1. The man who sued a video game maker over addiction
He says the multi-player, online role-playing game made him spend three weeks in the hospital and that he currently requires therapy three times a week. The paper reports that earlier this month a judge dismissed charges of misrepresentation/deceit, unfair and deceptive trade practices, intentional infliction of emotional distress and punitive damages.
However, the company still faces charges of defamation, negligence, gross negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Smallwood claims that he spent more than 20,000 hours playing the medieval-themed role-playing game from 2004 to 2009 and that he received no warning from the company that the game could be addictive.
2. The toddlers who were found in street while their father was playing a computer game
Timothy Hausaman's two children were discovered wandering around the apartment complex in which they lived near a busy road Saturday night. A neighbor kept an eye on the children for 20 minutes before calling police. When officers arrived at Hausaman's apartment they found the door open. No one responded to the door so they went inside and found the father playing Atlantis on his laptop.
The man told police that he left his children downstairs to play and was so into his game he had no idea they had left the apartment. Hausaman told police during his arrest that, "I am obviously not very good at watching children". His wife was away on business during the incident.
3. The mother who called the cops to stop son from playing Grand Theft Auto
Zanoli says the mother's police call over the teen's video game enthusiasm 'was a little unusual, but by no means is it surprising - especially in today's day and age when these kids play video games and computer games.' According to The Boston Herald, who first reported the police call, the boy was playing 'Grand Theft Auto' (although they don't report which entry in the GTA series had so grabbed the boy's attention.)
4. The gamer who flipped because his girlfriend 'stood in front of TV'
Police said it all started with a video game. According to Proctor, she stood in front of Pettinger, blocking his view of the screen. At that point Pettinger's video game character died and he became very angry. He allegedly punched her in the side of the head. She ran to a bathroom but he then allegedly attacked her again, beating her head against a wall. When she tried to call for help, he grabbed the phone and disconnected it.
5. The man who shipped himself across country playing MMO
6. The man who was hit by SUV while playing real-life 'Frogger'
No charges are expected against the driver. The name of the man who was struck has not been released.
7. The teenager who survived 10-inch knife through skull after video game row
Amazed medics watched him stagger into casualty at the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, being held up by his pals. But surgeons - who took two hours to remove the blade - say Wei is likely to make a full recovery.
Pal Huang Shen, 18, says he and Wei were attacked when a local gang tried to force Wei to load some unauthorised software onto the cafe's computers. Police are now examining surveillance camera footage of the attack.
8. The 3 gamers who played for 50 hours setting a new World record
David Dino, Sean Crowley and Lauren Guiliano have collectively set five Guinness World Records for gaming, a feat that took 50 hours and one minute to complete. The event was partially intended to promote both a new Guinness book, "Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer's Edition," and a new Sony PlayStation game, "Little Big Planet 2," so, consequently, the record attempts were geared in that regard.
That's why the records set include one specifically for the Longest Marathon Playing "Little Big Planet 2" (50 hours, one minute), as well as less obviously promotional records such as Longest Marathon Playing a Platform Video Game (also 50 hours, one minute); Most Video Game Genres Played in One Video Game in 24 Hours (38); Most User-Generated Video Game Levels Played in 24 Hours (272); and Most User-Generated Video Game Levels Played in a Marathon (586).
9. The man who hacked a videogame to propose to his girlfriend
According to Li, he set a pretty low score; she is now sporting an identical pink sapphire engagement ring. The game manufacturer eventually heard about the story. Instead of being angry that Peng had hacked into their game, company officials were so impressed they offered to pay for part of the wedding.
10. The FarmVille user who was hit with £900 bill playing the popular Facebook game
FarmVille involves managing a farm and tending to all the crops and animals on it. It's funded by free 'virtual coins' – but users can buy extra coins using real money if they're desperate to improve their farm more quickly. It was doing this – a lot – that resulted in the young farmer racking up huge debt using his mum's credit card. His mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: 'The first use of my card was on 14 March. I discovered it on the 29th and the card was stopped at that point. Any transactions after that date were already in the system, so what I thought was a £427 spend turned into £625 over the next few days.The total spend is about £905, but the credits are still rolling in. Facebook and game creator Zynga will not refund anything as my son lives in my house. Facebook has disabled his account and Zynga has unhelpfully suggested I use password protection on computers in the future. '
This boy is certainly not the first to get in hot water over the game – and he probably won't be the last. Recently Bulgarian councillor Dimitar Kerin, a member of the Plovdiv Municipal Committee, was removed from a key committee because he couldn't resist milking his FarmVille cows during important meetings.
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