Three day gaming binge kills Taiwanese man

After a 72-hour session playing combat games in a Taiwanese internet cafe, Mr Hsieh slumped down for what his neighbours thought was a nap. He never woke up. KitGuru takes a look at the details.

Regular travellers normally have a system to deal with long haul flights. We know that sitting in one position for an extended period of time is not good, so we'll normally engage in a number of behaviours to counter the effects of long term sitting, including:

• Special socks
• Loose clothing to allow blood flow
• Getting up and moving around at regular intervals to boost circulation
• Plenty of liquid refreshment – especially water
• Massaging your legs and stretching
• Popping half an aspirin to thin the blood

And that kind of behaviour is for a flight lasting less than 12 hours. Sitting in outdoor clothing at a computer terminal for a 72 hour game playing session might seem ‘soft', but it can put a serious strain on the human body.

Even so, any kind of illness is rare when gaming – as long as you are sensible.

Seeking wisdom on the subject, KitGuru spoke with Stewart Fletcher from Multiplay who told us that in 15 years of running more than 50 of the world's largest LAN party events, no one has as much as ‘fainted at their keyboard' at Insomnia. Essentially, the the events are very active and tournaments take place across multiple halls. Players are constantly active and there is no possibility for injury/illness.

KitGuru says: It seems that the authorities in Taiwan will be increasing patrols through game centres, making sure that people get up and move every two hours. We applaud this approach. Even this small precaution is likely to prevent any further incidents – despite what you might hear in the tabloids.

How long is too long when it comes to computer games?   Let us know about your longest marathon gaming session over on Facebook.

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