DH driving me nuts!

TammyWright · December 27, 2007

source: BBC NEWS | Technology | S Korean dies after games session

Quote:

A South Korean man has died after reportedly playing an online computer game for 50 hours with few breaks.

The 28-year-old man collapsed after playing the game Starcraft at an internet cafe in the city of Taegu, according to South Korean authorities.

The man had not slept properly, and had eaten very little during his marathon session, said police.

Multi-player gaming in South Korea is extremely popular thanks to its fast and widespread broadband network.

Games are televised and professional players are treated, as well as paid, like sports stars.

Professional gamers there attract huge sums in sponsorship and can make more than $100,000 a year.

The man, identified by his family name, Lee, started playing Starcraft on 3 August. He only paused playing to go to the toilet and for short periods of sleep, said the police.

"We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion," a Taegu provincial police official told the Reuters news agency.

He was taken to hospital following his collapse, but died shortly after, according to the police. It is not known whether he suffered from any previous health conditions.

They added that he had recently been fired from his job because he kept missing work to play computer games.

Small minority

Online computer games are some of the most popular and largest growth areas in interactive entertainment.

Players can easily get immersed and feel compelled to play for hours at a stretch, particuarly in massively multiplayer online role playing games - MMORPGs - in which thousands of gamers play and interact in shared fantasy or science fiction worlds.

Reports of gamers spending 10 to 15 hours a day in front of video games, such as the highly popular World of Warcraft and EverQuest, are becoming more frequent. Experts say gamers should take regular screen breaks.

Psychologist Professor Mark Griffiths, author of several in-depth studies into online gaming and gambling addiction, told the BBC News website that, according to his research, playing excessively was not problematic in any shape or form for the majority of gamers.

He said: "It does seem to be the case that online gaming addiction for a small minority is a real phenomenon and people suffer the same symptoms as traditional addictions.

But the good news is that it is a small minority."

In one detailed survey of 540 gamers, Professor Griffith and his team found that there were four playing more than 80 hours a week, which is considered "excessive".

He explained many people liked to play MMORPGs for long periods of time because of the social aspect of the games.

"They are the types of games that completely engross the player. They are not games that you can play for 20 minutes and stop.

"If you are going to take it seriously, you have to spend time doing it," he said.

But he warned there was a difference between "healthy enthusiasm" and "unhealthy addiction." People who sacrificed jobs, partners and loved ones were considered "extreme players".

Unlike help for traditional addictions, such as gambling, there is very little help for computer game addiction, he said.

"It is not taken seriously yet - it is the same for internet addiction," he said.

He advised anyone worried about gaming addictions should contact their local GP and get referred to a psychologist.

More than 15 million people, or 30% of the population, are registered for online gaming in South Korea. The country also host the annual World Cyber Games.

MikkiStreak · December 27, 2007

When women read this, we think "shit, this could get really out of hand easily and jeopardize health!"

Sadly, when men read it, they think "You mean I could get PAID for this"

A10CalGal · December 27, 2007

Wow Tammy - interesting articles.

OK Drea, so tell Erik to back it off or you will send him to S.Korea & pimp him out as an extreme gamer for $100K/year.

DreaW · December 27, 2007

darn it, tried to scare Erik with this news and he said He knew/read about it already.

He says he is not addicted because he can moderate his time....

MikkiStreak · December 27, 2007

Isn't that like the person who says they aren't an alcoholic because they only drink outside of the home?

Addictive behavior has more to do with what happens because of the addiction. Example: a person who drinks infrequently could still be an alcoholic because they spend their money on alcohol instead of bills, or their behavior changes while drinking (like sleeping around when drunk, when they normally wouldn't sleep around when sober, or blowing off family events when they normally wouldn't do that when sober).

LCBride2007 · December 27, 2007

D-E-N-I-A-L!! lol

A10CalGal · December 27, 2007

Do they have a Gamers Anonymous program or something?

This reminds me of a South Park episode I saw recently. It was about Guitar Hero and they were all into it & it caused all these problems amongst friends & what not. Everytime they made a new record score, the audience on the game would cheer & the screen would say "You Rock" or something. Well, when they finally beat the whole game, the screen said "YOU ARE A FAG!"

MikkiStreak · December 27, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christa

Do they have a Gamers Anonymous program or something?

This reminds me of a South Park episode I saw recently. It was about Guitar Hero and they were all into it & it caused all these problems amongst friends & what not. Everytime they made a new record score, the audience on the game would cheer & the screen would say "You Rock" or something. Well, when they finally beat the whole game, the screen said "YOU ARE A FAG!"

hehehe, I love that episode---- especially when the dad comes out and wants to show them how to play a real guitar and the kids are all like "that's so gay".... and when he gets onto the Guitar Hero and plays it for real, all the chords are wrong and he sounds like shit.

LOVE SP!!!

Maura · December 27, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaG

Argh Drea....DH is the same with Tiger Woods. I hate that game! He doesn't do it every day, but he and 2 of his friends play it alllllll weekend - - every weekend and it makes me angry!! He doesn't understand why I don't want these loser at my house all weekend. I feel your pain and sorry I hijacked

My FI is also obsessed with Tiger Woods. But he finally beat it the other day so when we get back from Mexico, no more Tiger! woo!!! I dont allow his friends to come over to play it when I'm home -- only if I'm not here and going to be gone for a few hours. A few weeks ago when I was out and the maintenance man for our condo building came to service the fireplace, he ended up playing Tiger with the maintenance guy for 2 hours! Sometimes you just gotta lay down the law about the computer/nintendo games. And another solution is to buy games together that you will both play so that when you get tired of playing, you both put it away. We found that works pretty well for us. We generally just dont buy games we cant play together.