Taipei Police believe that Mr Rong-yu had been dead for nearly 9 hours before one of his 30 fellow gamers noticed that he passed away.
His body was rigid with his arms out stretched, resting on the computer keyboard and mouse, police reports show.
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| Pic: Yugatech.com |
Chen Rong-yu, whose family said he had been treated for heart problems last September, is believed to have died as a result of cardiac arrest, however, the police are still looking into the cause of his death.
They believe that a combination of lack of movement, tiredness and the cold weather may have caused blood clots resulting in a heart attack.
This is not the first time that excessive video-game-play has been blamed for the death of an individual.
In 2007, a young Chinese man named, Xu Yan, died following 2 weeks of continuous video games. Later that same year, a 30 year old man from Guangzhou died after a 3 day non-stop video game stint.
These incidents are however, not unique to Asia; the technological capital of the world.
In 2002 a woman from Louisiana, USA, sued the games console manufacturer, Nintendo, following the death of her son who had died as a result of playing video games for up to eight hours a day, six days a week. Nintendo denied any responsibility.
Many medical professionals have expressed concern over the health implications caused as a result of excessive video-game play.
They say that long periods spent playing video games often go hand-in-hand with a poor diet and an inactive lifestyle; two major causes of heart problems and childhood obesity. Theories suggest that video games become addictive and people, especially children, find it hard to distinguish between what is acceptable in real life and what is only acceptable in an 'virtual reality.'
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| Pic: Steve Petrucelli |
"I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time... that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever."
However, in a report conducted by CNN, 63 per cent of all parents believe that video-games are good for their children. There is a growing appreciation towards the positive effects that video-games can have on our health.
According to the parenting website 'Raisesmartkid.com' video games "give your child's brain a real workout."
Children can learn advanced cognitive processes such as problem-solving and logic, hand-eye co-ordination and motor skills as well as developing their ability to follow instructions.
Many other skills which cannot necessarily be taught at school such as strategy and anticipation can also be gained through the supervised use of video-games.
The debate is on-going as to whether video-games are conclusively good or bad for our health.
Some believe that it's the parent's responsibility to ensure that their children only have limited access to video games and on-line game play, whilst others hold the video-game creators to account; deeming them responsible for the way the game's content affects a person's mind.
By Benjamin Yates
Sources:
Pic1: http://www.yugatech.com
Pic 2: Steve Petrucelli via Flickr http://www.flickr.com/people/wizzer/
Pic 2: Steve Petrucelli via Flickr http://www.flickr.com/people/wizzer/
