Second gamer dies after massive binge
Date 25-Oct-2002 9:18:24
Topic: News
| Just days after the first 'internet overdose', another addict has died after a marathon games binge.
The 27 year-old Taiwanese man collapsed after playing computer games for 32 hours non-stop.
Police confirmed that Lien Wen-cheng started playing at the cyber cafe in Fengyuan in central Taiwan at 10.30pm on Thursday.
At 7am on Saturday, a staff member found the man on the floor of the cafe's toilet foaming at the mouth and bleeding from the nose. "They rushed him to hospital but he was already dead," local police said.
A police spokesman stated that doctors believe Wen-cheng died from exhaustion, having remained in the same position for too long. The death highlights the danger of such intensive game-playing.
Less than 10 days ago, a 24 year-old South Korean man died at an internet cafe in Kwangju, 260km outside Seoul, after playing continuously for 86 hours.
Psychologist Peter Watson explained that playing games over prolonged periods without sleep places the body under considerable stress.
"Depending on the game, the brain is receiving [the impression] that it is constantly under attack," he said.
"We would not expect hardened soldiers to cope with a 32-hour fire fight, and yet some people think they can play these games constantly for long periods of time."
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