Police have arrested a South Korean couple whose toddler starved to death while they were raising a virtual child online, authorities said. The couple fed their 3-month-old daughter once a day between stretches in a local Internet cafe, where they were raising a virtual child in the fantasy game Prius Online. Prius Online is a 3-D game in which players nurture an online companion, Anima, a young girl with mysterious powers who grows and increases her skills as the game progresses. Police have not identified the 41-year-old father and 25-year-old mother, who lived in Suwon, a suburb south of Seoul. The father apologizes saying: "I wish that she hadn't got sick and that she will live well in heaven forever. And as the father, I am sorry," he said. The baby died five months ago. South Korea has one of the world's fastest broadband networks. Seoul has even won international awards for e-governance. Online gaming teams are sponsored by major conglomerates and 24-hour, high-speed Internet cafes, known as PC Bangs, that exist in every urban neighborhood. Police said the couple had lost their jobs and used the game as an escape from reality, especially after the birth of their premature baby. "They instead played an online game in which they raised a virtual character so as to escape from reality, which led to the death of their real baby," Chung Jin-won, a police officer in Suwon says. "South Korea remains a very conservative society so people who fall outside the norm can come under severe stress and pressure," said Michael Breen, the Seoul-based author of "The Koreans." "The Internet has provided such people with a paradise to escape to and simply get lost in."
This is so sad. A couple can spend all their time raising a virtual child and neglect to care for their living child. It must be hard for them losing their jobs and undergoing all the stress that will be built from it. But that doesn't give them the excuse to forget about their baby. And the father apologizing isn't much of an apology. He doesn't even sound remorseful for what he has done. And true, some people get influenced by the internet really easily. So easily that they forget what is important and matters most. Especially in a situation like this. The parents should have handled their economic situation before turning to computer games as the only solution to their problems. It's not going to help solve their problems anyway.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
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“The couple fed their 3-month-old daughter once a day between stretches in a local Internet cafe, where they were raising a virtual child in the fantasy game Prius Online.”
So… the couple was aware of the fact that they had a baby, and the fact that they had to feed their baby, and the fact that they were feeding it once a day, but not aware of the fact that it needed more food than one meal a day! It would almost make more sense if they forgot about the baby altogether.
This post freaks me out.
Sometimes gamers get really carried away.. But I think this was taking it a little too far. The parents shouldn't have neglected their child like that (feeding once a day?!) and the whole situation makes me question the mental stability of the parents. I guess we know the opportunity cost of obsessive gaming now :D
I wonder if there are any other situations like this. Does anyone know what the punishment is? It's probably different for Korea and the US, but severity should be the same.
My question is "what makes this news?". It is a horrible story and a tragic death. However, I believe the only reason it is being reported on is because of the awful irony that the game the parents happened to be playing while they ignored their child happened to be one in which they raise a magical child.
I think that it is horrible how much the news feeds on tragedy in order to sell stories. At least some murder news and the such has the angle of reporting on police work and the state of crime in a city. However, these such stories as the dead baby do not such thing. They highlight a tragedy for the sole sake of astounding their readers and making a profit.
I saw this post, and honestly, I started cracking up at the irony of it, but was really appalled by it. This is probably a good place to draw the line when it comes to how much influence technology has in our lives.
Well as sad as this may be, I'm not too surprised knowing that this has happened before.
I mean, there have been cases where people just kept playing games until they died. I remember something about a boy who was playing an MMO with his friends for like 2 days straight, no bathroom, food, water, or anything. When his mom came home, turns out he was dead on his chair with the game still on. >_>
Why is this reported 5 months after the baby died?
The one good thing about lagging behind in technology with the rest of the other developed nations is that we're not as hooked onto it as they are. We may have obesity and inactivity problems, but other countries like S. Korea must have it worse if what you say is true.
There must be some kind of analogy in between this digital world and society and alcohol and early native American civilizations during the colonial period.
On a side note, really? A 41 year old jobless gamer who plays games practically his entire time marries a younger, 25 year old counterpart? To quote the some of the girls from Aragon, "ewwwwwwwwwww". I could have put some of you girls in the spotlight right here, but I had the thoughfulness not to.
Edit: I accidentally omitted "this" in the first sentence.
What. The. Eff.
I'm wondering if they were mentally insane during their Prius Online spree. Even if they suffered financially, it gives no excuse for child negligence, especially if their baby was born prematurely. They still had a house, didn't they? They still had a chance to pick their lives up and get back into "the norm" of the Korean lifestyle, but they chose to sit in an internet cafe for the majority of the day week after week to care for a child in a fantasy game while they only periodically remembered to feed their living baby.
That's just sick.
-Annie Yang
Wow, this is pretty sad. The couple lost their jobs, but still had enough money to go to the internet cafe everyday? This is just sad. I don't really see a difference from this to alcoholism. The couple want to solve their problems, so they get addicted to this game, as some people try to drink their problems away. However, we usually don't support alcoholics who neglect their children and I don't think this couple is any different. Maybe the death of the child will slap some sense into the couple and force them to get back to reality. However, probably not, though.
-Henry Zhang
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