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An ad campaign of U.S.-based SpinDance Inc.¡¯s Play Limit, an equipment designed to prevent children from getting overly absorbed in video games.
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The recent deaths of several people directly or indirectly related to excessive playing of computer games have raised fresh concerns about Korea¡¯s flourishing gaming industry. On Dec. 8, a 38-year-old man died suddenly after playing Internet games for 20 straight days at an Internet café, sustaining himself solely on instant noodles. On Nov. 20, a high school student died while playing online games for nine hours at home, adding his name to a bleak statistic that also includes the death on June 14 of a four-month-old infant who suffocated while her parents were out playing computer games.
Apparently rare overseas, such cases make frequent headlines in Korea. Why? Experts point to the poor environment of the ¡°PC bang¡± or Internet cafes that have mushroomed nationwide. Generally dark and poorly ventilated, they cater to gamers who tend to smoke heavily. The bad air and light can increase the danger of sudden death, experts warn.
¡°People who haven¡¯t slept for a long time usually don¡¯t realize how exhausted or stressed they are,¡± says Dr. Song Hyeong-gon of Samsung Seoul Hospital¡¯s Emergency Department. ¡°Because they are stressed by the obsession with winning the game, they consume a considerable amount of energy. In such a physically exhausted condition, exposure to bright colors or stimulating images on the screen is likely to irritate the cerebral cortex and can cause sudden death.¡±
Eoh Gi-jun, the head of the Korea Computer Life Institute, points out that deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the so-called economy class syndrome, can also cause computer-game related death. According to research by the National Institute of Scientific Investigation, the main cause of death during computer games is pulmonary thrombo-embolism. ¡°The games we played in the 1980s were winnable once you found out the programmed rules of the game, but when playing network games you have to compete with millions of players all around the world,¡± Eoh says. ¡°You may be one of the top ranking players one moment but drop way down the next second. Because of the massive competition, people can¡¯t stop playing.¡±
While death due to game addiction is still rare, many PC game players suffer from disorders of the musculoskeletal system related to repetitive strain such as pain in the wrist, shoulders and lower back.
Meanwhile, for children there is an additional danger associated with violence. ¡°Parents should pay attention to how much time their children spend playing games because young children and teenagers are more vulnerable and may grow into adults lacking social skills or in the worst case lose their lives,¡± Song warns.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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