According to a news report from the Xinhua newspaper, a 13 year old Chinese boy committed suicide after playing Warcraft for 36 hours at an Internet cafe in 2004. These reports state that the child threw himself out of a 24th story window in “honor of the heroes of the game he worshipped.” The parents are now suing the Chinese game distributor, Aomeisoft, for 100,000 Yuan in damages, and to try to have a warning label placed on the software about Internet addiction. The parents had originally tried to sue Blizzard, but the Chinese court blocked this action.

The loss of a life at such a young age is a horrible tragedy, but allowing any person of any age to play a game for 36 hours straight can be dangerous. With a young child, this can only be more so. It is hard to believe that a warning label about addiction could be effective when the parents don’t even notice a marathon gaming session. Apparently, abdication of parental responsibility is a global phenomenon. It is sad to hear of such instances of neglect, but suing the game developer or publisher hardly seems like a way to ensure that such tragedies do not repeat themselves.

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