A Beijing man has died at the end of a three-day online gaming marathon during which "he did not sleep and barely ate".

According to the Beijing Times, reported via the BBC, the unnamed 30-year-old collapsed in a net cafe on the outskirts of the city, and attempts to revive him failed.

He'd apparently worked his way through 10,000 yuan (£928) feeding his gaming habit in the month before his fatal final session.

In September 2007, another 30-year-old male, from the province of Guangzhou, died of exhaustion at the end of an equally ill-advised three-day net cafe online sitting.

Earlier in the same year, a 26-year-old chap from Jinzhou, Liaoning province spent "almost all" of the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday glued to a computer game, with terminal consequences.

The BBC notes that "tens of millions of Chinese people - many of them teenagers - are addicted to internet gaming, despite curbs introduced by the authorities aimed at tackling the problem".

The country recently attempted to mobilise parents to combat excessive net use among youngsters, prompting one resigned father to sigh: "It's unnecessary and it will prompt more rebelliousness from the children." ®