Korean couple starves child while raising virtual one

[Bob The Mercenary]

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/couple-starves-real-child-while-raising-virtual-one/1392152

The pair -- who were hooked on an online game called "Prius," where they were raising a virtual daughter -- were arrested by Korean police this week and charged with failing to care for their three-month-old baby daughter, who died of malnutrition last September.

The article also points out that nearly half of Korea's population play online games. That's a crazy statistic if you think about it.

The point I wanted to draw from this story wasn't so much "haw haw another Korean died because of teh vidjagames" as much as the irony that is digital pets/children/whatever. Back when gigapets were all the rage, I cared for mine a thousand times better than my real life pet dog. I would even sneak out to the bathroom during class to check if it needed to be fed. I was addicted, all while my mom was busy feeding and cleaning after our beagle.

What is our obsession with virtual pets? I'm not just speaking gigapets, The Sims and those Dogz and Catz games included.

[BitVyper]

The article also points out that nearly half of Korea's population play online games.

Yeah, but what online games? How frequently and how long? If they're counting people who occasionally awkwardly proposition each other for cybersex on Pogo or something, that's just making it seem bigger than it is.

But yes, another one of these stories. It's absolutely sickeningly awful, of course, but people were doing this kind of thing long before videogames were around. Hell, when I was young, my mom saw this really dirty toddler occasionally run out on a neighbour's balcony. Eventually she got worried and called the police. It turned out to be pretty much exactly this sort of situation, but with drugs and alcohol instead of videogames.

This isn't a virtual children/MMOs/whatever thing, it's an addiction/lack of personal responsibility/generally bad parenting thing.

[Jagos]

Yeah, saw this on Escapist. Didn't even want to see this story. Almost as bad as the one guy that SAT on his baby thinking it made the kid feel better. Hilarity truly ensued...

What is our obsession with virtual pets?

No poop, everything done for us in a nice convenient package. I mean really who wants to take care of a garden?

You have weeds to navigate, seeds to plant, and you have to do this every day. It's WORK.

I know I wouldn't want to dirty my nails with all of that.

[DFM]

What is our obsession with virtual pets?

Nobody calls the ASPCA on me.

Fuckers I'll find you.

[Funka Genocide]

This is what happens when addicts breed. Whatever they're addicted to is of no consequence, simply having an all consuming addiction to anything is a great platform to breed negligence.

[POS Industries]

Yeah, but what online games?
It's Korea, so all Starcraft, all the time.

[Zanaril]

This is what happens when addicts breed.
They'll soon die out if they're all like this.

[Hetsurin]

What is our obsession with virtual pets? I'm not just speaking gigapets, The Sims and those Dogz and Catz games included.

If you screw up there's a reset button. If your dear old Spike get hits by a bus, game over, buy a new dog; if your charming pixel poodle gets hit by a bus, press the reset button and there he is wagging his tail at you like nothing happened.

EDIT: Sadly for this couple, they've lost both of their daughters... the virtual one will probably meet the real one's fate. A sad, sad irony.

[bluestarultor]

My aunt has some sort of online mongrel on Foo Pets. It's disgusting. She made me take care of it for a couple days when she was visiting my grandparents in the area because they're not online. When she showed it to me, she talked to it like she talks to her real dogs. Which is in itself disgusting, because GOD she obsesses over her real dogs. Like, narrates everything they're doing for as long as you're unable to focus her attention on something else. With this thing, all I did was log in once a day, dump food in a bowl, water it a couple of times, and throw a ball until some bar or another was maxed out. It was boring as hell, like the Sims, only way more pre-recorded (there were like 3 different idles), and just stale and dead.

Basically, I didn't see the appeal at all taking care of it, but I DO know how they get you. If you don't bother with your pet, you lose it, and people hate losing stuff. So you have to take care of it at least once a day and it slowly eats into your time. It's insidious, really.

[Funka Genocide]

They'll soon die out if they're all like this.

Incorrect, as addicts are born from the non-addicted and addicted alike.

[Seil]

Link (http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html)

There have been some topics in the past about video games, girls offering real life sex for in-game gold (http://gaygamer.net/2007/04/wow_player_who_offered_sex_for_1.html)...

This particular Cracked article tries to offer at least some explanation.