Reader Danny sent us this article from Holland, where apparently (a rough translation of the piece, thanks to Google, is after the break), a young boy of 15 was taken to the hospital after collapsing while playing Wrath of the Lich King. He reportedly had played the game for fifteen hours straight, and because he'd only gotten two hours of sleep and had almost nothing to eat the entire time, felt cramps and apparently collapsed from exhaustion.
Obviously, it's a stretch to blame this on the game -- doing anything for 15 hours straight with no sleep or food won't be good for your health. There were millions of people who played this very same game this weekend (some probably even for the same amount of time or more) and had no problems at all -- they realize that to stay healthy, you take breaks, get sleep, and eat healthy. But this kid (and his parents) didn't do things correctly, and as a result, he ended up in the hospital.
Hopefully the kid's all right, and the parents have learned their lesson: they have decided to limit his time in front of the computer, which is exactly what they should do if he can't limit it himself. The article ends by saying that "teenagers" around the world are playing the new expansion, except that the average age of gamers is now up to just under 30, and the average World of Warcraft player is actually older than that. Fortunately, the vast majority of them know how to enjoy the game and stay safe and healthy at the same time.
Update: As our commenters point out, this story's been picked up by English news sites around the net, including The Local, Mail Online, and the Times Online. Additionally, the use of "Halland," below, is sic -- Google's translator spelled it that way, not us.
Here's the text of the article, translated into English by Google Translator:
A 15-year-old boy in Halland was taken to hospital after having spent a day in front of the new World of Warcraft. Food-and lack of sleep in front of the computer led to that he was cramping. Now warns his father others.
- I want to warn other young people and parents, says the father to the Evening Post.
The boy and his six friends met on Saturday night to play the nysl?ppta Wrath of the Lich King. In one day, it was only two hours sleep and a small breakfast in front of the computer. At 14 o'clock on Sunday, the boy collapsed.
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