family would soon be suing Blizzard for changing their rest system from what it was in beta.
[right][snapback]85674[/snapback][/right]

No confirmation on this, but I just heard this story repeated on the radio: but the report included the phrase "49 hour marathon session of the battle simulation game Starcraft." I don't think there were two such streaks going on in South Korea at the time so I'm pretty sure it is the same gentleman (again only identified as Mr. Lee). Also, the radio report stated that the gentleman had been fired for missing work to play games (instead of quitting). Maybe the radio got it wrong, but it seems like certain jokes may be closer to the truth than one might think: Blizzard may indeed get served.

Although, if I were a betting man, I'd bet that they'd have a stronger case for negligence on the part of the owner of the cafe rather than Blizzard. Also, if I were a betting man, I'd bet that China's authorities just found another argument for preventing the playing of certain games by minors. Also, if I were a betting man, I'd take odds, the last three spins have been even numbers.

[--Pete]

Hi,

Well said. Considering the popularity of gaming in Korea and the number of Koreans that die each year, it is to be expected that some of them will die in cybercafes. The correct question (beyond the capacity of the media to calculate or of the public to understand) is, "Is the death rate in cybercafes significantly higher than it should be given the demographics." Unless the answer is 'yes', then all this nonsense is a 'dog bites man' story and hence not *news*.

--Pete

[whathuh]

Pulled from CNN on 10-AUG-2005:
Just a little bit crazy, don't you think?&nbsp; This is the 4th or 5th time I've read something like this coming out of South Korea.&nbsp; Next thing that you know, they are not only going to have game ratings and maturity ratings on game, but they'll be putting addiction ratings as well.&nbsp; "Warning, this game is highly addictive.&nbsp; Play responsibly."

It's one thing to sit and play an instance in WoW for 4 hours because it just takes that long.&nbsp; It's another to go to a cyber cafe, sit down and play for almost 50 hours straight.&nbsp; Call me crazy, but you would think that the guy's family would say "hey, where the heck is ......?"

Now granted, I don't know much about the culture of South Korea, but it still seems a little strange to me.&nbsp; If we have any members from South Korea, can you please tell me how something like this could happen?&nbsp; I thought that families were closely knit, and someone not coming home unless they are away for a trip or something was inexcusable, and disrespectful to your family.&nbsp; Care to enlighten me?

-SaxyCorp
[right][snapback]85664[/snapback][/right]

Sounds to me like an Urban Legend. I want to trust CNN, but gosh, what a darwin award.

[Roland]

I've also stayed up for 48+ hour streches on occasion (w/o naps), and all I was at the end was very tired.&nbsp; However, I'm in very good shape and what I was doing during that period wasn't stressful at all.&nbsp; I think it's fair to say that his physiology was already somehow "taxed" before he sat down for the 50 hour run.&nbsp; The extra load of the marathon computer game session was the "last straw".
[right][snapback]85747[/snapback][/right]

I once stayed up for almost a week straight, out of sheer boredom. I also once spent three days without sleep because of a baby bird that fell out of its nest. I cared for it, and didn't want to risk sleeping because somewhere between 4:00 and 5:30 every morning, he'd wake up screaming for food. Then he'd sleep some more. :P

[Any1]

I still don't think it is fair to characterize the "gaming" as the last straw.&nbsp; He could have been driving on the freeway in rush hour, or going for a walk when his body broke down.&nbsp; It just happened that "this" time a person on the verge of death was playing a computer game...[right][snapback]85751[/snapback][/right]

I agree, he could've been peeling potatos or reading books for that long, and the result would have probably been the same.

[Archon_Wing]

Well, at least these people are just killing themselves. There was a report not too long ago where someone killed another person for stealing their MMORPG item.

Of course, people have been stupid since the beginning of time. Thus, the one constant we have is that people will always find something stupid to do with the latest technology.

Why else do you think we need warnings on chainsaws that say "Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals." ?