A 24 year old jobless South Korean man has been found dead after a marathon-and-a-half 86 hour gaming session in an internet cafe. The man is said to have collapsed due to lack of sleep and food, and then upon regaining consciousness visited the toilet. He was found dead a short time later.

Police in the town of Oh Myong-sik in Kwangju said that suspicious circumstances had been ruled out, and that an autopsy was planned.

Gamers are persistently warned of the dangers of excessive gameplay, indeed most games carry health warnings with regard to this. The popularity of MMORPGs, where the game is played as practically a virtual life, can only lead to more incidents like this.

By Jason Cartwright