GameToo Much...... And Die! 913
A 24-year-old South Korean man died after playing computer games nonstop for 86 hours, police said yesterday. The jobless man, identified by police only by his last name Kim, was found dead at an Internet cafe in Kwangju, 260 kilometres southwest of Seoul, they said.
Quoting witnesses, police detective Oh Myong-sik in Kwangju said the man had been virtually glued to the computer since late last Friday and had no decent sleep and meals. The man collapsed in front of the counter early yesterday but soon regained consciousness. He then went to the toilet where he later was found dead, the police officer said. Initial investigation ruled out the possibility of murder, police said. An autopsy was planned.
Source Article can be found in The Sydney Morning Herald
In related gaming news: sam_handelman writes "In an article on the front page of the online edition, (free reg required) the new york times takes a rather negative look at the rise of broadband gaming in South Korea. The author, Howard W French, is a Times staff writer, with a background in staggering human tragedy, which may help to explain why he thinks my hobby is an epidemic. There was a wired article about Korean broadband (summary: they have lots), which we already discussed."
In other news... (Score:3, Insightful)
Too much of anything is never good... don't people ever learn? First we had that guy who committed suicide after he played way too much EverQuest and spiraled into depression, and now this.
Game Over (Score:5, Funny)
"Game over" or "The End" (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, that guy was already a depressive. He'd been warned by both his doctor and his shrink to stop playing the game and chose to continue, anyway. Bizarely, his mother now wants a warning sticker put on the box because, obviously, a sticker would stop people who're ignoring medical and psychiatric professionals.
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Insightful)
I found that some games (EQ especially) are extremely addictive. I'll stick with EQ for the moment...
Why is EQ addicting? Simply put, it's a persistant online world. If I take a week off, those level 4 characters might outlevel me in that week... if I take a month off, I might become the lowest level character in the guild... Man's obsession of becoming the Top Dog at work?
Ultimately, these news stories are rather extreme examples... but the extreme examples are news. Hearing about how little Timmy forgot to do his homework thanks to the latest Super Mario game doesn't make the front page... We don't hear about Jim the EQ addict who forgot to go to work for a week, and got fired. We have to wait till someone dies or goes on a rampage before we stand up and take notice.
Earlier in this thread someone stated a quote about all things in moderation - It can be applied to anything. Video games. Work. Clubbing. Drinking. Sex. Sports.
Yet another example of how we as humans get addicted to something.
Sadly, all that will come of any of these stories is legislation, and not "Gamers Anonymous" or something like that.
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Wrong, not sex.
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
As opposed to the conservatives who just want to lock you up for any mistake unless you're the governor's daughter?
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
The LAN Party
We're a nationwide political party with growing influences around the globe, and our main focus is on the protection of the rights of gamers in America.
Our motto is:
Try us
Realize our goal
Open your mind
Level the playing field
Lead on to victory!
If you are intersted in the LAN Party affiliations, please contact us at lanpolitics@lannational.com
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Insightful)
Self-responsibility is not a liberal vs. conservative issue; it is better characterized as an authoritarian vs. libertarian issue.
Liberals with an authoritarian bent would have the government outlaw "dangerous" things like offensive/hateful/politically incorrect language, games that "promote" racism, etc. Conservatives with an authoritarian bent would outlaw "dangerous" things like homosexuality, games that "promote" immorality or drug use, violence and sexuality on television, etc.
OTOH, someone with libertarian tendencies, whether they were otherwise conservative or liberal, would prefer the government stay out of people's lives. I.E., a libertarian believes people should take responsibility for themselves. They wouldn't outlaw "unsafe" games.
You bring up drugs, GHB in particular, and complain that the government prohibits "safer replacements for alcohol and antidepressants". Ignoring for the moment any debate over the merits of that particular drug, those who would prefer legalized drugs of any sort are strongly libertarian. Many are liberal, as well.
Those who "ask the government to protect them from themselves" aren't "liberal". They're authoritarian, and include just as many conservatives as liberals.
I'm actually quite surprised to see you blaming the outlawing of GHB on liberals- the most vocal proponents of harsh drug laws, generally, are conservative authoritarians.
You, it seems, do not really know who your enemies are. I consider myself quite liberal, but I agree with you that people should take more responsibility for themselves.
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Insightful)
Too much love can be stifling. Too much happinines can make you ungaurded and easy to hurt. too much clean air can lead to hyperventilation. too much good food can lead to obesity. too much good music can lead to deafness.
moral to the story: any positive can become a negative if you try hard enough.
Re:In other news... (Score:4, Insightful)
I feel sorry for you if you really believe that.
too much clean air can lead to hyperventilation.
Breathing too quickly, maybe, which is something different.
too much good food can lead to obesity.
Sure, depending on your metabolism.
too much good music can lead to deafness.
No, that's volume.
moral to the story: any positive can become a negative if you try hard enough.
Why do you have to try? That's exactly the point.
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
WARNING: If you have one of these yourself, you should not touch this one. Doing so may lead to rejection and/or harassment, thereby leading to serious mental conditions and/or suicide.
Now that should solve the problem.
Only 86 hours?!?? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm not quite dead yet! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Only 86 hours?!?? (Score:5, Funny)
The difference between him and us is that we're smart enough to take our required dosage of Mountain Dew and Pizza.
The old saying still stands...
SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK.
And there is the other one...
DEATH IS NO REASON TO QUIT PLAYING.
Game? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Game? me too! me too! (Score:5, Funny)
Well, I guess it would be more tragic than funny, but due to the fact that it would be so darwinically sad, that it might get a chuckle or two.
You like that word "darwinically"? I just made it up, hehe.
Re:Game? (Score:5, Interesting)
Maybe I was just a wuss.
I can't imagine a game more addictive than that one was, always asking you to do the NEXT THING, then do this, your city has completed a temple, what would you like to do now? There was never a natural stopping point, so you just kept going, to see what you would build or discover on the next turn, or which nation's ass you would have to kick.
I had a friend who had no computer that would come over to our dorm room and start playing in the afternoon. We'd pretty much just ignore him or hang out with him, and then I'd have to kick him out when the sun came up the next morning. I was too nice a guy back then.
Re:Game? (Score:4, Interesting)
Ok, time for me to go to bed. And remember, their gate is DOWN...
Drat... (Score:3, Funny)
Well, so much for that week long LAN party idea...
Re:Drat... (Score:4, Funny)
What? the duct taping isn't required? well shit.
Boots (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Boots (Score:4, Insightful)
Now if he'd died at the keyboard that'd be a different matter...
Re:Boots (Score:5, Funny)
Oh no (Score:4, Funny)
Oh well, worse ways to go.
Medevo
Re:Oh no (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oh no (Score:4, Funny)
Right now all the rooms in my house need the heat on to be bearable exceept the one w/my computer in it. That room still needs A/C.
not the game's fault (Score:5, Funny)
why wasn't this story called "Go to the toilet... and die!?"
Lesson for Slashdotters (Score:5, Funny)
It's a hard lesson to learn, but that's what happens when you don't take enough bathroom breaks while gaming.
I mean, what a way to "go" . . .
(Was it number 1 or number 2?)
Re:not the game's fault (Score:5, Funny)
Because we all should have learned that lesson by now with Elvis.
Re:not the game's fault (Score:5, Funny)
Dilbert, I'd like you to write a proposal to choose a committee to draft a proposal for a new company policy that forbids programmers from leaving their seats during working hours.
Asok: Why can't we just implement the new policy?
PHB: Asok, go back to your seat right now if you want to live.
red bull? pussy. (Score:4, Insightful)
it's useful - eat complex carbs (bagels, buscuits, whatnot) in the morning to stock up on glycogen, then switch to sugars (junk food, dew) as you get more and more tired and need simpler carbs, maybe a good whack of protein midday (mmm...red meat...) to keep your muscles from self-digesting. of course, it's got so much caffeine in such a small volume of liquid i find it usually ends up dehydrating me, but that's why i keep a big nalge of plain old H20 next to my triple-size mug.
'course if you really wanna hurt, get a 100g bottle of USP sublimed caffeine...bet you didn't know that 2grams at once makes you hallucinate (and vibrate in place, and throw up, a lot...)
Easy fix (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Easy fix (Score:5, Funny)
Anyone know what game he was playing? (Score:5, Funny)
Unless he was playing Super Mario Bros. 1, and got stuck in minus world. (Yea, I bet nobody remembers that)
Re:Anyone know what game he was playing? (Score:5, Informative)
You go to level 1-2, which is underground, and go to the very end of the level, but not through the final pipe, if you stand on top of the pipe and knock out all the blocks to the left of it (but not to the right) and jump backwards a special way, you can walk through the wall and jump in one of the warp zone pipes before they list worlds 3, 4, and 5. If you do that you will warp to a negatively numbered world which is an water level that keeps going.
Not an easter egg, a genuine BOOG (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Anyone know what game he was playing? (Score:5, Funny)
Oh wow. So if you complete a complex task perfectly, you're rewarded by being removed to a position where the work is repetitive, impossible and ultimately futile. Minusland is middle management!
Skip NYTimes reg (Score:5, Informative)
Thank you, Google News!
REDRUM!! (Score:4, Funny)
Hmmm... I don't know about that. Suspects include: (but not limited to) Orcs, Night Elfs, Zerglings, Hydras...
Re:REDRUM!! (Score:5, Funny)
I don't get it. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I don't get it. (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe it was just the smell that overpowered him?
Re:I don't get it. (Score:4, Interesting)
I love games like every one else, but I definitely place defication above advancement to the next level in a game.
Man you moderators are SICK (Score:5, Funny)
HOW IN THE HELL?!?! does that get modded Interesting?!
What, are you curious about the precise methodology of feces extraction that was used?
How many of you would have clicked through if there had been a link "Would you like to know more?"
Sickos.
Re:I don't get it. (Score:4, Funny)
yeah great journalism here (Score:4, Insightful)
Force anyone to sit in one place for 86 hours without sleep, food, or water, and I'm sure at least SOME of them would die.
But I'm sure it was the GAMES that killed him.
Re:yeah great journalism here (Score:5, Funny)
It's called Camping.
Discrediting Violence (Score:4, Insightful)
/me . . . (Score:5, Funny)
That's a long time to hold it... (Score:5, Funny)
Suspicious that... (Score:5, Funny)
It went like, beep beep beep, and then I died
Re:Suspicious that... (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes, kids, that's why they gave Maxwell Smart that number, too.
bs (Score:5, Funny)
Re:bs (Score:5, Funny)
I hope the poor sap saved his game (Score:5, Funny)
Proof! (Score:5, Insightful)
Wait, no, it's just proof that being a dumbass can kill you. Never mind, carry on.
Deep Vein Thrombosis? (Score:5, Interesting)
IANA Doctor, but although it's primarily an air travel thing, isn't it the case that sitting anywhere for too long can cause blood clots to form in the legs?
Said clots may detach and make their way to the lungs (causing pulmonary embolus) or brain (causing a stroke).
Sounds to me that this dude just suffered an extreme attack of stupidity. If you're gonna LAN for a week (or take a long flight) then at least get off your arse and walk around every few hours.
Re:Deep Vein Thrombosis? (Score:5, Informative)
isn't it the case that sitting anywhere for too long can cause blood clots to form in the legs?
No. You get a harmless and physiologically normal venous pooling of blood, but if you get clotting from sitting still you suffer from a disease.
This is why they need... (Score:4, Funny)
I'd love to know what he died OF (Score:5, Funny)
Not a real big deal (Score:5, Interesting)
I know from my MUDding experiences that it's not uncommon for folks into games to stay up for more than a few days at a time with nothing but caffiene. In college I use to regularly stay awake for 48 hours straight MUDding.
I also know quite a few people who are heavily into methamphetamines that stay up for over a week at a time. I know quite a few folks who brag about having stayed awak for 9 days straight and lived to tell about it.
The best part about having been awake for more than 3 days isn't necesarily the game you're playing, it's the delusious and hallucinations you get. >3 days awake is better than most hits of LSD you get these days.
Let it be known... (Score:5, Interesting)
Also a goverment crackdown has been done once, as you can see...it hasn't made much of a diffrence.
Re:Let it be known... (Score:5, Insightful)
Shanghai Cybrcafe Shut Down [bbc.co.uk]
Re:Let it be known... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Let it be known... (Score:5, Interesting)
An example, you have a glass of tea. But the tea kind of stings your tounge, it's listed as an energy boosting tea but; doesn't have any ingrediants. What's in it? Maybe ginger, maybe something else.
Just let me be clear, I'm not saying that they are all bad guys spikeing the water, but some are. And you have to becareful, especially since they didn't at one time get inspected for selling food or anything else. They may now, but it's been 6mo since I was last in Korea.
Darwin was Ahead of his Time (Score:4, Funny)
Counter-Strike (Score:5, Interesting)
Tiredness did not matter -- everything was a copy of a copy, and I was some sort of killing machine, though I went from top of the list to somewhere in the middle after the first day. After two days, I was screwed up beyond recognition and was hallucinating, thinking that flowers were growing in de_nuke and that Beavis and Butthead were saying "Go Go Go!."
After the third day, my head and eyes hurt terribly, I had pissed myself and didn't notice for an hour as my legs were totally numb, and everything was a nightmare. I was so wacked out I couldn't do anything but shoot at things that weren't there...... but my obsession could not end as I sat alone in my dorm room.
I passed out, collapsed on the floor, and slept for two days (well, about 28 hours) afterwards and was drowsy with a TERRIBLE, GODAWFUL headache for the entire next week, which I pretty much spent in bed.
Re:Counter-Strike (Score:4, Funny)
Rinse, Repeat. Thats the story of my first and only 3 semesters at college.
Step 1 Gaming
Step 2
Step 3 Degree!
Sleep Deprivation is VERY bad for you. (Score:5, Informative)
Why?
Sleep not only controls our circadian rhythms, but also apetite control, immune system function, and cognitive performance. I think you can see where this is going.
WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Another lame attempt to take a stab at videogames and how EVIL they are...
Was he playing Gauntlet? (Score:5, Funny)
You don't say.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Kids, this is what happens when you have a society that lets people become so self-centered that the thought of actually being a responsible productive resident is considered a joke. And here I thought only the US was so encumbered. Apparently we're contagious.
I don't know what the legal system is like in South Korea, but if it's anything like here, the dude's family will probably bring a lawsuit against the gaming room, the game manufacturer, the government, and anyone else they can bilk money out of because they raised a kid with no self control who grew into a man with no self control. After all, it's already happened here.
This whole thing reminds me of the classic experiment by Olds and Milner in which they wired tiny electrodes into the limbic system of rats. The rats could give themselves a jolt of electricity by pressing a little lever. The stimulation of the limbic system was so pleasurable that some rats would press the bar thousands of times an hour for up to 20 hours at a time until they collapsed from exhaustion. When the rats recovered, they'd go right back to pressing the bar. I have a feeling that if we could do that for people, we'd find that some (like this mental midget in South Korea) would push the bar until their heads exploded.
Really people, take a break from
Crocuta
Good thing (Score:4, Funny)
Urban legend? (Score:4, Interesting)
Now he's living in a WarCraft III Game (Score:5, Funny)
1.riding on the meat-wagon
or
2.has been resurrected by the Necromancer.
Nobody noticed? (Score:4, Insightful)
The real story here is not how this man died, but where he died. This man was in an internet cafe, surrounded by other people.
People die like this more often than we realize. We don't notice because they they die as shut-ins at home. Most of them are obsessive compulsive or mentally ill, and usually takes a while before their bodies are even discovered.
This man, however, had been playing computer games in a busy public place, nonstop for 86 hours. If any of the staff or fellow users noticed, none of them saw fit to intervene. Since he was paying to use the computer, the staff must have had some idea how long he had been there. Also, I imagine he must have looked quite haggard and ill before he finally died.
The police have ruled out murder, but I hope that they investigate the staff for negligence. Mr. Kim was ultimately the victim of his own actions. However, the staff had a basic responsibility to ensure his health and safety while he was on using their service on their premises, just as a bartender might be liable if he continue to serve an extremely intoxicated customer who later died of alcohol poisoning.
The fact that no-one noticed or cared for four straight days is appalling. Such a pathetic and easily preventable death in a public place reflects poorly on South Korean society, both in and anywhere else that it occurs.
Urban Myth (Score:4, Insightful)
Wow. (Score:5, Insightful)
The games probably aren't killing anyone, but they've sure done a good job of de-sensitizing a few people...
A Korean named Kim (Score:4, Funny)
A Korean man named Kim...that certainly narrows it down!
Re:A Korean named Kim (Score:5, Funny)
Well, the odds are one smaller, now.
Holy 5's Batman (Score:5, Interesting)
This is quite sad actually (Score:4, Insightful)
I'll probably be modded down as a troll or something, but I don't think death is a joking matter. If someone you knew died, even in a pathetic manner like that, you would not be joking about it. I think all the jokes here are completly tasteless.
And I do think the games are _partly_ to blame. (Note that I said partly, not completly.) Some games are very addictive, and can trap people in for hours. I've had my school mark drop because I've wasted my time on pointless games.
Just my thoughts.
Many things are sad (Score:4, Insightful)
Jokes are funny. They lighten our mood and help us deal with the lousier shit in life.
If everytime something lousy happend I couldn't joke about it, life would be even more lousy.
I've had my grades affected by lots of things. I accept that and take responsibility for doing those things. If I forgot about all my classes and just played games all day, I would fail out of school. I wouldn't be able to work as an engineer, but then I wouldn't be a resposible enough person to make important decisions anyway.
I don't really consider the way he died "pathetic". I think it's kinda funny and also kinda cool. It sure would beat dying of hunger or a belly wound.
Hey, at least he died doing something he loved
Joking about death doesn't mean you don't give a shit whether people live or die. Being unable to handle jokes about death, suggests that they and therefore death itself makes you uncomfortable. Death is coming for you. There's nothing you can do to stop it. If you think that's sad, ok. Just don't try and act like that puts you on some sort of moral highground. People deal with death in different ways.
I'm not saying that death is great, just that people comfortable/uncomforable enough with the idea to joke about it, aren't necessarily uncaring, and that perhaps every death isn't tragic.
Re:This is quite sad actually (Score:5, Interesting)
That he consciously chose not to escape from. When people don't leave their homes, 99+ times out of 100 the reason is that they didn't feel like leaving, not because they were physically locked in.
"Think about what his friends and family must feel like right now."
Obviously not a whole heck of a lot if they allowed this to happen to begin with.
"I'll probably be modded down as a troll or something, but I don't think death is a joking matter."
There are schools of thought that suggest that perhaps you don't have a sufficiently developed sense of humor.
I'm probably shooting myself in the foot for bringing this up but I think Heinlein had a point in Stranger in a Strange Land: All humor revolves around the misfortunes of others. If anything laughing at something can be described as a human coping mechanism. In a world increasingly hostile to those of us who partake in electronic gaming, everybody here now has an example they can point to and say "At least I'm not this guy!"
"If someone you knew died, even in a pathetic manner like that, you would not be joking about it. "
If one of my friends died in such a manner I'd be laughing if for no other reason than I know my friend would be laughing at themselves for dying that way.
"I think all the jokes here are completly tasteless."
But jokes about hypothetical deaths are alright? [slashdot.org] Or what about jokes about people getting genuinely angry at each other? [slashdot.org] What about a particular person's sexual tastes? [slashdot.org] Or how about the way you mock something hundreds of people have been working on for dozens of years? [slashdot.org] Where do you get the moral high ground to decide for everybody else what is "tasteless" and what isn't?
"And I do think the games are _partly_ to blame. (Note that I said partly, not completly.)"
No, not even. Nobody can say that until there is solid scientific proof demonstrating a link. But in several decades of research on the subject, nobody has yet to publish "games=death" without somebody else soundly refuting it. These aren't cigarettes we're talking about here.
If there's anybody else beside the gamer that bears any of the responsiblity for this, it is the people directly around him and ignored the way he collapsed unconscious several hours before. Especially the owners of the property.
"Some games are very addictive,"
Some people are more susceptible to addictions to just about anything than other people. And until someone can solidly publish "games=addicting," I cannot and will not hold the games responsible for flaws in the gamer's personality and psyche.
"I've had my school mark drop because I've wasted my time on pointless games."
Thanks for demonstrating my "increasingly hostile" comment above. We're supposed to believe that you'd have done much better if it weren't for the games? Do you know for a fact (or can you at least say with a straight face) that you'd have done better in school if there were no games in your life? Why are we to believe that you wouldn't have found some other external vent? You're one of those people that wants to sue gun companies over murder rates, aren't you?
I've tried it both ways: School with and without games. Guess what: Without games, I just ended up finding another vent anyway (and they're called "internet chat rooms"). The problem wasn't Nintendo's, it was mine and my inability to cope with the world around me without a crutch.
And on the other hand games have actually helped me find better ways to cope. I wouldn't have all the friends I have now if it weren't for those C&C Red Alert and StarCraft LAN parties.
Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
Thank's Slashdot!
record (Score:4, Interesting)
Anyone knows if there is such record out there?
Heart attack (sheer speculation on my part) (Score:4, Informative)
Sudden death syndrome maybe, [c-r-y.org.uk] although I don't think they ever diagnose that it anyone unhealthy/obese, if he was, though there is a teat for it.
Until recently (barring drug overdose, genetic or developmental abnormalities) 26 year olds did not have heart attacks. So, looking into my crystal ball, this will be used as ammunition for the argument that videogames reduce your level of physical activity, and are somehow responsible for the recent rise in cardiovascular disease among the very young - I can't find the ref. on google, can anyone else?
If you want to avoid having heart attacks:
1) Get exercise. This is NOT the same as don't game, and I myself utterly reject the notion that videogames are somehow responsible for droping levels of physical activity.
2) Try not to be angry all the time. [hopkinsmedicine.org] I know this can be difficult if you are a member of an oppressed minority group or work in tech support. Depression and overuse of simulants = also bad.
Re:Heart attack (sheer speculation on my part) (Score:5, Insightful)
Two things first, why would you rule out drug overdose? 86 straight gameplaying? Can you say stimulants? I would almost bet on that being positive. And Stimulants can cause strokes, sudden arthymias, and heart attacks...
And I wouldn't rush to heart attack as cause of death, a Pulmonary embolis can kill suddenly and anyone can get one from sitting/not moving for long times. Rhabodmyolysis can cause kidney failure, and in extreme cases shock I think...
He could died of lots of things, almost no actually caused by video games...
Re:Heart attack (sheer speculation on my part) (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't think exercise is a cure-all for serious mental disorders, but for a lot of us who have experienced common, moderate neuroses, a solid exercise regime will greatly reduce your symptoms. Then you won't need to curse people out all the time and smack them around (well, sometimes people deserve a little bit, and that's okay). I lead a much happier life this way, and I've lost weight and look better, leading me to get more dates with the ladies, and thus get laid more. Which makes me even more mellow. Life is great. And I still play half hour to an hour of games a day.
I just gotta say.... (Score:4, Funny)
I wonder if a new Windows virus did it. (Score:5, Funny)
What has our professional scolds so worried (Score:5, Interesting)
Critics say the burgeoning industry is creating millions of zombified addicts who are turning on and tuning into computer games, and dropping out of school and traditional group activities, becoming uncommunicative and even violent because of the electronic games they play.
Tsk tsk. Unlike TV, of course, which promotes intimacy, critical thinking, and feelings of peace and contentedness.
It's not hard to see what has the cultural police so alarmed: at last, a form of electronic engagement even more powerful in its spell than TV has arrived to offer young people a reality of their own shaping. And while it's hardly arguable that playing Counterstrike all day is better for you than sitting in front of a TV, there is a key difference.
Counterstrike -- or almost any online game -- can't really be used to indoctrinate. Not yet, anyway (although you might argue that running around with guns killing others for round after round is a type of indoctrination, the fact is that it's largely devoid of political context, and experientially it's all for self-aggrandizement, anyway; however, cf. the US Army's recent slippery entry into this market as the progenitor of the politicization of the FPS game).
The main problem is that you can't use Dan Blather or Brit Spume to convey the wishes of the oligarchy just when the kids have been left perfectly mollified by hours of braindead sitcoms. Cocooned digitally with only pixels and urges to guide them, they're neither being told how to think or what to buy. Online gaming is too much beyond the control of our masters.
That's intolerable to a nation that regards workaholism as the ideal state of being. It also offends our puritan traditions; next to serving your boss, only God is supposed to suck up so much of your devotion. Watch for more efforts at social control coming from such kissing cousins as Joe Lieberman and Jerry Falwell in the near future. The first step will be to apply the social definitions of addiction, whereafter, as long as the present administration is in office, you may see a faith-based solution offered for your Quake jones...
if you wait long enough... (Score:4, Insightful)
Police wonder.. (Score:5, Funny)
I call bullshit (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't doubt that he died after a long bout of not sleeping, but I don't believe that the lack of sleep is what killed him. I'm more inclined to think a heart attack from all the caffine is what did him in.
The Perfect Soldiers (Score:4, Funny)
86 hours playing games? (Score:5, Funny)
No, but the OS Makers (Score:4, Funny)
Microsoft intentionally put them in there to make you go get a snack while rebooting, or conversely take a nap.
This fellow was clearly using Mac OSX or Linux.
Re:My wife says I'm the worst in the world... (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, now you are.