Taiwanese man dies after three-day online gaming binge

A Taiwan-based man has been found dead in an internet cafe after a spending three days straight on a marathon gaming binge.

The 32-year-old man, known only by his surname Hsieh, was first spotted slumped in his chair in front of a computer by staff and other customers, but they all thought he was sleeping, the Mirror reported.

Later after a worker discovered he was not breathing when he went to check on him, they were stunned and immediately called emergency services to the cafe in Greater Kaohsiung, but the gamer was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived at the hospital.

The worker who found him said that Hsieh was a regular customer there and always played for consecutive days, adding that when tired, he would sleep face-down on the table or doze off slumped in his chair and that is why they were not aware of his condition in the beginning.

Doctors confirmed that Hsieh died from heart failure and ruled the incident was a "sudden death" brought on from "prolonged computer gaming."

Police chief Weng Chun-neng told that cold temperatures and over-exhaustion from intense game-playing likely contributed to Hsieh's demise.

GHe added that they advise people to get up and move around after every two hours of computer gaming and said that more patrols will be conducted to remind residents about the dangers of prolonged sitting and game-playing.

The death comes just over a fortnight after a 38-year-old man was found dead at an Internet cafe in New Taipei City on New Year's Day.