Couple's online gaming causes infant's death

  • By Staff, GameSpot
  • Posted Jun 20, 2005 6:42 pm PT

Korean press picks up tale of tragedy when couple plays World of Warcraft to excess, infant perishes from neglect.

In a story out of Korea, which is just now surfacing in the Western press, a couple in Incheon, South Korea, were arrested last week when their 4-month-old daughter died after being left alone by the couple for hours. The mother and father reportedly had gone to a nearby Internet cafe, lost themselves in playing Blizzard's massively multiplayer online PC game World of Warcraft, and returned to their home only to find the infant dead from suffocation. "We booked the pair on criminal charges, judging that when you consider the situation, they were responsible for their daughter's death," a policeman told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper. The couple reportedly told police, "We were thinking of playing for just an hour or two and returning home like usual, but the game took longer that day." The infant was the couple's only child.

16 Comments

  • Promba1990

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 11:13 pm PT

    Koreans...

  • breakax4d

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 9:39 am PT

    they were probably raiding, it happens.

  • RebornInFlames

    Posted May 26, 2007 11:50 pm PT

    wow is all i can say

  • SolInvictus-HGG

    Posted Mar 14, 2007 11:35 am PT

    Oh man.

  • wise_ass_toad

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 5:54 pm PT

    actually they have. In china if you play for more tahn 4 hours straight your character startes to lose their powers. Example: peeps lose spells in WoW, but they return after 8 hours of not being online. kinda crazy doncha think?

  • Cloud737

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 5:58 am PT

    That is very sad...Still, what is it that causes game addiction to koreans (and most Asians)? Daily stress?
    It`s just sad that a game can make you forget about doing even the most important and primordial needs, like eating, drinking, sleeping or taking care of your child.

  • hafaholo

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 2:33 pm PT

    very sad
    Korea is too upsessed with gaming/!!!

  • SSJ_Xyex

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 9:25 pm PT

    markdzebissov: It's not that. Game addiction is a rampant issue in asian countries. Primarly the children but even adults. It's far more prevalent there than anywhere else.

    Kurushio: The games aren't the issue. The gaming addiction isn't the disease, it's the symptom. And until they fix the cause of the symptom no ammount of game restrictions or regulations is going to help.

  • craigharley

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 8:50 am PT

    hmmm so many good people who cant have kids yet those who can a baby and these 1s that can...................

  • pathock3

    Posted Sep 30, 2006 1:39 pm PT

    what retards. they dont deserve to have a child

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Aug 29, 2006 8:37 pm PT

    pretty interesting

  • markdzebissov

    Posted Jun 25, 2006 10:20 pm PT

    I had no idea people could into a game so much like that. Maybe those parents just were ones that weren't motivated to do the best for their kid.

  • alpha_company

    Posted May 15, 2006 10:52 am PT

    That is outrageous

  • Kurushio

    Posted Dec 22, 2005 9:10 am PT

    It's getting unbelieveable that people in Korea are playing games so long that it kills people and now even their own children. I remember an earlier report that a guy was playing another mmorpg (maybe WoW but cant remember) for over 50hrs straight and ended dying from malnutrition. I love games as much as the next person but the Korean government is probably going to have to step in and do something about this. Honestly a game is no reason for a newborn baby to die.

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