The man collapsed because of exhaustion after playing combat computer games for dozens of hours straight

Jan 20, 2015 15:40 GMT  ·  By

As it turns out, having a hobby and being extremely passionate about it is not all that cool as it's cut out to be. Hobbies can kill, and we're not just talking cliff diving, rafting or other extreme sports. We're talking good old gaming.

Thus, news from Taiwan tells us that, earlier this month, a man living in this country passed away after playing combat computer games for dozens of hours straight. Apparently, it was exhaustion that eventually got the best of this gamer.

How the incident played out

Information shared with the public by the police officers handling this case says that the man, identified only as Hsieh, went into an Internet café in Hunei District, a rural district in Taiwan's Kaohsiung City, on January 6. He sat down at a desk and started playing combat computer games.

Three days after, Internet café employees could not help but notice that the 32-year-old man was motionless. At first, they assumed that he was taking a nap. However, when they approached him, they realized that he was no longer breathing, Tech Times reports.

Authorities were notified, and soon enough, the man was rushed to a local hospital. Unfortunately, there was nothing left for doctors to do except pronounce him dead. It is understood that the man died of cardiac failure caused by exhaustion. Otherwise put, this guy kept playing until his heart gave out.

How come nobody noticed he needed help?

By the looks of it, 32-year-old Hsieh was no stranger to gaming marathons. On the contrary, he would often leave home and keep playing for several days in a row. Every now and again, he would take a short break to nap or eat something, but refused to abandon a game.

“Hsieh was a regular customer here and always played for consecutive days. When tired, he would sleep face-down on the table or doze off slumped in his chair. That is why we were not aware of his condition in the beginning,” an Internet café employee said in a statement.

What's interesting – and kind of, sort of messed up, some might want to add – is that this 32-year-old man was not the first to have so far this year been killed by a gaming marathon.

Thus, it was on January 1 that a 38-year-old gamer in New Taipei City was found dead in a local Internet café. This other man is said to have played for 5 days straight before collapsing.