Marathon Xbox Halo Sessions May Have Killed Avid Gamer

Chris Staniforth posted this picture of himself on Myspace three years ago. Via The Daily Mail.

According to reports, Halo gaming fan Chris Staniforth suffered a blockage to his lungs when he developed deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a condition commonly associated with passengers on long haul flights who have been immobile for hours on end.

An awareness campaign about the risk to those who spend long hours playing is being spearheaded by the father of the dead youngster. David Staniforth told The Sun, “As a parent you think playing computer games can’t do them any harm because you know what they are doing. Kids all over the country are playing these games for long periods – they don’t realise it could kill them.” In a BBC interview, David Staniforth warned that “sitting still is literally the danger zone.”

“He got sucked in playing Halo online against people from all over the world,” said Staniforth.

• Sedentary lifestyle and DVT. DVT is usually a result of long periods of inactivity such as sitting on a long-haul flight although “our increasingly sedentary lifestyles has lead to a rise in cases,” suggested The Daily Mail, which noted that Microsoft recommends gamers allow time for breaks.

• Sure, hours gaming can kill but the they’re not the only reason people sit still. “No matter how much you love playing video games, you know deep down in your gamer bones it isn’t good for you to play for hours on end without taking a break,” insisted the In-Game blog at MSNBC.com. “In fact, it’s not just that it’s bad for you. It could kill you.” However, the blog took time to remind that “of course, video games are hardly the only reason people spend dangerous amounts of time sitting still. Plenty of people sit for hours on end at their computer simply working at their day jobs or, say, surfing Facebook.”

• It’s not the first gaming-related DVT death. A South Korean gamer died in 2005 after playing online games for three days straight, with no breaks, reported The Associated Foreign Press. And fatalities aside, “reports of gamers collapsing after spending 15 hours in front of video games are fairly common throughout Asia,” said the AFP.

CNet said DVT is a growing problem in today’s society and flagged up Microsoft’s Healthy Gaming Guide. It warns that “use of game controllers, keyboards, mice, or other electronic input devices may be linked to serious injuries or disorders.”

• Gawker (kinda) calls for a vidgame ban. “Back when we let kids work at factories all day, which was what they wanted to do—Please, sir, let us work at the turpentine factory, they used to say -we never had this problem,” joshed Gawker. “And we won two world wars! So the solution, as always, is to ban video games and bring back child labor.”