Gamer dies after Diablo III marathon
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Taiwanese player collapses after 40 hours in front of Blizzard's online action role-playing game, pronounced dead at hospital.
A Taiwanese man collapsed and died over the weekend after playing Blizzard's Diablo III for 40 straight hours. The Australian Associated Press reported the story, citing the Taiwanese United Daily News as the source of the information.
According to the report, the 18-year-old man entered an Internet café in southern Taiwan around noon on Friday, booked a private room, and played almost two days without stopping to eat. On Sunday morning, an employee of the café entered the room to check on the man and found him resting on a table. Shortly after being roused, the man collapsed and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
This is far from the first time a marathon gaming session has ended in tragedy. The AAP reported that another Taiwanese man died in February after a 23-hour gaming jag ended with a heart attack. In 2007, a 30-year-old man collapsed and died in Guangzhou, China, after gaming for three straight days, In 2005, a 28-year-old South Korean man died after a 50-hour gaming session. In 2003, police in Hong Kong cited a six-hour stint playing Diablo II at an Internet café as a contributing factor in a 28-year-old man's death. In 2002, a 24-year-old South Korean man died after 86 uninterrupted hours of gameplay. That same month, a 27-year-old Taiwanese man lasted 32 hours before succumbing to death by exhaustion.
[UPDATE]: Blizzard released the following comment on the news:
"We're saddened to hear this news, and our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time. We don't feel it would be appropriate for us to comment further without knowing all of the circumstances involved.
"While we recognize that it's ultimately up to each individual or their parent or guardian to determine playing habits, we feel that moderation is clearly important, and that a person's day-to-day life should take precedence over any form of entertainment."
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
1422 comments
Jesus, another one! Seems like every month there's some dumbass playing a game for ludacris amounts of time and then dying. A little common sense please.
Not to speak ill of the dead but you gotta be effing kidding me that there are idiots in this world still willing to push their luck like this... it makes me wonder if the gaming companies make this stuff up to hype the game...
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
To be honest... humans are dumb enough to do something like this.
A combination of no sleep, food or drink. Considering people can last a week without food or water.... I'd bet my money of exhaustion being the cause of death as opposed to starvation or dehydration.
people in these parts of Asia seem to have too much spare time, I couldn't do a 40hr stint even if I wanted to!
cafe ehh????
its obvious that the boy wasnt allowed to play from home coz of such bad gaming habits
this is what happens when entertainment starts rulling your head .............now we all know the importance of getting away from the screen when we need to. MHSRIP
3 Like He must be a gold farmer...nobody in their right state of mind would die for this piece of crap.
3 Like How can you be so retarded that you forget about the basic needs of your body? Plus how the hell could you play this crappy game for 40 hours strait? He must have spent 30 on the auction house.
6 Like if youre gonna die of exhaustion playing a video game.. at least die playing something thats fucking good.
I must say I am guilty of playing for more than 6 hours but thats rearly I avarage about 2-3 hours daily at times not at all
What scares me was the 6-hour stint they talked about. Ive done that, though I probably did get up to strecth or fora bathroom break.
1 Like How did these guys sit on a chair for 40 hrs non stop? i would have died with a back pain. and how did the stay for 40 hrs without going to the toilet?
1 Like If you dont eat you MUST drink at least i wouldnt blame this on gaming though do anything that long without stopping could lead to the same conclusion
1 Like @ollie2000000 dont eat' dont drink but how did he control without going to the toilet
I wonder what were they thinking, it's just crazy playing games with that amount of time even if you're the biggest fan of videogame in this world , they probably didn't care about their lives anymore, so sad.
He could have played the game for 400hrs rest of his life had he taken a break of even 4 minutes on intervals.
So sad.
I find it impossible to continuously play a game for 40 straight hours. This is just sad and terrifying, knowing that people will allowed themselves to be consume by a video game. Get a life - its not that freaking serious.
1 Like @AdrianJNYC have you ever lived in taiwan? and having a cousin that stayed there a week isn't a yes answer. shut your mouth you spoiled little brat. some people do know what real poverty is, and others know what it's like to live in a society where the government regulates and controls everything so much to the point that those internet cafe's and those games are that much to some people. think before typing, else you and all of humanity lose on such a careless remark.....get a life its not that serious......you get a life, and quit making careless remarks about another human beings death.
@steveng0482 You could have used this same argumentation for someone desperate using drugs... Sure, perhaps his circumstances truly were dire, but that doesn't absolve him of all responsibility. Just as it would be the case for a drug addiction, the same holds for a video game addiction.
@david188288 very true, I have had marathon sessions like that in the past with some games. I played Everquest when it was new back in around 2001 for 30+ hours straight. I don't know why this would kill someone though. You can survive with no water for 3 days, no food for 7 as long as you have water. When I had my marathon though I moved around as I played the game so not to get stiff. It's not healthy but some do get addicted to a degree.
@steveng0482 @AdrianJNYC Actually, get a life is pretty well said. Even if I like playing video games, I don't do it that often. I'd rather go outside and have a life. Those people should be taught about the good things in life. Anyway, the situation is complicated. Education is the key.
1 Like From what I know (I am not a doctor but it's a common thing I hear always), continuously staring at the LCD Screen and staying near a radiating machine is dangerous for health. Anything that's not normal is dangerous for health. A human can go quite without food or sleep (water is always important), but going like this for a plain pixel GAME and then dying is like a stray dog who sadly died after getting rolled over on street. No big reason, no honor, plain stupid and no one to care for it. He could have died as a result of shock , nervous breakdown , partial paralysis and then brain attack (he was sitting like a statue for 40 hours straight). So many reasons!! And they are beyond just food, water, sleep or whatever. They can ONLY be avoided by resuming a NORMAL LIFE.
I do pity over his family if he has one, but it's funny how a person can die like this. I definitely don't think Blizzard's DIABLO is to blame. It's just a game, and some stupid people treat it as something bigger than the Life god gave us.
@neo4evr You mean the life your egocentric god gave us so we can worship him? Its better these guys game themselves to death, then live like slave obeying his god
@zee123456 I mean the life we HAVE. Don't go complex. If you are atheist then think it like the real life where we interact with people and do creative stuffs, remove god from the equation.. Be practical.
this is just stupid. the games not gonna go any where. Freaking call room service or something. It's just stupidity and addiction. Just a game.
1 Like I wonder if the guy who found him had a decent Magic Find? He could have dropped something good when he died.
Did they die of prolonged boredom and/or frustration? Seriously this should be a Darwin award.Noobs..,
1 Like I feel sorry for these people and their families. One should never hold keep themselves from their real life responsibilities too long.
However this article makes it look like these people died from gaming, intentional or not. I wouldn't say it is healthy, but dying from a 40 hour session is just plain impossible unless there are other factors involved. A human can go quite a while without food, water or sleep.
1 Like @Neogenic From what I know (I am not a doctor but it's a common thing I hear always), continuously staring at the LCD Screen and staying near a radiating machine is dangerous for health. Anything that's not normal is dangerous for health. A human can go quite without food or sleep (water is always important), but going like this for a plain pixel GAME and then dying is like a stray dog who sadly died after getting rolled over on street. No big reason, no honor, plain stupid and no one to care for it. He could have died as a result of shock , nervous breakdown , partial paralysis and then brain attack (he was sitting like a statue for 40 hours straight). So many reasons!! And they are beyond just food, water, sleep or whatever. They can ONLY be avoided by resuming a NORMAL LIFE.
I do pity over his family if he has one, but it's funny how a person can die like this. I definitely don't think Blizzard's DIABLO is to blame. It's just a game, and some stupid people treat it as something bigger than the Life god gave us.
2 Like @Neogenic Are you a doctor? No, you aren't. There are many other factors. His death most likely had nothing to do with starvation or lack of sleep. And more importantly, no one implied that because that would be idiotic. It probably had to do with the fact the he was sitting for 40 hours straight and stood up. Most likely a clot or some such. Don't speak anymore.
6 Like @Slade968 The way this article is written seems like it does suggest that you can die from playing games for a prolongued period of time. You do not need to be a doctor to know that this is false. As i already mentioned there might have been other factors involved.
As for your statement metioning "Don't speak anymore.". Who the heck do you think you are? I will express my opinion anytime and anywhere i please. Do not presume that you can tell me otherwise.
@aahov http://www.google.nl/imgres?q=umadbro&um=1&hl=nl&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=802&tbm=isch&tbnid=sT2ZrZIU8B5LmM:&imgrefurl=http://memegenerator.net/instance/22988278&docid=cesppMApEu6LiM&imgurl=http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/22988278.jpg&w=400&h=400&ei=ypYjUL7aMKSM0wXx1YGoAg&zoom=1
@Neogenic I second the "Don't speak anymore" comment. http://boomicon.com/sports/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/asante-u-mad-bro2.jpg
Ha ha ha! Intellect of a child? So what? Trying to come off intelligent? I was merely expressing my opinion on the article.
So what, You coming on here trolling on any comment you deem unworthy is very intelligent? Get a life.
1 Like @Neogenic I mean, what are you even talking about? no shit just playing games won't directly kill you. That's your point? Congrats on that astounding well thought out assertion.
@Neogenic No, your point was unnecessary. You saw an opportunity to come off as intelligent when really it was painfully obvious and idiotic. Believe me, there is no way anyone misinterpreted what you said because you have the intellect of a child.
@AeonRising My point was perfectly clear, thank you. If you can't understand what my point is, then please learn how to read.
What point are you trying to make? That video games don't DIRECTLY kill you? If you play for a prolonged period, you can die from exhaustion, starvation, blood clots, or even seizures. So you're either saying that you can't die just from playing video games for a long time, which is wrong, or that there is an actual physical cause for death, not the video games themselves, which is obvious.
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