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World of Warcraft is Bad for You!

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19 2007 3:00 AM

Submitted by Sid. Edited By erin_broadley.

TAGS: video games, bingeing



I love video games as much as many of you do. Hell, I spent the last six months of my life up until my big move west working in a video game store, and playing video games between classes.

Early on, I vowed not to become one of those World of "Warcrack" addicts after dating a fellow whose idea of a date was me coming over and watching him play said game, along with Halo 2 (he made me stand in a line with him for 3 hours for the midnight release of it, where I had at least seven dudes from the line recognize me from SG), and along with Unreal Tournament, which to this day makes me dizzy watching someone play. Besides being put off by the game because of these boring "dates", I was not willing to pay a monthly fee on top of paying the initial $50 for the game, and after playing a trial version, I decided I'd rather stick to D&D anyway. No offense to WoW players, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

However, this article is not about my game play, but rather of those who over-do it.


A man in southern China appears to have died of exhaustion after a three-day Internet gaming binge, state media said Monday.

The 30-year-old man fainted at a cyber cafe in the city of Guangzhou Saturday afternoon after he had been playing games online for three days, the Beijing News reported.

The report did not say what the man, whose name was not given, was playing.



Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. Games Digest reports:


This certainly isn’t the first time people have died as a result of obsessive video game binges, although so far all of the incidents have occurred outside Europe and North America. So -- keeping playing safe, kids and always remember to, y’know, eat and stuff.



And you may laugh at the last line of the above quote. I mean, I seriously can't fathom being so wrapped up in a video game where I can't bring my WoW character into a pub, or hit the "pause" button in Halo, or just not continue right away after an untimely death in Unreal, or what-have-you, but one 24-year old South Korean man, died from just that in 2002.


Police said Kim had been virtually glued to the computer since for 86 hours and had not slept or eaten.



And 10 days after Kim's death, 27-year old Lien Wen-cheng died after playing games for 32 hours in Taiwan.

Upon researching the writing of this article, the longest I could find anybody playing video games, in this case, Starcraft, and dying as a result was a whopping 50 hours. Dag, yo!

So be careful game addicts!

And if you're going to "binge" on your video games, make sure you stock up on those energy drinks, I recommend either:

Mountain Dew Game Fuel (in the Halo 3 can)


or, my personal favorite:

Bawls


Sid is glad that Trevor and I are lucky enough to have a cat who warns us if we've played too much by knocking the controllers out of our hands.

 

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Oxy

Oxy

United Kingdom
September 2005

SEP 19, 2007 03:07 AM

im pretty sure that most people that play games alot already know this.

Its not so much a games thing...its a addiction thing. If they were not playing games then there would be something else they were addicted to.

Oh and you forgot the couple who had there kid taken away from them cause they played D+D online for a week without feeding the kid.

MrCrisp

MrCrisp

Charleston, SC
August 2004

SEP 19, 2007 03:15 AM

i'd be six feet under if it wasn't for rested experience. wink oh, and work, food, and a life, too.

rabidrabbit

rabidrabbit

Turkmenistan
April 2006

SEP 19, 2007 03:21 AM

doing most things for long hours without eating or drnking properly will eventually lead to ill health and possibly death, not just computer games

thefreak

thefreak

NEWSWIRE

Gardner, MA

SEP 19, 2007 03:27 AM

rabidrabbit said:
doing most things for long hours without eating or drnking properly will eventually lead to ill health and possibly death, not just computer games


*fap fap fap fap fap*

I'm sorry, wha?

Why am I hungry?

-TM

thefreak

thefreak

NEWSWIRE

Gardner, MA

SEP 19, 2007 03:28 AM

And jeez, I just got sucked into WoW myself, but @least I know the magnificent wonders of meals, bathroom breaks, and meaningful employment!

Also, off-topic, but it's been a while since we've seen you w/an article, Sid. 'Grats! biggrin

-TM

Prince_Kajuku

Prince_Kajuku

United Kingdom
October 2004

SEP 19, 2007 03:33 AM

The obsessive playing of MMORPGs can lead to murder too.



A Chinese man has been stabbed to death in a row over a sword in online game Legends of Mir 3, say reports.
Shanghai gamer Qiu Chengwei killed player Zhu Caoyuan when he discovered he had sold a "dragon sabre" he had been loaned, said the china Daily.

Mr Chengwei only got the powerful virtual weapon shortly before it was sold for 7,200 yuan (£460).

Before the attack Mr Chengwei told police about the theft who said the weapon was not real property.

imclever

imclever

Kent, WA
February 2007

SEP 19, 2007 03:53 AM

I love Bawls.

So much so that a fellow EVE Online player quoted me professing my love of Balws in his bio.

Ok, I have embarrassed myself again.

Evilgasm

Evilgasm

Netherlands
April 2007

SEP 19, 2007 03:58 AM

RPG's should be played with pen and paper, and real people around, you the way the gods intended!

Long live D&D! biggrin

rabiddedbare

rabiddedbare

Germany
February 2006

SEP 19, 2007 04:25 AM

ok... yeah Darwin at work! Sorry had to...

rabidrabbit

rabidrabbit

Turkmenistan
April 2006

SEP 19, 2007 04:28 AM

thefreak said:

rabidrabbit said:
doing most things for long hours without eating or drnking properly will eventually lead to ill health and possibly death, not just computer games


*fap fap fap fap fap*

I'm sorry, wha?

Why am I hungry?

-TM



it can also lead to RSI

tonyrways

tonyrways

Blacklick, OH
July 2002

SEP 19, 2007 04:45 AM

I wish i had time to "binge" on video games. I work for a living! If these people are the 30 somethings still living mom/grandma's basement; is the world really missing them?

Curve

Curve

USA
June 2005

SEP 19, 2007 04:45 AM

More Pew Pew less QQ...proud to be a damm good WoW player and addict tongue

ongoingnightmare

ongoingnightmare

Denver, CO
April 2003

SEP 19, 2007 05:11 AM

I have seen the might of WOW defeat offers of sex.

theres always time to turn it off for some lovin

Darcsaint

Darcsaint

Tampa, FL
June 2004

SEP 19, 2007 05:28 AM

tonyrways said:
I wish i had time to "binge" on video games. I work for a living!



I just had to quote this.

Also, Game Fuel is hilarious.

Mankarlen

Mankarlen

Deer Island, OR
June 2006

SEP 19, 2007 05:33 AM

I have played everqwest almost from it's start and my chars are not max out. This is because I know when to quit, as do most of us beside gotta work so can eat and have a roof over my head,

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