Man Dies After 49 Hours of Computer Games

[Miagi]

SEOUL, South Korea Aug 10, 2005 — A 28-year-old South Korean man died of exhaustion in an Internet cafe after playing computer games non-stop for 49 hours, South Korean police said Wednesday.

Lee, a resident in the southern city of Taegu who was identified only by his last name, collapsed Friday after having eaten minimally and not sleeping, refusing to leave his keyboard while he played the battle simulation game Starcraft.

Lee was quickly moved to a hospital but died after a few hours, due to what doctors are presuming was a heart attack, police said.


Lee had been fired from his job last month because he kept missing work to play computer games, police said.

Computer games are enormously popular in South Korea, home to professional gamers who earn big money through sponsorships and television stations devoted to broadcasting matches.


Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1024972


Pfft starcraft.. I can see the slogans for that game now.
"Game is so exciting you will get fired from your job, refuse to eat, and will be the last game you play."

I hate to see that cafe's hourly rate.

[_Acid_Head_]

i actually thought this was gonna be old when i read the title.

this has happened lots before in south korea.

ps. starcraft is awesome!

[NITRO!]

omg:o:blink:
I would laugh if he wouldn't have died.

[_Acid_Head_]

i can imagine it now

"Gosu Cafe: Play two days straight and get a third free!"

He probably had the heart attack while celebrating his accomplishment.

Other Koreans will forever remember him as a hero!

[Miagi]

What I don't get is he must of had to 'relieve' himself at sometime... Unless he had one of these...



http://www.thinkgeek.com/cubegoodies/toys/7293/


Grits is probably thinking of making that a prize now :P

[Power and Glory]

CNN had the longer article saying he only took breaks to go to the bathroom and took a few quick naps on some sort of couch.

[Squish]

a korean playing sc... naw....

[Gollum]

CNN had the longer article saying he only took breaks to go to the bathroom and took a few quick naps on some sort of couch.

Yea, that's the article that I had read. I got linked to it through a GameDev.net newsletter. Also, the article I read said he quit his job, not that he got fired. Just a minor difference.

[sage_4]

every year this happens. When will they learn?

[Gollum]

Korea's leading cause of death: Video Games.


Jack Thompson should move to Korea and leave us the hell alone.