Gaming Addiction Leads to Death of 3-Month Old Korean Girl

Austin MacKenzie

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Jan 26, 2010
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Gaming Addiction Leads to Death of 3-Month Old Korean Girl



Gaming addiction turned horrifically tragic as the three-month-old daughter of a Korean couple starved to death while her parents were caring for a virtual daughter during a 12-hour MMOG session.

The couple, identified only as "the Kims" due to Korean privacy laws, had met in 2008 over an online dating site and subsequently married and had a child. The husband, 41, and the wife, 25 were both unemployed, living with the parents of the wife. Both spent most of their time at 24-hour internet cafes, notorious for crowds of gamers and dense cigarette smoke, even during the pregnancy. The couple called the police in September to report their daughter's death after returning from a 12-hour gaming session.

The autopsy results were chilling. The child, who had been born prematurely, died of malnutrition. The couple also admitted to feeding her rotten powdered milk as well as spanking her whenever she cried. The child was generally neglected in favor of an online daughter over the Korean MMOG PRIUS, which was consuming much of the couple's play time at internet cafes while their daughter was left alone and unfed.

South Korea has had serious problems with gaming addiction, which has led to a number of deaths via exhaustion in the past few years. "There's no certain clinical indicator to define 'game addiction' but our study shows that brain PET [scan] images of suspected online game addicts are very similar to that of a cocaine addict," Dr. Kim Sang Eun of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital said. The problem is reportedly even higher in Korea due to the nation's 95 percent broadband access, and the fact that there are more mobile phones in South Korea than there are people.

While obviously an extreme example, it is nevertheless one that cannot be ignored. Fortunately, most gamers aren't this irresponsible, but it's still a very real risk in our world.

Source: <a href=http://abcnews.go.com/International/baby-death-alleged-result-parents-online-games-addiction/story?id=10007040>ABC News via <a href=http://gamepolitics.com/2010/03/04/korean-parents-neglect-real-child-virtual-one>GamePolitics

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Megacherv

Kinect Development Sucks...
Sep 24, 2008
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Is it strange that I've only just read the 'Baang you're dead' articel from last year (or whenever), and then this is reported?
 

Bob_F_It

It stands for several things
May 7, 2008
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Well this is shockingly bad parenting. It's as if they didn't know that she needed attention, and instead favoured their own entertainment. This puts a new record on gaming addiction.
 

ninjajoeman

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Mar 13, 2009
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what game were they playing.I wonder if they went back to playing it and if they were better at the game then in real life?
 

Zepren

The Funnyman
Sep 2, 2009
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God, i was in an internet cafe in china a few years back. looked alot like that pic. and thoughs places are thick with smoke. as i was in there (massive place btw), everyone was playing WoW or chinese MMORPGs. some were just on their lunch break, instead of eat they went there and gamed. Asians love their gaming too much tbh.

OT: It's insane
 

SnootyEnglishman

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May 26, 2009
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The parents should punished harshly for this one...i mean neglecting your REAL daughter for a virtual daughter Astronomic Fail.
 

Higurashi

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Jan 23, 2008
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Addictions, our greatest curse. Of course, could have been any addiction with people who are predisposed to it, but this is obviously nonetheless not going to improve the image of video games. Lousy parents piss me off so much, but this is not just that. These people were completely stuck in a different world, much like alcohol and drugs can be abused to flee from the real one. Requirements for parental licenses would be nice right about now.
 

Wolfram23

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Mar 23, 2004
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That's super sad. Takes gaming addiction to a whole new level. I mean I figure I was pretty addicted to WoW but this just stuns me. Sure, I'd eat a few dinners at 10pm because I was busy but this is just... horrible, actually. Then again, they're both unemployed and live with parents (at 41! and 25) so I guess they already had some pretty serious issues.
 

DragonsAteMyMarbles

You matter in this world. Smile!
Feb 22, 2009
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There's nothing I can say that will accurately convey what I think about this, beyond incoherent outrage.
What in hell's name were they thinking?!
 

Cherry Cola

Your daddy, your Rock'n'Rolla
Jun 26, 2009
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Austin, could you do me a favor and change the title of the news?

Change it to "Awful parents cause death of 3-month old Korean Girl"

Cause addictions don't kill people. People kill people.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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That is just sad...People like that should never be allowed to have children in the first place!
 

Julianking93

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May 16, 2009
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Oh great, Michael Atkinson and Jack Thompson will be all over this shit.

The acts of these 2 idiots who care more about a fucking 3D character than their own child will now most likely be used as more "evidence" that videogames are bad.
 

Benjeezy

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Dec 3, 2009
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Don't most stories like this come out of this part of the world? I feel like I hear the most about this kind of thing happening in that general area.