Not since the release of World of Warcraft have we seen people die from over gaming. A tragic story has recently come about, detailing a 32 year old man found dead in an Taiwanese internet café after a 3 day long gaming binge. The man was found at a desk in the café, slumped over and motionless. Known only by the surname Hsieh, he was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead from cardiac failure. While not directly linked, exhaustion from his long gaming binges and cold temperatures in the gaming café likely contributed to his death.
Hsieh was known for staying at the café for days at a time. When he was tired, he would simply slump over at his desk and sleep. This prevented staff from detecting his death immediately. When he was eventually found, his body was already stiff, rigor mortis already setting in. Authorities checked the café’s CCTV records to see Hsieh having a small struggle before falling motionless. It is unclear whether or not other customers were around at the time of his cardiac arrest.
Hsieh was unemployed and thus has no personal responsibility. His family said he would disappear for days on end. Internet cafés in Taiwan offer several hours of play for the equivalent of only a couple American dollars, making it easy for addicted gamers to go on binges for days straight. In fact, more gaming is done at caf é s than is done via personal computers in the Taiwanese region.
This is not the first example of a death in a Taiwanese internet café this month. On January 1 st , a 38 year old man was found dead in an internet café in Taipei after a five day long New Year’s gaming binge. Back in 2012, a corpse of a man who died in a gaming café went unnoticed for 10 hours after his death.
Gaming addiction is a serious problem, and while not physiology compelling, it can be a difficult mental dependence to cope with, especially when you have few other positive influences in your life. For more information on Gaming Addiction and Compulsion, check out Extra Credits amazing three part series on the subject.
Source: CNN