China has one of the largest bases of Internet users in the world. A study from 2009 found that over 290 million people in the country have access to the Web. About 70 percent of those people were reported to be under the age of 30.
Of those 290 million web users, many play online games. Some of those young gamers eventually become addicted to video games. Video game addiction has become a growing problem in China. Gamers across the country have been reported to play day long marathons of MMOs. The marathons lead to exhaustion and sometimes even death.
One tragic case of addiction involves 18-year-old Chinese man Guo Quon. The Yunnan province native recently lost his life after a 24-hour gaming session. Quon had recently moved to Guangdong for work. While living there he would reportedly spend hours gaming at a local Internet cafe.
His intense sessions ended in tragedy on May 19 - Quon had recently finished a 24-hour long gaming session when he suddenly passed out. The 24 hours of straight gaming left him living on life-support as he was unable to breathe without assistance.
Qoun's parents decided to pull the plug on their son after learning that he could possibly never wake up again after suffering brain damage. His parents attempted to gleam something positive out of the tragedy, however, by donating Quon's organs to China's organ donor program.
His father tells Chinese newspaper the New Express that the decision was made after deciding that the tragedy could help someone receive a new lease on life.
"Our son died very young. It is very tragic that it happened, we hope that he can help renew someone else's life," Quon's father said.
According to Kotaku, who first picked up the story, organ donation is still in its infancy in China. The site says that many donations currently come from death row inmates because the Chinese government has yet to properly implement a proper donation program.
Gaming addiction has caused the Chinese government to implement clinics that attempt to help addicts. The clinics focus on non-tangible addictions - along with gaming addictions, the clinics treat sex, shopping and Internet addicts.
According to a 2009 report from the Christian Science Monitor, many of the clinics patients are 15 to 21 year-old males addicted to games such as World of Warcraft and Counterstrike.
