DVT Death Blamed on Excessive Gaming

[Treblaine]

I mean this in an age when gaming IS becoming so active with motion controls, and the simple fact that most single-player games aren't even 6 hours long let alone 12 hours long!

For comparison, there is NO WAY you can be active while reading a book or watching TV shows. None of them demand you move even a tiny bit.

Sitting for 12 hour long game session would mean for a game like Black Ops you could play through every single map FIVE TIMES OVER! No game compels you to sit for that long motionless, only the individual's desire to do the same thing over and over again. With CoD every 10 minutes you have a chance to stop and call it quits, go stretch your legs.

Huuuugh...

My problem is I know EXACTLY how this is going to go. This may start off as a campaign for more active video games or warn of dangers of prolonged gaming sessions which is all well and good, but I have seen this happen before; it will be hijacked and abused by the anti-gaming conservatives and use it as ammunition against gaming that they don't like because it's is new, different and they can't understand it.

They will seize on the fact "oooh, games are so dangerous they come with a warnings for extended use, just like cigarettes, blah blah blah, bullshit-etc, ban games! Not in MY wal-mart! >:C"

 

[Treblaine]

Even the system manufacturers say to take a 15-30 min break every few hours........thus giving them a notice of a health disclaimer to prevent lawsuits from happening from events like this.

That's a blatant cover your ass "warning", they don't honestly expect people to take a break every 15 minutes. That is precisely why such measures work in a legal defence since these guidelines are impossible to follow as they can claim that they exceeded the specification. They probably have the 15-20min justification from the most inconclusive scientific report of the shortest theoretical time that DVT could form. Not practical advice.

See courts can't seem to comprehend coincidence when it comes to small likelihood in large populations, Layers say thing like:
"well it would be a million-to-one if it WAS a coincidence, so in all likelihood it was a coincidence. Therefore they must be culpable!"

But a court has jurisdiction that covers MILLIONS of people! There are BILLIONS of people in the entire world, where every one of these coincidences will likely end up in court.

It's like someone going into a lottery company with a winning ticket and them doubting the claimant because:
"come on, there are 25 million combinations of numbers and this guy got every one? It's a fake! Laws of probability say so..."

But millions of people tried millions of different combinations!

Millions of people play video games for years now, this could be entirely a coincidence.

Lets do some simple maths:
55 million Xbox 360s
Average games per 360 = 8
Average playtime per game = 20 hours (some games have 50+ hour multiplayer)

That's 8.8 billion hours.

If there is only a one-in-a-billion chance that any health human at any given hour could have an DVT infarction, we should expect to see about 9 to happen while someone is playing an Xbox 360.

And who wants to bet that every single one gets news coverage?

Why? Because the tabloids and regional news thing that video games are strange, unknown and therefore probably dangerous.

 

[chuckey]

At least the father was man enough to realize it is the person playing who is responsible, not what they're playing. As much as I hate it, consoles might just need to develop a timing system
to monitor gaming. I'm not sure what kind of system but one that isn't just a "Family/child setting."

 

[Lionsfan]

snip

Agreed for the most part, but that stuff also happens here on the Escapist all too frequently.

For instance, some months back somebody ran a Thread entitled "Fox News Insults Bronies" or something along those lines. Said person gave a summary on how Fox News called Bronies immature/useless/creepy/something like that, and linked a video. The only problem was that it wasn't Fox News, it was a Shock Jock on a Local Fox Affiliate; so in essence not Fox News at all.

But that didn't stop the Escapist member's from making 20 pages of attacking Fox News and stuff like that, all because the OP did exactly what these Corporations do and basically lied about the story

 

[dfphetteplace]

Terrible that anyone, especially someone so young, died this way. As someone pointed out, this is more a factor of not teaching the importants of health at a younger age and in a more effective manner.

 

[Artemis923]

I played Maple Story for 27 hours straight one time.

I'm just fine. @_@

 

[Daveman]

Yes, I agree. Playing video games for 12 hours straight regularly is just plain retarded. However nothing wrong with gaming in general. Also, just take breaks. I do it without thinking really. Though tbh I do most of my gaming lying down so I'm safe anyways.

 

[Treblaine]

snip

Agreed for the most part, but that stuff also happens here on the Escapist all too frequently.

For instance, some months back somebody ran a Thread entitled "Fox News Insults Bronies" or something along those lines. Said person gave a summary on how Fox News called Bronies immature/useless/creepy/something like that, and linked a video. The only problem was that it wasn't Fox News, it was a Shock Jock on a Local Fox Affiliate; so in essence not Fox News at all.

But that didn't stop the Escapist member's from making 20 pages of attacking Fox News and stuff like that, all because the OP did exactly what these Corporations do and basically lied about the story

I find it interesting that Tabloids like The Sun and Forum Trolls have such similar tactics.

And I think the subsequent 20-pages of Fox-bashing on that thread show of effective "Weasel Titles" are.

Needless to say, I saw that thread and did not participate.

I don't have anything against readers of The Sun or how they may be like the Escapist community. My beef is with those who PUBLISH such trash tabloids with full knowledge of what they are doing to mislead so many people.

 

[Lionsfan]

My beef is with those who PUBLISH such trash tabloids with full knowledge of what they are doing to mislead so many people.

Well that's the easiest way to trick people, and I bet they know it. It is pretty disgusting what they're doing

 

[redisforever]

Well, at least he isn't really blaming games. It's just that's what he was doing at the time. It was the first thing that came along to hit that point of addiction. It could have been TV, or many other things.

 

[JMeganSnow]

IF you have circulation problems/clotting problems, one thing you may want to do is to rearrange your station so that you game standing up. Not only will this help your circulation, it'll help your overall activity levels and combat obesity.

If you have trouble standing for long periods, get a tall stool or similar that lets you shift easily between sitting/standing/leaning, so you can stay comfortable.

 

[Weslebear]

Not only is this a danger in any activity that involves a lack of moving, sitting, reading a book, TV and many other seemingly more socially acceptable activities other than gaming but I have yet to come across a film, TV show or book that comes with warnings and often times reminds people they need to take a break. Yet games are taking the blame when I see this kind of warning everywhere, in fact playing long marathons on Guild Wars the game tells you to take a break every few hours, yet games as a medium are berated for this kind of thing.

 

[Dogstile]

Lol, death wasn't blamed on excessive gaming, the death was blamed on sitting there for ages while gaming and he wants to raise awareness.

But pah, can't be too much at risk, millions of people do it, yet how often do you hear about deaths?

 

[scar_47]

The article and the father are pretty level headed about it not really blaming gaming but sitting for long periods like anyone with a desk jod, really if your not getting up to move around every few hours I don't know how your doing it I usually get thirsty or have to use the facilities or just stretch because I'm getting stiff I don't see this as an issue for most people.

 

[Anacortian]

First, I love how, if Fox News put this to press, everybody would argue bias, but we will all soon forget that the Sun and BBC broke this story.

Second, let us take the father at his word, out of the "millions of of people worldwide (who) are playing these games for hours," how many died in such a way? Keep in mind, gaming is only being argued as a proximate (not ultimate) cause.

Third, the father "does not want another child to die" like "20-year-old Chris." If he believes his child to be a child, he was no great father to the man-boy and warrants more blame than the XBox dealer who lured Chris (having been raised spineless and without will) into the dangers of sitting.

If your parents are still alive, you are still their child. (Technically, you are still their child when they are dead too, but they won't care). Or are people supposed to stop caring about their spawn once they reach the age of majority?

Ah, but he said "another child." This implies that he thought his offspring still juvenile. I would agree, but the creation of a man-child ought bring at least a little blame onto the parents. If a father cannot think his twenty-year-old son a man, something is wrong with the father, the son, or both.

 

[4173]

First, I love how, if Fox News put this to press, everybody would argue bias, but we will all soon forget that the Sun and BBC broke this story.

Second, let us take the father at his word, out of the "millions of of people worldwide (who) are playing these games for hours," how many died in such a way? Keep in mind, gaming is only being argued as a proximate (not ultimate) cause.

Third, the father "does not want another child to die" like "20-year-old Chris." If he believes his child to be a child, he was no great father to the man-boy and warrants more blame than the XBox dealer who lured Chris (having been raised spineless and without will) into the dangers of sitting.

If your parents are still alive, you are still their child. (Technically, you are still their child when they are dead too, but they won't care). Or are people supposed to stop caring about their spawn once they reach the age of majority?

Ah, but he said "another child." This implies that he thought his offspring still juvenile. I would agree, but the creation of a man-child ought bring at least a little blame onto the parents. If a father cannot think his twenty-year-old son a man, something is wrong with the father, the son, or both.

Another child could be a reference to the demographics of video gamers. Because gamers skew younger they are more likely to have living parents, no matter their age.

Meh, who knows for sure what he ment

 

[videocrazy]

I must be honest, I can't help but feel that in some of these situations, saying that videogames aren't responsible smacks a bit of the same type of media bias as "Videogames are killers" type of headlines.

*readies flame shield*

Hear me out on this one. While in some cases, blaming videogames is silly, such as in the "Gun mistaken for Wii controller" incident a year ago, videogames are sometimes an indirect cause, such as in the case of this unfortunate death. While the main cause is most certainly a product of the world we live in, I wouldn't be able to say with a straight face that videogames haven't contributed to this state. And there are the odd cases in which videogames are a direct cause, such as the Chinese parents who sold their children to feed their videogame habit (And by their own admission, had children specifically for this purpose), or the man who let their child suffocate because he was too busy playing World of Warcraft. Yes, I am aware that in those two situations, there wasn't any statement saying videogames aren't to blame, but at what point do we stop sticking our heads in the sand, and look at these individual incidents objectively?

 

[Daverson]

12 hours at a time? That's longer than some people are awake for.

I mean, surely he got up for lunch or coffee or something? I mean, if someone's sat down for 12 hours, then I'd say the person who's bringing them food and whatnot is somewhat responsible here.

Remember Kids, Hedonism was around before Vidjagames.

 

[WolfLordAndy]

And this is why I fidget, and constantly change how I'm sitting. To stop my legs from dieing!

There was a case a few years back from a boy who ended up with some kind of long term damage (he nearly died) from DVT because he played on his PS2 for a long time, while being sat on his legs (a very bad position as it can block the flow of blood properly at your knees)