Microsoft Ups Reward For Information About Missing Teen

15-year-old Brandon Crisp of Barrie, Ontario has been missing since a fight with his parents on October 13th over his obsessive Xbox use. The run away has been the subject of a large ground search by authorities and civilians for two weeks but few clues to his whereabouts have been turned up. As a result Microsoft has doubled the reward money for information leading to his location to $50,000. According to the Globe and Mail "Sergeant Dave Goodbrand says people from Miami to British Columbia have offered assistance, including search and rescue expert Terry Grant, host of Canadian reality show Mantracker, who flew in to help." Let's hope the child is located and this family can put their fears to rest!

Study Says Males More Likely to Become Video Game Addicted

Researchers at Stanford University, using brain-imaging in a study of video game players, have concluded that "the part of the brain that generates feelings of reward is more stimulated in men than in women." The conclusion is therefore drawn that this neural affect explains why men are more likely to become addicted to video games. Speaking of the 22 test subjects, 11 male and 11 female, "The females 'got,' the game..." said Allan Reiss, who headed up the study. "They appeared motivated to succeed at the game. The males were just a lot more motivated to succeed." The game played involved gaining screen 'territory' by completing simple tasks and the researchers point out the the male of our species is definitely more territorial than the female, which could explain why the men were more driven to succeed. I think we're just amused by simple games and way too competitive for our own good. The CBC has the story.