- A 28-year-old South Korean man collapsed and died of
exhaustion after playing a computer game almost non-stop for 50 hours.
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- The man, identified only by his family name Lee, sat
down to play the online battle simulation game Starcraft at an internet
cafe in the southern city of Taegu last Wednesday morning and stayed there
for the next three days, stopping only for brief naps or toilet breaks.
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- South Korean newspapers reported that Lee had recently
been fired from his job because he spent too much time playing computer
games. When he failed to return home by Friday, however, his mother asked
his former colleagues to find him.
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- When they reached the cafe, Lee told his friends that
he would finish the game and go home. He died a few minutes later.
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- "We presume the cause of death was heart failure
stemming from exhaustion," a Taegu provincial police official said.
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- Computer games are enormously popular in South Korea
and professional gamers can earn big money through sponsorships and television
stations devoted to broadcasting matches.
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- Copyright 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd.
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- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1729573,00.html
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