Another death blamed on games

[Kuroneko97]

TRUTH IN ARTICLE:
I have heard of how sitting still for many hours can kill someone, and so because he sat still for many hours without stopping, that is what killed them. Cause of death is the DVT due to immobility.
LIES IN ARTICLE:
The Xbox didn't kill him. Plus, he doesn't look very healthy. If he wasn't living with anyone, then perhaps he should have had a job? If he was living with his parents, then perhaps they should have stopped him at some point. It doesn't really mention whom he lived with. The point is, it's very misleading to call it "death by Xbox," because the Xbox didn't kill him. It was his inability to get off the system and get some exercise or fresh air.
RAGE ABOUT ARTICLE:
Seriously, the media has to stop blaming these deaths on videogames. When you look deep down, the game didn't do shit. It's not Master Chief's fault the man couldn't let go of him. Plus, others have mentioned how he doesn't look like he gets much exercise anyway. Maybe the parents should have taken him off the game, or some friends take him out to have some non-digital fun. You know why my parents don't have to call me off my computer? Because I get up every 2-3 hours. If someone you know isn't getting their ass up every once in a while, maybe you should be a good person a help.

Okay, now I'm blaming this on the parents and friends. The point is, if you know somebody who is a little TOO addicted to videogames and computers, maybe you should do them a favor and invite them out. Videogames don't cause deaths. What the gamers do cause deaths.

 

[Redingold]

He had unhealthy eating habits and a crappy chair, I gotta say...

I like how they put a picture of halo reach with the caption
GAME
O rly Sun?

The pony in your profile pic freaks me out when he does that weird face

That pony's female.

Anyway, any sedentary lifestyle makes you more vulnerable to thrombosis, as does smoking. It seems unfair to lay the blame on games here, it's more the attitude behind playing these games that is the problem.

 

[Mutie]

*Banging her head against her desk*
People should understand that every day we face death from our commutes to work to the various bacterias that share the world with us. That young man's death must be a tragedy for his family but by blaming video games is not right. Then again, I rarely read the paper nowadays.

I think it's fair to say there's nothing left to read... This is all newspapers are these days: pure, grade A, oak aged bullshit.

 

[James Crook]

He had unhealthy eating habits and a crappy chair, I gotta say...

I like how they put a picture of halo reach with the caption
GAME
O rly Sun?

The pony in your profile pic freaks me out when he does that weird face

That pony's female.

Anyway, any sedentary lifestyle makes you more vulnerable to thrombosis, as does smoking. It seems unfair to lay the blame on games here, it's more the attitude behind playing these games that is the problem.

Oops, thanks, it was just a typo.
Yeah, I don't get it why The Sun's writers used games as a scapegoat here. Perhaps that guy smoked. Or maybe he ate a lot of ordered pizza and Burger King? We don't know, games aren't to blame for this, it's just his behaviour and lack of restraint.. Heck, this could've happened too if the guy kept watching TV and didn't even play games.

 

[C95J]

I know everybody is going to scream bloody murder about this, but I actually think the article isn't that bad. The headline is a little provocative, but actually not that far besides the truth. Sitting still is what killed him, but he did it because of his XBOX. That's not really the fault of video games, but I do think it is something everybody who plays a lot of games should be aware of.

I agree, completely. Some people are just a little too defensive over video games, when it is pretty obvious that really, that is what caused his death.

 

[Colour Scientist]

No one believes in self-efficacy anymore, huh?

It's tragic when anyone young dies but it was his own fault. Maybe he wasn't fully informed about DVT but if his lifestyle was to sit all day then he must have known there are some serious health risks involved, especially at twenty. Obviously the parents don't want to think that their son's untimely death was his own fault so they look for a scapegoat. If he had watched copious amounts of television it would have been that.

Afterthought: The Sun is nothing but rubbish anyway so I doubt with all the high profile attacks on gaming this one will go very far.

 

[Bebus]

Ok, the headline is stupidly provocative (this is the Sun...) but it almost looks like some posters are getting a victim complex about this.

There is no call to ban games, or anything else stupid like that. He died because he sat around for up to 12 hours per day playing video games. Denying that video games had a part to play in his death is ignoring the facts. His father only wants other gamers to know that sitting around for hours on end is dangerous, a fair enough message.

Now if only we could ban offices...

 

[iDoom46]

If video games, or even just sitting on your ass all day gave you blood clots, I would have died YEARS ago.

I'd say the more likely culprit was the job interview. Notice how they say his symptoms appeared RIGHT after his interview? Pretty suspicious, I'd say! JOBS KILL.

Or perhaps it was because he was outside. That place is dangerous! Everything out there is always trying to kill you one way or the other, nature just found a new method is all. That's why I never leave the house unless I have to.

 

[franconbean]

Oh its the Sun, The UK's Favorite comic book.
20% News, 70% sensationalism and 10% tits.
At least one of those figures is being generous...

The Sun is owned by News Corp, it's pretty much Fox News UK.

Well, i guess it is now that the NOTW has shut down (another victim of Murdoch's repeated attempts to wash his hands of accountability of any kind).

 

[Zero_ctrl]

I'm not even a Brit, and even I can tell you what's wrong with that link.

It's The Sun. No one takes them seriously, for pretty much everyone knows them for the despicable sensationalist populists they are.

Agreed. I don't think I've ever trusted The Sun, even before I knew what bias was.

 

[Dr. wonderful]

...Didn't the sun get close down of something?

 

[lacktheknack]

All right, now you guys are being too sensitive.

Did playing on his Xbox kill him? Apparently, YES. YES IT DID.

Could this have happened if he had, say, watched movies for twelve hours at a time? YES. YES IT COULD HAVE.

If that had been the case, and had the article been titled "Movie Death", would you guys complain? NO. NO YOU WOULD NOT.

Sitting in front of his Xbox for so long DID kill him. The article is VERY CLEAR of that. Stop overreacting, everyone, you're making us look bad.

EDIT: Although it is the Sun... still. There's no need for the outrage that people had.

 

[Aprilgold]

Sorry, changed statement below.

 

[iDoom46]

Double post. Derp.

 

[razer17]

Blaming games for this is just silly. His son could just as easily have been sitting reading a book for 12 hour straight. Or watching TV, etc.

I think the Sun is sensationalising (no shit). I think what the Dad was trying to say is that teenagers should move around occasionaly when gaming, or generally sitting around. Which is fair enough. I don't think he was saying games killed his son.

 

[Aprilgold]

Edit: Changed my whole statement, so let me get this out first, yes, he died, no, it isn't tragic, if I were to die by trying to disarm a bomb I set up at the age of 20, would it be tragic that I died, no, because I was disarming MY OWN bomb. Next, the message of the father is nice, but the tag line itself should be the equivalent of prison time, what is the tag line, GAMES KILL, if it weren't saying GAMES KILL and instead said 20 year old something died of blood clots from interview for job, tragedy strikes home, then it would be ok, BUT ITS GAMES KILL! And my last statement, he looked like a living STD, taking him to the doctor may have helped him out a little.

In concluision to my sentence, the father saying that message to other gamers is fine, but even then IT WASN'T games fault that this man died, it was his OWN fault for not leaving that chair, there fore, the tag line shouldn't have been GAMES KILL instead, SITTING STRAIGHT FOR 12 HOURS KILLS!

 

[Terminal Blue]

To be fair. He got DVT from sitting around playing video games. It's likely that doing so was a causal factor in his death. So it's not remotely inaccurate to say that he was killed by playing games.

Really, aside from the headline, the article isn't too bad especially by tabloid standards. The guy's dad was extremely level headed. They even included a statement from Microsoft. There's actually very little journalistic opinion here, the vast majority of the article is quotations. There's not even a paraphrase in sight.

As it is, I'm kind of glad I've been informed of this and I'm perfectly willing to forgive the eye catching headline because, well, it caught my eye.

Stop being so overly sensitive. There's a huge difference between 'video games contributed to this guy's death, be aware of the medical risks you probably didn't know about' and 'BAN THIS SICK FILTH!'

 

[FalloutJack]

Yeah, just more bullshit. Hell, the father isn't even really blaming games:

"I'm not for one minute blaming the manufacturer of Xbox. It isn't their fault that people use them for so long. But I want to highlight the dangers that can arise.

"Playing on it for so long is what killed him* - and I don't want another child to die."

I think anytime a paper of television show using grossly misleading titles like "Death By X-Box", people should use the argument that they're being racist as discussed here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111965-Expert-Says-Blaming-Videogames-for-Violence-is-Racist].


*emphasis mine

I agree. Let's call them a bunch of stinking racists. Even if they're not and even if we don't mean it, it'll be funny as hell to watch the results.

 

[Artina89]

My mum was reading this article this morning, and from what I read, the kid seemed like he lived an unhealthy lifestyle. Also, 12 hours A DAY?! I would love to be there when they get their electricity bill.

You can tell it's bullshit because it's the sun and they say "it was fatal and came on without warning in someone young and fit." Now, the Sun won't let me use the image, but look at him. He doesn't look too fit to me.

All this says to me is either: Get a Wii or move around a bit when gaming (I use a bouncy ball for a chair).

I agree whole heartedly.

I for one nearly died of shock that my mother reads The Sun.

 

[Thetwistedendgame]

And so we learned, sitting in the same position for 12 hours is not only uncomfortable, but also deadly. Listen to your buttocks the next time you game fellows.