So, a teenager collapsed from dehydration after playing Modern Warfare 3 on his Xbox for four days straight. He’s going to be okay, fortunately, and apparently his mom isn’t going to let him play anymore.
I am an avid gamer. I could not play any game for four days straight. Once, on a Saturday, years ago, I played my favorite game, Knights of the Old Republic II for almost four hours straight. That was definitely my limit, and frankly a bit much for me. In general, I can’t play more than two hours without feeling sick.
How did this guy manage to play for four days? I strongly suspect he was playing online multiplayer, because (a) I hear that’s more addictive, (b) it takes longer to play because of the logistics involved, (c) I can’t imagine MW3 off-line holds four days worth of entertainment and (d) once you are playing, it’s harder to stop if you’ve got a bunch of other players involved. This is yet another reason why I don’t like online gaming one bit–it seems to be the type of gaming that destroys people’s lives by making them addicted to it, much more so than off-line.
I like playing video games a lot, but you know the saying: “moderation in all things”.