There are "warning" labels on games. It's called the ESRB rating system and since EQ is a "family" oriented game with some "comic" violence, it's labeled T for Teen (as seen on www.everquest.com's website). It sucks that the kid had problems, it sucks that he was 21 with no chance for getting out of the ditch of Life he was in, it sucks that nobody REALLY tried to help him. It's called an intervention, I think, when an entire family comes to the forced aid of a family member or friend who's going down the path where death (or some other really bad ending) ultimately lies, and that's not what this kid got. Why didn't the mother/father just TAKE the computer away and throw it out? Why not get rid of the modem/cable/dsl access by canceling the account? Nothing of that's listed either because they DIDN'T.

It's not Sony's fault that the kid played their game. Just like mentioned before, it's easy to blame the last thing they were doing (drinking, drugs, gaming, etc) instead of looking at the real problem. I have no doubt this woman doesn't even know what ESRB is about even though it's all over the stores, there's brochueres on it and it's at www.esrb.org on the net. Ignorance is no excuse. Also, I don't doubt that if this woman tries to sue, and (God forbid) she wins, I bet money they get that vacation to the Bahamas and those new SUVs they've always wanted instead of campaigning to have better warnings on said games. Hypocrits who don't even know how to operate a computer efficiently or with any significant knowledge are the ones suing over their own ignorance and apathy.

5 minutes of education does wonders. This woman could learn a lot if she weren't so "set in her ways". As for game addiction, it's all about drawing the line of reality.

EDIT: another addition I just thought of after reading the line about "game makers should warn that their game is addictive". Sorry, but that made me laugh. Do you think ANYONE gives a damn about what cigarettes do to the human body? Do you think they care about the pollution of the air caused by second hand smoke? Do you think they care at all about the effects of smoking during pregnancy or that second-hand smoking causes lung cancer? Not in the slightest. Do you see anyone who likes to drink excessively take moderation in their actions and heed the warnings that state you shouldn't drink and drive, or that you shouldn't drink while pregnant, etc etc?

Moral of that story: everyone thinks they can define the line of moderation for themselves because of the often false sense of "control" that they think they have on whatever it is, whether it's gaming, drinking, smoking, whatever... Hell, about the only thing I haven't seen yet is a spouse suing his/her dead wife/husband's workplace because "they made him/her work too much and that's why she died".