Taiwan baby dies as parents play web games

www.vancouversun.com...

Okay, I know that I am a bit guilty of playing the occasional video game hours upon hours. That said, I also don't have a child or baby to take care of. Should I be a parent, I would have more responsibility in my life.

I know that technology and web based games have taken over our lives (anyone remember Farmville on Facebook?). But seriously, how can you NOT take care of those who are your own blood FIRST!? This is absolutely shocking. The story below depicts the ignorance of parents allowing their baby to starve to death as they play games.

What is going on in the world today that we forget that we live in a living reality...not in a virtual reality. I hope that justice is served in some way that would send a wake-up call to ALL PARENTS around the world that you need to take care of your babes and children with better care.

TAIPEI - A young Taiwanese couple has been accused of letting their baby girl starve to death because they were obsessed with playing games online and forgot to feed her regularly, police said Friday.

The one-year-old weighed only four kilograms (nine pounds), or half the average size of a girl her age, when the couple reported her death earlier this week, the police said.

According to the local Apple Daily newspaper, when police arrived, they found a girl reduced to "just skin and bone and with sunken eyes", while a gaming website was flickering on the computer monitor next to her crib.

Prosecutors will look into the cause of the girl’s death and determine whether her parents, in their early 20s, were responsible. They face up to two years in prison for manslaughter if convicted.

Another news article dealing with playing web games and its relatedness to someone dying from it. Kinda sad this stuff actually happens in the world...death by playing video games

Chinese man dies after web gaming binge

www.vancouversun.com...

BEIJING - A Chinese man in his 30s has died after a three-day gaming binge at an Internet cafe outside Beijing, during which he did not sleep and barely ate, state-run media reported Tuesday.

The incident highlighted the country’s ongoing battle to stamp out Internet addiction, which affects tens of millions of Chinese, according to researchers.

The man, who was not identified, slipped into a coma this week in the cafe on the outskirts of the capital and was rushed to a nearby clinic, where he died shortly after, the Beijing Times said.

He had spent more than 10,000 yuan (USD1,500) over the past month on Internet gaming, and had barely moved from his computer for a three-day period, the report said.

Police confiscated several computers as part of their investigation but have ruled out murder and thus far have not detained the operators of the small cafe, which only had about a half-dozen terminals, it added.

The number of teenage Internet addicts in China has risen to 33 million, according to state media reports citing Chinese researchers.

Concerns over Internet addiction have spurred a new industry, with unlicensed web "boot camps" springing up around China.

The government has also taken a series of measures to cope with the problem. Authorities recently ordered online video game operators to allow parents to monitor their children’s playing sessions or even put in place a total ban.

then how come i can resist the power of video games ?i used to play video games but i decided to stop. i'm starting to have doubts about the two articles.

What is it about internet games and people in the Orient? These stories are far too common to be dismissed as random events. You rarely hear of the same things happening here in the West.

Odd. And sad... Very sad..

I like my MMO's and PC Games, but I have three children and realise they come first. I wait until they have gone to bed and the missus has retired for the night before playing my games.

Originally posted by starwarsisreal
then how come i can resist the power of video games ?i used to play video games but i decided to stop. i'm starting to have doubts about the two articles.

Believe it or not, some people will play video games to no end to escape reality. Video games can also be a bad habit, and very addicting, unless the player has will-power to stop. I can control my hours, but I know of some people who disappeared for 6 months from the face of the earth only to come out with darkness under their eyes and looking like zombies from playing too much of gaming.

This phenomenon shows the amazing capacity for the human mind to short circuit and develop an unescapable appetite for harmful behavior.

Collecting, gambling, drinking, drugs, toxic relationships, eating...and now, gaming.

I hate to see legislation having to be enforced to control this behavior, but I have no other answer for it.

I've had my share of harmful behaviors I've overcome, and have watched and tried to help others overcome theirs', I know that it just isn't easy, but it is not impossible.

Some of us just can't seem to discipline themselves enough to break out of the detrimental behavior, but to let your child starve to death? Unimaginable!