gameplayer

Games are good for you, we are led to believe.

They improve hand-eye co-ordination, cognitive skills and even, nowadays with the likes of the Wii Fit yoga mat, physical prowess. People who play games have bigger brains and live longer, or so we are told.

Be warned. This is propaganda. Playing games can kill and seriously injure your person.

I don't just mean the freak case of the Counter Strike player who, early one morning, tackled muggers on the London underground. Anti-terrorist commando by night, computer programmer by day, he somehow got his roles mixed up and ended up shot for his troubles.

One of the biggest threats is the way excess gaming can affect sleep patterns. In game-crazy South Korea, marathon gaming binges have resulted in a number of premature deaths. Most Korean players hunker down in internet cafes for long sessions. At least five times in the past two years, lost weekends in these dingy establishments have culminated in fatal embolisms, a condition similar to DVT from long-haul flights. Exhausted, with their brains thinking they are under constant attack for days on end, young men have simply keeled over.

China is tackling dangerous games addiction among youth with boot camps. The gamers enter an offline gulag of nature, marches and drills. This came abut after a games-obsessed teen jumped to his death from a fourth floor window while hallucinating and a Shanghai man was stabbed to death in a dispute after taking part in an online role-playing game.

Less dramatic, but perhaps more prevalent, cases of repetitive strain injury (RSI) in children are on the rise. Doctors attribute this to increasing use of games, keypads and keyboards among juveniles.

One report in the Daily Mail points out that the increase in RSI cases presenting at British hospitals is matched by a decrease in the number of children being treated for injuries incurred while falling out of trees. The implication seems to be that the absence of arboreal impacts is "robbing children of their childhood", although it begs the question: "Which is worse?"

The wildly gesticulating antics required of Wii gamers have created a new form of tennis elbow dubbed "Wii-itis". The wrist strap breaks or a loved one comes too close while the player is engrossed in the game. From cuts by flying glass to smashed mouths and beautiful shiners, the list of injuries in the family home is extensive. The situation is so bad that Nintendo is offering improved wrist straps for free to anybody who asks.

At this point, spare a thought for Gamer Dad, the pro-games blogger and activist who urges us all to embrace gaming as learning tools for children. Learners such as the 14-year-old who decided he would cool down his Xbox by dunking it in a bucket of water - while still plugged in.

In his early 40s, Gamer Dad himself is in hospital having a quadruple bypass, for a heart condition. I blame his sedentary lifestyle.

Make no mistake. Games are very dangerous things indeed.