Poll: 20 Year old plays Xbox and dies...

[babinro]

I put 4 hours as an average. There are periods in the year where I play games for 1 hour a day and others when I'm far more into it and play for 12 hours (albeit still with breaks to cook meals and eat).

These spikes in gameplay time come in short bursts in response to amazingly engrossing games...such titles as Oblivion, Rock Band, Diablo 2, Starcraft 2, and Dragon Age 1&2.

If I were to guess, my next relentless gaming period will be a result of Skyrim.

 

[Neverhoodian]

While I probably sit around too much during my spare time, most of the chairs I own lack cushioning. As such, I often find myself squirming and shifting my weight frequently. Eventually my rear starts to become sore, which is my body's way of telling me that I've been stationary for too long.

Besides, I still get up and move for using the bathroom, preparing meals, doing the laundry, working, mowing the lawn, going to the gym, etc.

 

[peter-lavalle]

"Kids all over the country are playing these games for long periods - they don't realise it could kill them," he told The Sun.
Okay no, being irresponsible, lazy and not having your priorities in order can kill you. If your game playing habits are causing life threatening conditions its you're fault only.

I agree... I wonder if in back days of yore, if books were the same way. Some guy dies reading a book, and soon a book burning party is started. Although like I mentioned, I don't suppose this guy in question was the peak of phyisical fitness when this occured.

Actually ... they were deionised in the same way. Don Quixote was supposed to poke fun at the public's opinion of what happened to a "hardcore reader"

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don_Quixote&oldid=440393493#Plot_summary

He has become obsessed with books of chivalry, and believes their every word to be true, despite the fact that many of the events in them are clearly impossible. Quixano eventually appears to other people to have lost his mind due to lack of sleep and food from dedicating all of his time to reading.

 

[Realitycrash]

Depends on if I am on vacation or not.

 

[OutsiderEX]

While I don't game for especially long periods at a time (unless I get a new game, then I tend to marathon the single player), I do spend a lot of time at my desk. However, I also run a couple of miles every day to keep my body ticking over.

 

[DyqstARD]

So thats why the wii sold out... Anyway, saw this first thing on the newspaper. They seem a little more obsessed that the 'xbox' killed him rather then a person has actually been 'deaded'. Jesus Christ, page 3 is the only reason i read the sun anyway.

 

[cikame]

People die from blood clots all the time.

 

[CleverNickname]

I'm surprised how many people actually play for 8 hours a day. I assume that's mostly school children

and only a few unemployed losers living with their mom. I'm not stereotyping, I'm describing myself.........

...

 

[jonyboy13]

Ranges from 8-14, quite depends on what I'm playing at the time and how's the multiplayer if there's any at all.
I did start doing some sport lately though.

 

[ace_of_something]

I could easily play 4 hours in a row. Not without getting up for a minute or two every hour or so and shifting positions or moving to a different chair though.

I'm very fidgety.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

I'm going to go ahead and point out that the Xbox session was probably less of the cause and more of the straw that broke the camel's back. Is a binge gaming session like that good for you? No, probably not. But it's not going to kill you unless you're already in really bad health.

 

[AbstractStream]

Lately, I can't play more than 4 hours. So yeah, that's my max session time.
I take a decent amount of breaks too...I would think.

 

[Mouse One]

People die from blood clots all the time.

True this. Look, before we get all up in arms about people attacking games, remember the parents aren't suing, they're just trying to to get the word out. And it is a tragedy.

It's called Deep Vein Thrombosis and as someone said a bit earlier, this has happened on airplane flights, too. A perfectly healthy 28 year old woman died a few years back after a long flight from Australia to London. After the WHO started tracking it, they found incidents on shorter flights (like 6 hours) as well. Death is the most dramatic symptom, but more commonly we're talking pain and swelling in the legs. Still no fun.

Bottom line, get up every hour to stretch and walk around.

 

[Black Arrow Officer]

How can you sit down and play for hours and hours without EVER getting up even to rest your eyes? You'd have to completely ignore every single warning your body was giving you. Eye pain, sore joints, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, headaches, stomachaches, and he still plays? I'm online or playing video games about 4 hours a day, but I take walks, swim in the pool, do martial arts and play basketball with my brother to break up the bad feeling of playing games for too long. The fact that the newspaper is trying to blame video games for his sons death is another example of American stupidity and animosity towards video games. I hate to say this, but Chris was responsible for his own death.

 

[JWAN]

Yet another problem that's the fault of video games and not possibly the person or some sort of medical condition.

Seriously, people, this shit has happened before. You do need to get up, take a piss, walk around, eat a (healthy) snack every once in a while, etc.

As for this fellow, I'd say he probably had a condition beforehand that he didn't know about.

Finally, my gaming hours. The last time I spent a fair bit of time one game was when I got Dragon Age Origins, where I spent six hours playing. I might have outdone that yesterday, on Final Fantasy 12, but I'm not sure if I did or not. Other than those two times, I haven't spent more than two hours on any one game in a very long time. I love to play, I just can't sit still for that long anymore.

Wow, poor guy. 20 is too young to die. Sit stand/treadmill desks are a possible answer, a way of countering the apparently horrible effects of sitting on your ass all day. A set up like this could have saved his life:

Is that your little contraption or just something you found on the internet?

Thats actually not a bad idea. Its better than sitting and your distracted so you never feel the pain of walking your feet off after 12 hours
I actually would like one though

 

[Dascylus]

Ok so the guy was 20 which puts him in the "Adult capable of making his own decisions" category. Bit like the guy who died trying do a shot a minute for an hour. (He didn't make it)

For parents of younger kiddlings who may need some guidance there is always the built in parental controls on all consoles and windows Vista and 7.

Or there's a useless campaign to "raise awareness", which to me always seems like shameless attention seeking, that will result in frustration from the gaming community at yet more misguided non-gamers trying to have an opinion.

Oh yeah and with wireless controllers the load screens and lobbies provide the perfect opportunity to stretch and pace.

 

[Phototoxin]

What about office work where you site for 8 hours infront of a PC?

 

[Gitty101]

You should take regular breaks from gaming, it's just common sense. Every 2 hours or so, just get up and do something else for 15 minutes. If it's a marathon, stand up at times.