Child dies while parents play WOW

As shallow and jaded as I have become over the last 3 years, I just can't bring myself to laugh outloud at this. I guess there is hope for me yet. It also dosen't seem compltely fair to blame the game for the death of this kid, the parents involved could easily have neglected the child in favor of some other hobby or vice. I'm sure they feel awful about it.

Infant Daughter Dies as Parents Play Online Game

A thoughtless couple in their 20s who left their four-month old daughter at home while they played Internet computer games at a nearby PC café have been booked by police after the child died.

According to Incheon Police Station on Tuesday, a 29-year-old man husband identified by his family name of Yu and his wife put their four-month daughter in the bedroom of their home and went to a neighborhood PC café at around 4:00 p.m. on May 24 to play the online game "World of Warcraft.

Time flew by as the couple lost themselves in the game, and when they returned home at 9:00 p.m., their daughter was lying on her stomach, dead of suffication.

The couple told police, "We were thinking of playing for just an hour or two and returning home like usual, but the game took longer that day."

Police said an investigation turned up that the couple, who wed last year, used to play "World of Warcraft" whenever they had time.

Police said, "It's unfortunate, because the tragedy could have been averted if the couple had just left their daughter with Yu's mother-in-law, who lived upstairs from them... We booked the pair on criminal charges, judging that when you consider the situation, they were responsible for their daughter's death."

Major U.S. online game producer Blizzard, which grew famous with the game "Starcraft", produced the game to which Yu and his wife were addicted, "World of Warcraft." The game allows multiple players to form teams to fight battles and enjoy various adventures.

(Lee Yong-su, hejsue@chosun.com)