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: #4 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Model: 45496737122
• Released on: 2006-06-09
• Rating: To Be Announced
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, .22 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

Crap is crap
A japanese view of creative thinking! Isn't that a bit like a German view of Jewish race relations? content and quality are priority ingredients in any mental development,.......there is NO EASY WAY to to intellectual developmrnt. Do NOT be taken in.

First if its kind!
I think everyone in the world has heard of this game now. I played it long before Nicole Kidman decided her brain age was too low!. It is very good but there just simply arent enough puzzles. At the start you are motivated to play everyday to unlock the puzzles. Once you have done that however it slowly gets tedious to just do the same puzzles all the time. I'm not saying its a boring game but for me, once the novelty had worn off i put it one side never to be played again. Yes the good Dr will scold me for not playing on a daily basis!. I liked the parts where you had to draw things and remember what you had for dinner last night but those tasks didnt seem to come up often enough for me.

So i would recommend it - just to see what your brain age is the first time you try the test! 80 anyone?

makes you faster not wiser
great game, the daily training is fun, brain age check is hilarious especially after working a nightshift, think i might be obsessed with playing it daily though.

this game motivates you, makes doing tasks fun and if your friends have it makes for funny conversation.

this game wont make you smarter, it will make you think faster.