World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King has been out for less than a week and it seems the expansion has already claimed its first official casualty.
Right off the heels of a European gamer reaching level 80 in Wrath of the Lich King in 27 hours, Kotaku reports that a 15-year-old boy from Sweden suffered an epileptic seizure after playing Wrath of the Lich King for 24 hours straight.
According to the boy’s doctors, his bodily functions had been “disrupted by a combination of sleep deprivation, lack of food, and the prolonged period of concentration playing the game.” No surprises there.
“They played all day and all night. Maybe they got a few hours of sleep. They ate a little food and breakfast at their computers,” the boy’s father told a Swedish newspaper.
The 15-year-old had gotten together with six friends to play Lich King at his home when he collapsed at around 2 PM Sunday night (November 16, 2008).
The boy is expected to make a full recovery although his father plans to limit his son’s gaming time from now on. A wise decision.
I really think it's sad how these computer games are causing such an unhealthy lifestyle for our youth. Not only is it affecting them physically, but also mentally causing them to be very unsociable with the real world and signs of serious depression. I hope this comes to an end before it has a very bad affect on our society.
This come to an end? this is business it wont come to an end… all that can happen is for parents to limit their sons time at the computer or simply, as a player, you can limit your own playing time… although I find it funny how you claim that people are unsociable if they play these sort of games as if you knew this for a fact. I can assure you I know a fair amount of people who play this game or others of the sort and they are nothing close to unsociable.. but that might just be my friends..
It all comes down to the individual's ability to limit themselves, although15 year old kids aren't really known for self-control. Blizzard isn't forcing kids to play wow, kids are. The company is simply one of the leading competitors when it comes to top quality advertising. They know how to make people want to play.After that, it's all up to the person. They have the choice to stop whenever they want.