Friday, December 04, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO: A study released Thursday by NPD Group indicates that 82 percent of US children two years of age or older play videogames but that interest wanes as teens near adulthood.Some 55.7 million US children are "gamers," with youths in a 12 to 14 age bracket logging the most play time at an average of 10.6 hours weekly, according to NPD.Time spent playing videogames drops off among children 15 to 17 years of age, with girls less likely to indulge in gaming than boys, NPD reported."The decline in teen usage of videogames is likely due to diversifying, maturing interests, which translates into stiffer competition for their mind and wallet share," said NPD videogame industry analyst Anita Frazier."In addition to competition from other areas of the entertainment space, more school work, activities, and parent-imposed time limits on gaming are factors which the data suggests may be contributing to this dip in older teen engagement."The report is based on a survey in September of more than 5,000 children ranging in age from two to 17.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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