Second gamer dies after massive binge

Victim played for 32 hours non-stop

Written by Nick Farrell

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."

Tags:

Further reading

Games binge ends in death

Computer games addict dies after playing nonstop for 86 hours   More...

Related articles

Chinese gamer dies after three-day session

'Exhaustion' most likely cause of death   More...

Mobile phone explosion kills man

'Phone was on fire' witness says   More...

Do you agree?

Advertisement

Job of the week

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Hiring now on ComputingCareers:

Related IT jobs

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Advertisement

Watch

24 Jul 2008

3.68 MBSpammer jailed, Esquire e-cover, and network passwords More...

23 Jul 2008

2.99 MBSmall time security, official 'spying' requests and a spammer jail break More...

22 Jul 2008

3.22 MBSat-nav crashes, open source security and female gamers More...

Poll

EUROPEAN E-COMMERCE

EUROPEAN E-COMMERCE

Are you happy making an online purchase from another European country?

Previous poll results

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Enter email address to edit your newsletter preferences

Spotlight

Credit card transaction

Credit card fraud rampant in the UK

Attempted frauds go unreported and ignored, analysts claim   More...

Intel

Intel rolls out new embedded line-up

System-on-a-chip offerings promise footprint and power saving   More...

Advertisement

Network cables

Tech giants collaborate on wireless HD

Another attempt at cable-free transmission in the home   More...

iPhone fever fills AT&T coffers

US provider cashes in on Apple smartphone   More...

Advertisement