Brain Age for the Nintendo DS: Brain-Training Game Craze in Japan Comes to America -- Updated with Additonal Information

Updated Links for ths Post:

Get Your Copy of Brain Age on Amazon!

Nintendo DS Review: Brain Age - Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day by Brandon J. Mendelson on Blogcritics

Brain Age Gooses Your Gray Matter by Chris Kohle on Wired

"Brain Age: Train Your Brain In MinutesA Day" By Craig Harris on AskMen

"You May Unrot Your Mind New Video Games Aim to Stave Off Midlife Brain Decay"By Aalok Mehta on Washington Post

"How old is your brain? Find out on your Nintendo DS" By Benjamin Turner on GameSpy

"How old is Iwata's brain?" by Ross Miller on Joystiq

Nintendo's Official Brain Age Site

Update: Its been a year since Brain Age was launched in the US -- the subject of the original post -- and there have been a three excellent reviews of the brain training game from the East. I've included a couple of them in the beginning links list. I also found a picture of the International Cover for the game which I placed at the top of the post.

Original Post: Brain Age for Nintendo DS: a game sensation in Japan has made its way to the US. The game is a series of mental simulators, collectively known as "Brain Training,"  developed by Nintendo in conjunction with Japanese Neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima.

According to the GameSpy article the reaction in Japan to Brain Age was amazing: "The really crazy thing, though, is how the Brain Training software seems to appeal to a broad swath of the population, much of which doesn't normally play games. A few weeks ago we saw grandmas and grandpas lining up in the early morning cold to snag DS Lites -- has Nintendo created a whole new demographic of hardcore gamers. GameSpy describes the game's interface as "Mental Gymnastics"

Unlike other games, Brain Age is played with the DS rotated 90 degrees to the right, such that the system more closely resembles a book. All input comes via the touch screen, stylus, and occasionally the microphone. After all, this is brain training, not finger training. If you play regularly, the game purports to lower your "mental age," which should ideally be in the 20s. The game tracks your performance over time so you can see if this is actually happening... or at least, if you're getting better at the various mini-games.

In "How old is Iwata's brain?":

The Answer: 27. Is this just another example of the mad scientists working at Nintendo, bending space and time beyond the scope of normal physics? Is Iwata a cyborg? Neither; at age 45, Iwata claims he has brought his brain age down to a fitter 27. In an interview with MTV's Stephen Totilo, Iwata continued to push his message of seeking out non-gamers with products like Nintendo DS Brain Age, and the upcoming Nintendo Revolution. Nintendo's president noted that while one can expect the "classic Zelda [and Mario] experiences," Nintendo will also develop games for people "who haven't played games before...who [may] only play for very short periods of time in a day."

The Post article notes that "some research has linked regular mental exercise throughout life with delayed onset of dementia. And a few preliminary studies suggest that performing such activities as crossword puzzles and board games can boost cognitive abilities."

But there is no hard data showing that the Mind Age can do these things The research on the Mind Age is being done in the real world by people playing the game on their Nintendo DS Game Consoles. If you want to start experimenting you will need a Nintendo DS and the Brain Age Gameboth which can be ordered from Amazon at the following links.

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