Urban kids unhealthy; addicted to TV, internet

November 14 is Children's Day but it is not all good news. A recent study suggests that one in every three children below 10 years of age is either underweight or overweight.

Most of the children belonging to urban areas are addicted to video games and not interested in going out to play. Young school children in mid-level to elite private schools in urban India are unfit and unhealthy like never before.

An independent survey covering over 4000 children across 15 cities says one in three students is overweight or malnourished.

"Children today don't play outside and 80 per cent of them talk about their playtime as their play station or computer time. There is no play time as in running and playing," says Deen's Academy Principal Shanthi Menon.

Children aged 5 to 10 were assessed on co-ordination, flexibility and agility. While many of them can score a perfect 90 in Maths and Science, at least one-third couldn't easily sit and stretch, swing and jump or even throw. The verdict is clear: unhealthy kids grow up to unhealthy adults.

"It's a combination of not having enough time to play and enough space to play. There is parental lack of attention, lack of willingness and lack of role-models. If I want my child to be fit, I can't be watching TV all day. I need to do something about it," says EduSports MD Saumil Majumdar.

It's an unquestioned fact that many of our children are not fit enough, what with pizza snacking and the fact that many schools don't have large playgrounds. But it is the first time that a scientific assessment has been done and perhaps it's time to think beyond exams.

Resident Evil' movie uses 3D to engage viewers

Video gamers are used to immersing themselves into virtual worlds so filmmakers turning video games into movies are aiming to keep them as involved, by adding 3D.

Sony Pictures' Resident Evil: Afterlife, which opens September 10, is the first video game movie filmed in stereoscopic 3D.

Writer/director/producer Paul WS Anderson even used the same 3D camera rigs that director James Cameron used on Avatar to bring the fourth installment of the popular survival horror game franchise to the big screen.

"I wrote things into this script that I knew would work well in 3D like lots of sets with depth-like tunnels, elevator shafts, and big wide landscapes," said Anderson, who has had a creative hand in all four films.

"It's the reason why (actress) Milla (Jovovich) has an airplane in this movie - so I could shoot over these fantastic glaciers in Alaska with a tiny plane over a huge white landscape," he added.

Anderson said particle matter in the air worked well in 3D, so he also wrote rain and smoke into the script as well as underwater sequences to accentuate the 3D experience.

Before Resident Evil: Afterlife began filming, Japanese game publisher Capcom had already released Resident Evil 5 in stereoscopic 3D for PC gamers with NVIDIA 3D Vision technology.

The same male following that Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Electronics are banking on with the new PlayStation 3 3D upgrade is also driving sales of the higher-priced 3D movie tickets.

Action, horror in 3D

"Almost all the games being adapted to film lend themselves to these big, immersive, visual effects-driven, exciting movies," said Ari Arad, who is producing upcoming game adaptations like Lost Planet, EverQuest, Twisted Metal, Infamous, and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

"While dramas and comedies will eventually have 3D, if you're going to invest the resources and if you're going to create 3D product, that 3D product is action movies, horror movies, adventure movies, sci-fi, and fantasy - and most of these video game adaptations fall right into those genres."

Screenwriter Kyle Ward, who wrote big screen adaptations for Eidos' Kane & Lynch and Hitman 2 games, believes video games naturally lend themselves to become 3D movies.

"When you play a first-person shooter, you're basically throwing yourself into the world of the game and interacting with it," said Ward. "The same is true for 3D films ... if done right, they'll bring you into their world."

Ward doesn't believe every game adaptation should be filmed in 3D.

He believes Kane & Lynch, which will star Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx, will work fine in 2D, but he wouldn't be surprised if bullets fly out of the screen for Hitman 2.

Both the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures TRON Legacy film and the PlayStation 3 version of Disney Interactive Studios' "TRON Evolution" will offer 3D experiences.

The game will serve as a bridge between the two films, setting up the story for the sequel.

Hollywood writer/director Matty Rich is developing a new 3D feature film and corresponding 3D game based on Curandismo, which is an action adventure story of an unlikely African American boy who was born with special healing powers.

"I think 3D across the board in both homes and in theaters is going to be very big," said Anderson.

Microsoft sells one million Kinects in 10 days

Microsoft said it sold one million Kinect motion-sensing controllers for the Xbox 360 videogame console in 10 days and is on pace to sell five million by the end of the year.

"This is a great start to the holiday season," said Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business.

"We will continue to work with our retailer partners to keep pace with high demand and deliver against our plan to sell more than five million Kinect sensors worldwide by the end of this year," Mattrick said in a statement.

Microsoft launched the Kinect in North America on November 4 and in Europe last week. It launches in Asia later this week.

Kinect uses a 3D camera and motion recognition software to let people play videogames using natural body movements and voice commands instead of hand-held controllers.

The standalone Kinect, which works with the 45 million Xbox 360s already sold worldwide, costs 150 dollars. A four-gigabyte Xbox 360 console that includes the Kinect and the "Kinect Adventures" game sells for 299 dollars.

Social network game developer Zynga unveils 'CityVille

Social network game developer Zynga has unveiled "CityVille," the first globally released online game built by the hot startup behind play hits "FarmVille" and "Mafia Wars."

"CityVille is where Monopoly meets Main Street," said the game's general manager Sean Kelly.

The game challenges a player to build his or her dream city from the ground up and incorporates winning aspects of popular Zynga titles "FrontierVille" and "FarmVille."

"Instead of harvesting crops you're harvesting your neighborhood; instead of clearing your friend's frontier you're working on a friend's franchise," Kelly said, referring to the title as Zynga's most social game to date.

Zynga rocketed to success at Facebook, where people recruited friends to join them in online play and shared game accomplishments at the world's leading social network.

More than 320 million people have played Zynga games since the San Francisco-based company was launched in 2007, according to its founder Mark Pincus.

The number of people playing Zynga games each month tops 225 million, according to the firm.

Test, or beta, versions of "CityVille" will be rolled out worldwide in coming weeks in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish.

"CityVille" play involves creating thriving cities while balancing the needs of virtual inhabitants and tending to jobs such as running businesses and harvesting crops.

Players in the roles of city managers will also need to cultivate beneficial relationships with neighboring cities.