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Recently, a story has hit the headlines detailing how a man died after playing too many video-games. The equivalent of giving all over-protective parents a million dollars to spend at Ammu-Nation in GTA3, this has once again started up that great debate - is too much gaming bad for you? Well, not really. Not within reason, anyway.
Let's look at the facts - this kid was on the computer (at an internet cafe of some description) for 86 hours. That's over three days straight. The guy had no decent sleep or meals during that time. If he'd been doing any other activity, such as reading, watching television or whatever, there would have been the same results...but that doesn't stop the column inches filling up with stories about 'Man Killed by Video-Games'. The man collapsed by the counter, but regained consciousness, and continued to play. Eventually, he went to the toilet...but never came back. Mr Kim (only his surname has been released thus far) was found dead in the lavatory (not IN it, but you know what I mean). What do I say about this whole sorry incident? Well, for one thing, it's raised Earth's average IQ a bit. Anybody who stays on a computer for that long is asking for either death, or a right rollocking by their parents (assuming they still live with them). Secondly, it's a warning to Internet cafe owners to not be so darned irresponsible. I have no idea why such establishments are open 24 hours anyway, because anybody that wants to be online at such an ungodly hour probably has a top-end PC with a broadband connection at home anyway...but if someone was to come in to your place of work (be it GAME, Boots, or whatever) and not move for 86 hours, refusing to sleep or eat...would you not alert the authorities, or at the very least slip him a sandwich laced with tranquilizers?
Really, this is another in an ever-increasing line of video-game related deaths. There are many incidents of multiplayer rage, but not many are serious. I'm sure we've all chucked a controller at a mate after they've shot us in the back of the head, put us through a table or nutmegged us on the screen...but who can honestly say that at a LAN party, they've strangled a player of the opposing team to death? Well, it's happened. Counter-Strike parties have a history of violence, and there have been a few reported stabbings, and one instance of murder, which I mentioned.
There was recently a man that commited suicide after a spell of playing EverQuest that lasted at least two days. Affectionately referred to as EverCrack, this Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game is the cause of many news stories, from people selling their high-level character accounts on eBay for hundreds of pounds, to people 'marrying' people they've never met. Such games can be highly addictive (hence EverCrack), allowing you to build up your own alter-ego, with as outlandish a personality (and outfit) as you wish. Articles have been run in everything from Edge to the Sunday Times about the phenomenon, featuring diaries of confessed junkies.
But are games that bad for us? Do they cause deaths? In the same way that Chess does...not at all. Somebody could sit by a chessboard for a week and die of hunger, dehydration, malnutrition or what have you. Did chess kill that person? After losing a long game of chess, Player A could grab a nearby blade and stab Player B to death...but would it be chess's fault?
Chess is fun, and games are even funner. They're mostly harmless, a perfectly normal outlet for aggression. A way to be creative, to relieve stress, to be what you've always wanted or to do what you've never been able to quite manage. Games don't kill idiots, idiots kill themsleves. A child doesn't watch a violent movie and then decides to shoot up a school, he decides to shoot up a school but watch a quick film before he goes.
I apologise if that offends anybody, but really, it's true. Hopefully, the fuss will die down, and everyone will get stuck in to upcoming releases such as Timesplitters 2, GTA Vice City, Blinx, and Metroid Prime. Don't take it out on the discs.
Thanks for reading.
-El Blokey
Let's look at the facts - this kid was on the computer (at an internet cafe of some description) for 86 hours. That's over three days straight. The guy had no decent sleep or meals during that time. If he'd been doing any other activity, such as reading, watching television or whatever, there would have been the same results...but that doesn't stop the column inches filling up with stories about 'Man Killed by Video-Games'. The man collapsed by the counter, but regained consciousness, and continued to play. Eventually, he went to the toilet...but never came back. Mr Kim (only his surname has been released thus far) was found dead in the lavatory (not IN it, but you know what I mean). What do I say about this whole sorry incident? Well, for one thing, it's raised Earth's average IQ a bit. Anybody who stays on a computer for that long is asking for either death, or a right rollocking by their parents (assuming they still live with them). Secondly, it's a warning to Internet cafe owners to not be so darned irresponsible. I have no idea why such establishments are open 24 hours anyway, because anybody that wants to be online at such an ungodly hour probably has a top-end PC with a broadband connection at home anyway...but if someone was to come in to your place of work (be it GAME, Boots, or whatever) and not move for 86 hours, refusing to sleep or eat...would you not alert the authorities, or at the very least slip him a sandwich laced with tranquilizers?
Really, this is another in an ever-increasing line of video-game related deaths. There are many incidents of multiplayer rage, but not many are serious. I'm sure we've all chucked a controller at a mate after they've shot us in the back of the head, put us through a table or nutmegged us on the screen...but who can honestly say that at a LAN party, they've strangled a player of the opposing team to death? Well, it's happened. Counter-Strike parties have a history of violence, and there have been a few reported stabbings, and one instance of murder, which I mentioned.
There was recently a man that commited suicide after a spell of playing EverQuest that lasted at least two days. Affectionately referred to as EverCrack, this Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game is the cause of many news stories, from people selling their high-level character accounts on eBay for hundreds of pounds, to people 'marrying' people they've never met. Such games can be highly addictive (hence EverCrack), allowing you to build up your own alter-ego, with as outlandish a personality (and outfit) as you wish. Articles have been run in everything from Edge to the Sunday Times about the phenomenon, featuring diaries of confessed junkies.
But are games that bad for us? Do they cause deaths? In the same way that Chess does...not at all. Somebody could sit by a chessboard for a week and die of hunger, dehydration, malnutrition or what have you. Did chess kill that person? After losing a long game of chess, Player A could grab a nearby blade and stab Player B to death...but would it be chess's fault?
Chess is fun, and games are even funner. They're mostly harmless, a perfectly normal outlet for aggression. A way to be creative, to relieve stress, to be what you've always wanted or to do what you've never been able to quite manage. Games don't kill idiots, idiots kill themsleves. A child doesn't watch a violent movie and then decides to shoot up a school, he decides to shoot up a school but watch a quick film before he goes.
I apologise if that offends anybody, but really, it's true. Hopefully, the fuss will die down, and everyone will get stuck in to upcoming releases such as Timesplitters 2, GTA Vice City, Blinx, and Metroid Prime. Don't take it out on the discs.
Thanks for reading.
-El Blokey
Great topic, but nonetheless, who would be dumb enough to play a bloody COMPUTER GAME for 3 days straight and FORGET to eat and sleep. Sleep is excusable, but I dunno about you, but I don't find eating a chore. I could go as far to say that I actually ENJOY eating..imagine that...
Back on topic though, people who die because of gaming (like the guy who played Counterstrike for 14 straight hours [that sounds lame compared to this new example of the South Korean guy]) are just mentally deranged and should be inspected. I know gaming can be addictive (especially internet play), but that just takes the peese, if you pardon the expression...
Must be something in the water down (or up - I'm no geographer damnit!) in South Korea.
Strange people, but great topic though matey.
Back on topic though, people who die because of gaming (like the guy who played Counterstrike for 14 straight hours [that sounds lame compared to this new example of the South Korean guy]) are just mentally deranged and should be inspected. I know gaming can be addictive (especially internet play), but that just takes the peese, if you pardon the expression...
Must be something in the water down (or up - I'm no geographer damnit!) in South Korea.
Strange people, but great topic though matey.
Recently, a story has hit the headlines detailing how a man died after playing too many video-games. The equivalent of giving all over-protective parents a million dollars to spend at Ammu-Nation in GTA3, this has once again started up that great debate - is too much gaming bad for you? Well, not really. Not within reason, anyway.
Let's look at the facts - this kid was on the computer (at an internet cafe of some description) for 86 hours. That's over three days straight. The guy had no decent sleep or meals during that time. If he'd been doing any other activity, such as reading, watching television or whatever, there would have been the same results...but that doesn't stop the column inches filling up with stories about 'Man Killed by Video-Games'. The man collapsed by the counter, but regained consciousness, and continued to play. Eventually, he went to the toilet...but never came back. Mr Kim (only his surname has been released thus far) was found dead in the lavatory (not IN it, but you know what I mean). What do I say about this whole sorry incident? Well, for one thing, it's raised Earth's average IQ a bit. Anybody who stays on a computer for that long is asking for either death, or a right rollocking by their parents (assuming they still live with them). Secondly, it's a warning to Internet cafe owners to not be so darned irresponsible. I have no idea why such establishments are open 24 hours anyway, because anybody that wants to be online at such an ungodly hour probably has a top-end PC with a broadband connection at home anyway...but if someone was to come in to your place of work (be it GAME, Boots, or whatever) and not move for 86 hours, refusing to sleep or eat...would you not alert the authorities, or at the very least slip him a sandwich laced with tranquilizers?
Really, this is another in an ever-increasing line of video-game related deaths. There are many incidents of multiplayer rage, but not many are serious. I'm sure we've all chucked a controller at a mate after they've shot us in the back of the head, put us through a table or nutmegged us on the screen...but who can honestly say that at a LAN party, they've strangled a player of the opposing team to death? Well, it's happened. Counter-Strike parties have a history of violence, and there have been a few reported stabbings, and one instance of murder, which I mentioned.
There was recently a man that commited suicide after a spell of playing EverQuest that lasted at least two days. Affectionately referred to as EverCrack, this Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game is the cause of many news stories, from people selling their high-level character accounts on eBay for hundreds of pounds, to people 'marrying' people they've never met. Such games can be highly addictive (hence EverCrack), allowing you to build up your own alter-ego, with as outlandish a personality (and outfit) as you wish. Articles have been run in everything from Edge to the Sunday Times about the phenomenon, featuring diaries of confessed junkies.
But are games that bad for us? Do they cause deaths? In the same way that Chess does...not at all. Somebody could sit by a chessboard for a week and die of hunger, dehydration, malnutrition or what have you. Did chess kill that person? After losing a long game of chess, Player A could grab a nearby blade and stab Player B to death...but would it be chess's fault?
Chess is fun, and games are even funner. They're mostly harmless, a perfectly normal outlet for aggression. A way to be creative, to relieve stress, to be what you've always wanted or to do what you've never been able to quite manage. Games don't kill idiots, idiots kill themsleves. A child doesn't watch a violent movie and then decides to shoot up a school, he decides to shoot up a school but watch a quick film before he goes.
I apologise if that offends anybody, but really, it's true. Hopefully, the fuss will die down, and everyone will get stuck in to upcoming releases such as Timesplitters 2, GTA Vice City, Blinx, and Metroid Prime. Don't take it out on the discs.
Thanks for reading.
-El Blokey
Let's look at the facts - this kid was on the computer (at an internet cafe of some description) for 86 hours. That's over three days straight. The guy had no decent sleep or meals during that time. If he'd been doing any other activity, such as reading, watching television or whatever, there would have been the same results...but that doesn't stop the column inches filling up with stories about 'Man Killed by Video-Games'. The man collapsed by the counter, but regained consciousness, and continued to play. Eventually, he went to the toilet...but never came back. Mr Kim (only his surname has been released thus far) was found dead in the lavatory (not IN it, but you know what I mean). What do I say about this whole sorry incident? Well, for one thing, it's raised Earth's average IQ a bit. Anybody who stays on a computer for that long is asking for either death, or a right rollocking by their parents (assuming they still live with them). Secondly, it's a warning to Internet cafe owners to not be so darned irresponsible. I have no idea why such establishments are open 24 hours anyway, because anybody that wants to be online at such an ungodly hour probably has a top-end PC with a broadband connection at home anyway...but if someone was to come in to your place of work (be it GAME, Boots, or whatever) and not move for 86 hours, refusing to sleep or eat...would you not alert the authorities, or at the very least slip him a sandwich laced with tranquilizers?
Really, this is another in an ever-increasing line of video-game related deaths. There are many incidents of multiplayer rage, but not many are serious. I'm sure we've all chucked a controller at a mate after they've shot us in the back of the head, put us through a table or nutmegged us on the screen...but who can honestly say that at a LAN party, they've strangled a player of the opposing team to death? Well, it's happened. Counter-Strike parties have a history of violence, and there have been a few reported stabbings, and one instance of murder, which I mentioned.
There was recently a man that commited suicide after a spell of playing EverQuest that lasted at least two days. Affectionately referred to as EverCrack, this Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game is the cause of many news stories, from people selling their high-level character accounts on eBay for hundreds of pounds, to people 'marrying' people they've never met. Such games can be highly addictive (hence EverCrack), allowing you to build up your own alter-ego, with as outlandish a personality (and outfit) as you wish. Articles have been run in everything from Edge to the Sunday Times about the phenomenon, featuring diaries of confessed junkies.
But are games that bad for us? Do they cause deaths? In the same way that Chess does...not at all. Somebody could sit by a chessboard for a week and die of hunger, dehydration, malnutrition or what have you. Did chess kill that person? After losing a long game of chess, Player A could grab a nearby blade and stab Player B to death...but would it be chess's fault?
Chess is fun, and games are even funner. They're mostly harmless, a perfectly normal outlet for aggression. A way to be creative, to relieve stress, to be what you've always wanted or to do what you've never been able to quite manage. Games don't kill idiots, idiots kill themsleves. A child doesn't watch a violent movie and then decides to shoot up a school, he decides to shoot up a school but watch a quick film before he goes.
I apologise if that offends anybody, but really, it's true. Hopefully, the fuss will die down, and everyone will get stuck in to upcoming releases such as Timesplitters 2, GTA Vice City, Blinx, and Metroid Prime. Don't take it out on the discs.
Thanks for reading.
-El Blokey