Swedish kid collapses after 24-hour WoW marathon

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Fuelling further tabloid hysteria about the dangers of online gaming comes a story straight outta’ Laholm in western Sweden. Some poor 15-year-old kid was enjoying the new WoW expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, with some friends, but 24 hours into their mammoth gaming session, he collapsed and suffered what seems to have been an epileptic fit.

Doctors told the father that his son’s bodily systems had been disrupted by a combination of sleep deprivation, lack of food, and the prolonged period of concentration playing the game. He’s expected to make a full recovery, but seriously – this is just an idiot kid. The fault isn’t in the game, it’s in the parents who didn’t tell him to stop or at least get him to eat some food and have a nap.

Powerleveller hits WoW level 80 in just 27 hours

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In case you missed the reports of the ‘biggest entertainment launch ever’ last week, World of Warcraft has just launched its second expansion pack – Wrath of the Lich King. It raises the level cap to 80, and one French player – Nymh – managed to power through the ten levels in between in just 27 hours.

To answer a few of your questions – no, he didn’t take any breaks, he’s 21 years old, and he is currently employed (though took a few days holiday for the release of the expansion). He was playing as a female human warlock, demonology spec.

Wrath of the Lich King event was "biggest HMV has ever seen"

If there was any more proof needed that World of Warcraft fans are a force to be reckoned with, then last night was it. Somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 fans (there was no official headcount) crammed into HMV Oxford Street last night after the midnight opening. It’s the single biggest entertainment launch in UK history, beating the previous record holder (the previous WoW expansion!) by nearly 1,000.

People dressed up, as you’ll see over the jump, and Blizzard helped too, with a large chap dressed as Arthas the Lich King. There was an ice sculpture of the WoW logo, and senior execs from Blizzard and Activision showed up too. Best of all was the HMV logo over the shop door, which featured a Murloc instead of the usual dog.

Wrath of the Lich King launch party details announced

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Are you a big World of Warcraft fan? So big that you fancy hanging around in central London until midnight on 12th November, just to be the first to take home a copy of Wrath of the Lich King? Well, here’s all the info you’ll need.

At midnight on the 12th November (that’s midnight between the 12th and 13th, not 11th and 12th) show up at HMV Oxford Street, a short walk from Tottenham Court Road tube station. Blizzard COO Paul Sams and associate producer Lee Sparks will be signing copies and meeting the slightly sweaty fanboys and girls….