Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Video Game Overdose?

A man from Jinzhou, Liaoning province in China reportedly died after playing online video games "continuously" for seven days over the Chinese New Year holidays. The cause of death was unclear but the man was reportedly obese, although was young at 26. He collapsed on the last day of the holidays. Internet use has been steadily rising in China despite censorship by the government.

Research on the effect of video games on the human body have resulted in both positive and negative findings. One study reports that the flashing lights of video games cause epileptic seizures. Another says it can improve mental acuity. But whether playing video games is beneficial or not, what happened to the Chinese man was most likely the result of having too much of something one's own good. But, then again, maybe it was just his time. There is an old Chinese proverb that says: Enjoy yourself. It is later than you think. The photo is from http://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/tepsili_xewer/2005/09/13/internet?simple=1

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