Product Description

Give your gray matter the workout that it needs to stay sharp, focused and young. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day is inspired by a book that was written by Professor Ryuta Kawashima, a prominent Japanese neurologist. His theories revolve around keeping brains young by performing mental activities quickly. When users first start a new game, they will be given a Brain Age Check that determines the age of their brains. Each day, they can compete for the high score in any activities that they have unlocked. They also can check the age of their brains once per day. The more training they do, the more activities they will unlock. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day is designed to be played in small chunks over a long period of time and can hold data from a year of activity. Features: Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day is a series of mini-games designed to give brains a workout. Activities include performing simple math problems, counting people going in and out of a house, drawing pictures on the touch screen and reading classic literature out loud. When users start a new game, they will take a series of tests and get a score that shows how old their brains are. This number is called the "Brain Age." As they use the software over a series weeks and months, their mental acuity will improve and the Brain Age will drop, indicating a younger, healthier brain. Progress is charted in graph form. Users can keep up to four save files on one game card. Sharing a game allows them to compare their results with those of family and friends. Users also can send a demo version of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day to friends or compete with up to 16 players in a battle to see who can solve math problems the fastest.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Model: 45496737122
• Released on: 2006-06-09
• Rating: To Be Announced
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
In a nutshell:
The portable phenomenon that has taken Japan by storm finally hits the UK. Part puzzle game, part self improvement tool this is the only game that's both lots of fun and good for you - and that's before you even start on Sudoku!

The lowdown:
Nothing about this game is ordinary, from the price to the way you hold the DS while playing it (vertically, as if you were reading a book). The basic idea is that you play through a series of puzzles each day, for about 10 minutes, and at the end of each session the "age" of your brain is calculated. The puzzles themselves range from simple maths questions to spot the difference, memorisation and comprehension. All of the answers are inputted either by drawing the answer on the touchscreen or speaking it into the DS's in-built microphone. There's also a multiplayer mode for up to 15 people where you can try and compete to record the youngest brain age.

Most exciting moment:
A brand new addition to the game, not included in the Japanese version, is a special DS version of Sudoku. This works great on the DS's touch screen and is worth the already low price of admission on its own.

Since you ask:
A sister title to Brain Training, named Big Brain Academy, is due for release in July and offers to "weigh" your brain and improve specific skills such as memorisation and analysis. A direct sequel to Brain Training has also been released in Japan but is not yet scheduled for released in the UK.

The bottom line:
The only game that really is for the whole family - from kids to OAPs.
Harrison Dent

Manufacturer's Description
If you spend a lot of time with your favourite gaming handheld in public, you've probably heard this sentence once or twice before. While most people have no problem subscribing to beliefs that attribute increased reaction times and better hand-eye coordination to regular exposure to games, "making you smarter" isn't usually a trait associated with gaming.

This game was designed in collaboration with Professor Ryuuta Kawashima, who believes that regular "brain exercises" can counteract forgetfulness, help train memory and creative thinking. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image) diagrams that measured brain activity of 120 test subjects between the ages of 20 and 70 at the university's Future Science Collaborative Research Center show the difference in brain activity in a variety of situations.

DS Brain Training takes the theories from Prof. Kawashima and runs with it. The software challenges players to perform a variety of exercises every day, from solving simple math problems to reading on-screen text out loud.

Customer Reviews

Good in theory, mediocre in practice
Although I enjoy doing the puzzles, there are certain aspects of the games that render them pointless. The prog does not recognise writing consistently, (4 and 9 are often mistaken for each other), speed counting and reading are pointless exercises and you could be talking gobbledygook and it would still give you a score. It often does not recognise speech, shouting sometimes helps, but I do feel very frustrated when I have spent the time doing the games just to be sent down to the bottom of the graph because of software failure.

Lazy grey matter
How old is my brain? Wow! I enjoy doing puzzles that challenge my brain anyway, so I bought this game, it's a great way to exercise the brain, especially first thing in the morning (if you have time).

I never realised how much of my times tables I had forgotten before using this game, I am now starting to remember most of my timestables and this game is really helping, you always want to beat your best score, so the game makes you push yourself harder.

The head count training game was a bit of a disappointment, I always get 5 out of 5, so I can't improve much on that one, but still useful for training.

A must have for anyone who wants to exercise their brain, or enjoys sudoku puzzles.

Training my Brain
hello
i have only had this gmae a few days. its really good and the tests are challenging. there is also alot of soduku to play! I marked t down because sometimes... but not much this microphone cant understand what im saying!
thank you or reading!