Well, note the difference here. From what I know, China, and several other countries, have a large number of Internet Cafes that run 24 hours a day. The US doesn't have that many, if any, that run 24 hours a day.

Now, while in the US, a marathon player would have to play at home, hence having access to free (already bought anyway) food, relatively easy access to restroom facilities while at home, etc, a person who has stationed themselves at a 24 hour Internet Cafe does not necessarily have that convience.

Limiting 24 hour businesses in general might reduce ANY such risk (gaming or internet use or whatever).

But, these two comments are rather... well... hilarious really:

"China, worried about the spread of pornography and POLITICALLY INCORRECT content, ..." (Emphasis mine).

"In April, President Hu Jintao launched a campaign to rid the Internet of “unhealthy” content and make it a platform for Communist Party doctrine."


So he wants to change the ENTIRE internet to serve his purposes and his purposes alone? Wow! Good luck with THAT! ROFLMAO!!!!

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

You know, in a way, I guess one could say that this man was addicted. But does that mean it's a wide-spread problem? Does that mean we see people dropping dead left and right from playing games for too long? Only rarely. And only seemingly on the Asian continent, unless somebody knows of it happening elsewhere.

Oh. And in b4 asshole.

Oh man, I do not see how someone could play a game to death. That's just sad! I wonder how he died? Cardiac problems? Dehydration? Exhaustion? Perhaps he had some sort of medical history that might also explain his death?

Its funny how everytime the Chinese government looks to increase restrictions on internet usage we suddenly start seeing these folks drop dead.

Also on a previous death blamed on a "gaming binge" the person was actually found in the bathroom with a bloody nose and foaming at the mouth. Yeah I'm sure drugs weren't a cause there. :roll:

I would be interested to see what these folks reports on what they were eating/consuming. No one can stay up for days on end without some kind of drug(s) and I guarantee that little piece of evidence is convieniently being overlooked/dismissed by the government there.

Jack will be along shortly, this is for him:

See my post in the tribe article about the difference between indirect and direct causes of death in addiction, games didnt cause this death.

The more I think about this - something wierds me out. How do these massive internet cafes not sell sandwiches or something?? Truth be told I know very little about chineese culture - but by all means, feel free to substitute the appropriate chineese food for sandwiches. I can honestly say, if I ran one of these LAN cafes and didn't have time to make them myself, I'd make a deal with local restaurants or something. Set aside some space so they can set up a lunch bar or something.

For my part I can't do 72 hours either. I can't even get close - I used to be able to do longer; about a year ago I could still 12-15 hour jags; but eventually my eyes just kinda sorta roll back up into my head and I need to go read a book or something. Then again, even when I did those it's not like I didn't grab something out of the fridge and go to the bathroom from time to time

Now that I think about it - maybe that would be an odd/interesting poll for Dennis - the ECA to gather? The "how long can you play" edition. I'd have to say 4-5 hours max if I have the time to spend on it. Generally speaking I usually wind up finding an excuse to do something else right around that point, or at least get up and stretch my legs.

"In April, President Hu Jintao launched a campaign to rid the Internet of “unhealthy” content and make it a platform for Communist Party doctrine."

More than anything, I'm DYING to know what the details of this campaign are. I wonder if something was missed in translation...?

@jadedcritic

Most of the internet cafes I saw in Korea looked exactly like the picture shown here It was usually a very small room packed with stations and chairs. Most places simply had a table where you payed for the access and nothing else, the rest of the available room was dedicated to computer stations. It was insane. On a busy day there, you could hardly move in the place. As far as drinks/food go, it was hit or miss but most places sold soda and that was about it.

Does it factor in at all that life sucks dirty donkey balls in China right now?

@VioletSon

"Why does this sort of phenomenon seem restricted to certain countries?"

China, unlike the US, has widespread "open all hours" internet cafes for gaming. There's also the scourge of gold farmers.

This guy may literally have worked himself to death trying to make a living. THAT isn't uncommon in some areas of asia...

It's a shame that a man has died, but it's also strange in that he died playing games for 3 days.

Didn't he know when to take a rest?

@Mlucky

I dunno, you believe Fox News? I'd pick something run by the government over them.

The previous death in China I remember, there were similar circumstances. Cardiac arrest...3 days playing...and the culprit of course is the Internet combined with the Counterstrike he was playing. Not the red bull he had been drinking (and nothing to eat!) over those three days, and systematic abuse of energy drinks for _years_ prior to his eventual death. No, those don't cause cardiac arrests. Counterstrike does.

Why does this happen in Asia, someone asked? I think particularly in the region, there's a kind of despair. Life isn't so good, and as a citizen, they don't get the feeling that they're really part of something. Remember that many of these societies - from the ground up - are built on the idea that individuals are merely part of a larger whole, but this has sometimes a deleterious insinuation that individuals lack worth. Even if we are all cogs in a greater machine, this still means _you_ are merely a cog like any other. Virtual lives offer a lucrative shelter from this environment - a world in which you can be someone important or do something noteworthy, and not feel guilty. It's always a beautiful place, with shining cities and clean streets. It's a dangerous lure.

Anyway, I think we do get these kinds of deaths in the states. They just don't make the news. I think here our media has the common sense to know that the culprit of cardiac arrest - even in those as young as 30 - is lifestyle and health choices...and not the evil Internet that has come here to spread misinformation, pornography, and incite party members into anti-party discussions, while still managing to kill us and our children in its spare time.

If i was in china, i'd probally do this too. Not because i like gaming that much, but im pretty sure if i lived in china i would hate life that much.

You're banned from pretty much doing anything, at least from what i here. If you do anything the goverment doesn't like, then its the axe for you. Not to mention the increased ammount of lead in the paint.

You know when I get sleepy I do a little thing like, put down the controller. In fact when I'm sleepy nothing in heaven or earth will get between me and a bed.

"keeping in touch is getting harder thanks to their grip on the internet."

How is it harder? I live in China. Skype is not blocked. AIM is not blocked. MSN is not blocked. No major mail sites are blocked. Yahoo Messenger is not blocked. 99% of IRC channels are not blocked. Google Talk is not blocked.

Methinks you're a liar.

Anyway, while sad, this is not a prominent problem. Anyone who claims it is is the victim of statistical ignorance. Because you see it in one news story does not mean it is widespread. I've had people here ask me about America and say "I saw on the internet about a murder case in America, have you ever seen anyone get murdered?" and of course I have to laugh at them and say that no, we're not a country of bloodthirsty freaks (I hope).

By stereotyping a certain country and its people because of a few news stories (which is no fault of GP's, they're one of the most unbiased news sources I know of) you are no better than the people or country you're pretending to know about. No doubt there are censorship problems here, but it's not like it's something out of 1984. It is a definite problem, but most westerners blow it out of proportion because of continuous propaganda and misinformation.

You do anything without a break for 3 days, there's a high chance you're going to collapse from exhaustion. Maybe he did it for an income, who knows? At the end of the day, there is one person, and one person only who is totally responsible for making sure you don't do things that might kill you, like dousing yourself in petrol and jumping into a Bonfire, or staying awake playing a computer game for 72 hours.

I can't fathom gaming for 3 days straight, even if I were slaving away as a gold farmer for various MMOs...my rear end would go numb from hours of sitting.

Hell, I'd probably fall asleep from repetitive grinding before my butt went numb.

I imagine some of those people are suffering from some severe depression. No telling whether he even had a job to go to, let alone a home. I know that some of the cybercafes are used regularly as flophouses since they cannot afford any other housing, but the guy didn't have much in the real world to care about anymore. At least that is my own experience.

@Judith Iscariot
Staying awake for days on end is easy if your life sucks, it's keeping busy that sometimes poses the problem. I used to stay awake for days on end sitting in a comfortable enough chair, chatting on IRC with other game collectors, local people, and weirdos I'd never talk to out of boredom. I ate food and used the bathroom, but never left but for a few minutes. I worked on weekends only, so my weekdays were free game. Three days was my IRC limit max. Fingers numb from typing, sore all over, teeth begin to feel odd from not eating enough (same feeling when I faste for too long), start to see things in the blinking LED lights of the PC.

That was as close to staying awake that long gaming I ever came except for falling asleep while playing PS2 Culdcept and waking up only when the dualshock buzzed to tell me to roll. When I hit 5 days or so awake without sleep, steering clear of videogames and the PC, the twitching began which led to projectile vomit. I never drank energy drinks to stay awake though. It was completely natural. Mind over body starvation/stupidity due to general life stress. You try to sleep but nothing works and the hell just continues onward when the sun rises, so you stay up another day and forget to eat. So glad I left that life behind. ;)

natural selection in action.

Did the guy even eat or drink anything? Beyond staying awake for 72 hours, that would not help his health...

Then again the Communist government forcing people from killing themselves playing video games too much is another problem, I suppose.

Something tells me the guy was playing the Burning Crusade since it just came out a week ago in China.... maybe looking to be the first paladin horde server side?

As sad as this is, there really is no excuse for playing a game THAT long.

Honestly, the longest I've ever played a game was somewhere around 14 hours (Legend Of Zelda: OoT, for those interested, and I know you're not.) and by the time that came around, I was hungry, I was tired, I was busting to take a whiz.

I knew when to stop, and I was only 11 at the time. This guy, considering he was 30, I think he shoulda known as well.

Too much of everything is bad. I always believe in that line.

A healthy person can live without eating for a month but one will go crazy if he doesn't sleep for a week.

As an addendum:

"Ok somehow this seems like political propaganda to justify baaning interenet in china…

or perhaps these people were executed for posting idologically incorrect statements on the interent or in the games…

Maybe they were just addicted to free information and couldn’t stop reading about what goes on in their own nation…After someone I know got out of soviet russia he was glued to tv and then internet for years…(adicted to freedom…) hey maybe we should pass laws banning freedom?oh wait thats what the game laws try to do already, never maybe we are on track… "

This is exactly the type of behavior I am striving to stop. Currently, many westerners will put a negative spin on the Chinese government regardless of its involvement in a news story. GP posts about a man dying from gaming, someone like the above says, "YEAH CHINA IS GONNA USE THIS AS A REASON TO BANZ THE INTERNETZ!!!!" It's intensely ironic that though people show negativity to how China spins news to favor itself politically, they are spinning news at the same time to put China in a negative light, foregoing any reason or logic. Kind of sad, really.

I agree with Ashton that some here have painted China in an overly negative light - remembering the centuries of abuse we have watched this nation visit up on their peoples has that effect on some. I won't say that treatment is unjustified or should stop. I think people should be held to their track records.

I have to also disagree with Ashton that there has been any improvement (much less 'enough') on the subject of freedom of speech. From just last month;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/30/wnet130....

Just rediculous. This is really only adding insult to injury...putting a happy anime face and smile on the doctrine of systematic control of expression.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China

Internet workers are well aware of "The Great Firewall of China". We deal with connectivity problems for our customers all the time, and there's not a lot we can do about it. As you'll read in that article (and can find in news stories in USAToday and the like as recently as 2006), China keeps a staff of 30,000 people to monitor Internet usage (all traffic is monitored by the police) and take action against subversives.

So yes, IM works. And chances are someone is reading what you say. Email works. And I'm sure if you mentioned the party or japan or any number of other buzzwords, someone would read that too. You can get to all kinds of websites, sure, just not the ones the party has blocked. If you post something...shall we say unwise? The men in jackboots show up at your door.

So yes Ashton, it's all just fine, just don't say anything subversive, or try to get any subversive information, eh?

If we keep on like this, how long until China's Internet Police block GP from your view, Ashton?

This is not the story of a free country. It is not the story of a country that is becoming more free ("progress" in Ashton's words). It is the story of a country that is getting better at hiding its abuse from the world and its own people, every day. The Internet has been a fantastic tool - by using it to control information, they can effectively hide from perception. You can't see the person sniffing your traffic, or reading your email, so you don't know. Out of sight, out of mind, you know? The old ways were much easier to spot, and drew greater ire from the International community.

If only the infringement upon the basic human right of free speech were the worst offense!


And Ashton, the reason we make a big deal out of these stories isn't because we think Chinese people drop dead at Internet Cafe's daily from their gaming addictions, quite the opposite, it is because the country you live in makes a big deal out of them. Cardiac arrests at Internet Cafe's (or any other establishment) don't rate the international news wire around here, and don't blame the Cafe' for the heart failure!

Man, 3 days is too long the most I can do is 22 hours and that was when I was 16, now 21. love final fantasy games though I typically run 5-8 hours sometimes but I always have somethin to snack on the guy must of been takin some methanphetamines to keep up or something.

I love playing videogames...but for 3 days??????

This guy must be nuts....

Hey, look after yourself when you are playing games because you must be insane to play something for at least 20 hours stright....

fuck you, i wont kill you in gta!!!!!!!