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.
BAGHDAD: Nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives started shifting to southern Afghanistan."We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban."We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
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