game addiction

Every now and then there comes some sort of news article to do with the results of game addiction in Korea. People can even die as a result of game addiction. This one is horrible. I can't imagine ever even considering leaving a baby at home alone!!!! It's an older article but for some reason has been viewed a lot recently.

Infant Daughter Dies as Parents Play Online Game
June 14th, 2005 Chosun Ilbo
A thoughtless couple in their 20s who left their four-month old daughter at home while they played Internet computer games at a nearby PC café have been booked by police after the child died.
According to Incheon Police Station on Tuesday, a 29-year-old man husband identified by his family name of Yu and his wife put their four-month daughter in the bedroom of their home and went to a neighborhood PC café at around 4:00 p.m. on May 24 to play the online game "World of Warcraft.
Time flew by as the couple lost themselves in the game, and when they returned home at 9:00 p.m., their daughter was lying on her stomach, dead of suffication.
The couple 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."
Police said an investigation turned up that the couple, who wed last year, used to play "World of Warcraft" whenever they had time.
Police said, "It's unfortunate, because the tragedy could have been averted if the couple had just left their daughter with Yu's mother-in-law, who lived upstairs from them... We booked the pair on criminal charges, judging that when you consider the situation, they were responsible for their daughter's death."
Major U.S. online game producer Blizzard, which grew famous with the game "Starcraft", produced the game to which Yu and his wife were addicted, "World of Warcraft." The game allows multiple players to form teams to fight battles and enjoy various adventures.
(Lee Yong-su, hejsue@chosun.com )