How many times have you died playing games? From "Insert Coin" to "Game Over" to "it was only because of lag," we've all died more times than Sean Bean. In some games, this comes with dire consequences, like starting all over from scratch; in others, its just a blip on the way to inevitable victory. It might come at the bottom of a pool of lava, or at the hands of any of gaming's many, many enemy characters.

But marauding space aliens, corrupt government operatives, and laser-shooting skeletons aren't the true dangers that lurk within your favorite video games. No, what you really need to be worried about are blood clots, a lack of movement, and a vulnerability to game-induced psychosis. An observer might see you sitting immobile on a couch or in an internet cafe, but the reality of what your body and mind are going through is pretty intense, and there have been many unfortunate gamers who've paid a high health toll for their passion. Here are some heartbreaking stories to remind us that unlike video games, you can't just hit "continue" in real life.


Berzerk: Heart attacks

Berzerk is one of the earliest known examples of a video game ending in actual death. In April 1982, an 18-year-old named Peter Bukowski landed a couple of high scores on a Berzerk arcade cabinet before collapsing from a heart attack, due to a compromised cardiovascular system which was agitated beyond repair by the game. An October 1982 article in Video Games Magazinecites studies tying physiological reactions to video game stress that went back as far as 1977, using Pongas a stressor. Those Pong dudes would have instantly exploded playing Bayou Billy.


http://www.looper.com/9331/video-games-ruined-peoples-lives/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dvAxPFxL-o?list=PLOzaghBOlEscc85qPFuxc4tSX28j_ek7t

EverQuest: Suicide

EverQuest, affectionately called "EverCrack" or "NeverRest" by its many dedicated fans, is an MMORPG known for drawing in easily-addicted gamers, even catalyzing the formation of support groups for people whose relationships suffered from their partner's addiction to the game. Shawn Woolley took his EverQuest passion to the extreme in 2002, quitting his job to play full-time. After he ignored a Thanksgiving invitation from his family, his loved ones found Woolley dead in front of his computer from a self-inflicted shotgun wound — with EverQuest still running. Woolley took his own life for unknown reasons, but it's speculated that it may have been related to a troubled in-game relationship.

Legend of Mir 3: Murder over a drop

In yet another MMORPG incident with seriously messed-up real-life ramifications, Legend of Mir players Qiu Chengwei and Zhu Caoyuan jointly earned a very rare Dragon Sabre sword in-game, but Zhu decided to sell the sword on eBay in 2005 without Qiu's consent. Earning around $870 for the sale, the two players couldn't come to a reasonable agreement as to proper disbursal of payment for the sword, so Qiu later stabbed Zhu to death in his sleep. Qiu was sentenced to life in prison, but will be eligible for parole in 2020.

FarmVille: Murder

Yes, even FarmVille can turn evil in the wrong hands. Alexandra Tobias, a 22-year-old mother, was so addicted to the game that she shook her three-month-old son to death in 2011 because his crying interrupted her playing. Tobias, who received a 50-year prison sentence for her actions, at one point reportedly confessed to a fellow inmate that she hit her baby's head against the computer monitor in the process of trying to shake him into silence.

Nintendo Wii: Water intoxication



In 2007, the Nintendo Wii was still hard to get in the US, so the Sacramento-based radio station KDND decided to run a contest giving one of the consoles away. The challenge: drink an inordinate amount of water without urinating, with whoever leaked last winning the Wii. Unfortunately, it's possible to die from water intoxication, and Jennifer Strange, a participant in the event, collapsed and died once she returned home after failing to win the prize. The station fired ten employees and lost a $16 million lawsuit.

World of Warcraft: Child neglect, murder


Massively multiplayer online role-playing games, or MMORPGs for short, have a reputation for attracting people with addiction problems, some of whom have sacrificed real-life experiences and responsibilities in order to disappear into a fantasy world. The story of Rebecca Colleen Christie offers a worst-case scenario: she spent such an inordinate amount of time playing Warcraft that she allowed her three-year-old daughter to starve to death. Prosecutors found that Christie had just engaged in a nonstop 15-hour WoW session prior to finally calling 911 for her daughter, who was found unresponsive. She was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison for the crime.

Ingress: Walking into traffic



A mobile app that requires you to get up and move around seems like a great idea—until that app sends you directly into traffic, as it did Gabriel Cavalcante Carneiro Leao. While playing Ingress in 2014, the 16-year-old Brazilian teen lost track of his surroundings while rushing to a "portal" in the game, and was subsequently hit and killed by an oncoming bus. While Ingress has built-in limits to prevent certain unsafe behaviors, like features becoming unavailable while moving at high speeds, there was nothing to stop an absorbed and enthusiastic kid from walking into a busy street. They also didn't help Frank Maxwell, a 48-year-old father who drowned near a pier in Ireland while playing the game in 2015.

DOTA, Diablo III, Halo, StarCraft, and WoW: Marathon gameplay deaths



If there's a lesson to be learned from life-ruining games, it's that you have to get up and move around sometimes, because the list of deaths from sitting on your butt and twiddling your thumbs just keeps growing. A 2015 report in the UK's Mirror details the death of a boy named Rustam (last name withheld) who played Defense of the Ancients(better known as DOTA) for 22 unrelenting days. In 2012, an 18-year-old named Chuang died in an Internet cafe in Taiwan after 40 continuous hours of Diablo III—the second marathon game-related death in Taiwan that year. In 2011, Chris Staniforth died in Englandfrom deep vein thrombosis after playing 12 hours of Halo. In 2005, Lee Seung Seop died in South Korea after 50 hours of StarCraft.

Moral of the story: don't take extended gameplay lightly. Even when you're in the thick of the action, remember that you need to get up for a few minutes every so often. Take a break, stand up, get some water, and move around every once in a while during your marathon gameplay sessions.

Slender: The Arrival: Stabbing and arson


Slender: The Arrival didn't exactly kill anyone, but an obsession with its main baddie influenced a few impressionable young girls to do some insidious things. In May 2014, two 12-year-old girls from Waukesha, Wisconsin stabbed their classmate 19 times, believing that they had to murder someone in order to appease the mythical villain(and antagonist of Slender: The Arrival as well as its low-budget predecessor, Slender: The Eight Pages).
Just as disturbing is the case of a 14-year-old girl who set her family's Port Richey, Florida home on fire with her mother and younger brother still inside. The girl was also obsessed with Slender Man lore, and reportedly started the fire in order to gain his favor.

Only mumu addict can be affected

Very interesting and chilling video, the op pretty much transcribed the voice over into his post.

@Cao, take a look at this pls.

dominique:
Very interesting and chilling video, the op pretty much transcribed the voice over into his post.

@Cao, take a look at this pls.

Oddly enough, I only just saw your post AFTER reading the thread. BTW, the OP appears to have knicked the content from a Looper, a rather popular YouTube (& website) channel I'm actually subscribed to, still a decent FP thread, though.

Edited the original post to reflect that. Folks, don't try to claim other people's content. I understand video editing can be frustrating, but c'mon do better.
http://www.looper.com/9331/video-games-ruined-peoples-lives/

And this is why the UN has declared gaming addiction a legitimate illness.

cao:

Oddly enough, I only just saw your post AFTER reading the thread. BTW, the OP appears to have knicked the content from a Looper, a rather popular YouTube (& website) channel I'm actually subscribed to, still a decent FP thread, though.

Edited the original post to reflect that. Folks, don't try to claim other people's content. I understand video editing can be frustrating, but c'mon do better.
http://www.looper.com/9331/video-games-ruined-peoples-lives/

Thanks, I guessed as much myself

Man if you have the urge to kill yourself or others because of a game, you need serious help. People always talk about drug, gambling and alcohol addictions as bad things, but video game and porn addictions are far more damaging and less obvious.

During my teen days, I was such a game freak, I had a near death experience while playing International Superstar Soccer Delux on my Sega mega drive meanwhile a kitchen fire was raging in the apartment below. I made it out alive by jumping from a 2 storey building to the waiting arms of good Samaritans. God is Great.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FvxI2Ib6mk

Where's GTA nah?

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isoright

Fear Don griped me for here...

There are Many Things in our World Today dt only the Spirtual can Understand....

Most of the Cartoons u leave your kids to Watch these days are Highly Demonic..
Ben10, etc

Note: Many will still argue

no game can kill me.... mba

Terrible

You can't be addicted to games in Nigeria, I wonder where you will get to see 50hours steady electricity without interruption......

I love GTA V ( PS4) though, I am addicted to it but not to the extent of playing it for more than 5hours. The best game ever.

Hmmmm

bedspread:
There are Many Things in our World Today dt only the Spirtual can Understand....

Most of the Cartoons u leave your kids to Watch these days are Highly Demonic..
Ben10, etc

Note: Many will still argue

lol demonic is the phone u are using to type not demonic they claim its a programmed data...artificial intelligence talking to cirri as she is a human being...well there things behind these things...Ben 10 is not as demonic as Simpson family yet we watched it they embrace illuminati and predict future in the cartoon... I dey Nigeria person dey USA we dey hear ourselves we claim its technology... who is demon? ruler of earth harnessing energy from earth to make something has to be demonic....

bedspread:
There are Many Things in our World Today dt only the Spirtual can Understand....

Most of the Cartoons u leave your kids to Watch these days are Highly Demonic.
Ben10, etc

Note: Many will still argue

You are right, I hate "vampirina" on Disney Junior with passion, I always switch channels when it comes up, I can never allow my boys to watch such nonsense.

konfused:
You cant be addicted to games in Nigeria, I wonder where you will get to see 50hours steady electricity without interruption......

I love GTA V ( PS4) though, I am addicted to it but not to the extent of playing it for more than 5hours. The best game ever.

Oga I have played game 24 hours long stretch pes on PS2 up till now I still dey play am for my phone addicted to that game like kilode but I never hear say game kill person for Nigeria....so I am safe

GTA no dey there?

This one is strong!