Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!, also known as Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? in Europe and Australia[1] is a puzzle video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was first released in Japan, and was later released in North America, Europe, Australia, and South Korea.
| Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS |
| Release |  May 19, 2005 April 17, 2006 April 19, 2006 June 9, 2006 June 16, 2006 January 18, 2007 |
| Genre(s) | Edutainment |
| Mode(s) | Single player Multiplayer |
Brain Age features a variety of puzzles, including stroop tests, mathematical questions, and Sudoku puzzles (outside of Japan), all designed to help keep certain parts of the brain active. It was included in the Touch! Generations series of video games, a series which features games for a more casual gaming audience. Brain Age uses the touch screen and microphone for many puzzles. It has received both commercial and critical success, selling more than 8.51 million copies worldwide[2] and has received multiple awards for its quality and innovation.[3][4]
History
Nintendo was looking for something new to develop that would appeal to both traditional and casual gamers. In one of the meetings, the Chief Financial Officer of Nintendo's Japanese division suggested reviewing a published book titled Train Your Brain: 60 Days to a Better Brain, which was enjoying a great deal of success in Japan. Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, arranged for a meeting with Professor Ryuta Kawashima, the author of the book.[5]
As both Iwata and Professor Kawashima were too busy to meet under normal circumstances, they both agreed to meet for an hour during the Nintendo DS launch. The original meeting became a brainstorming session that lasted for three hours, in which Professor Kawashima explained the basics of his studies. Iwata assigned a team of nine developers to develop the game and to have it ready in 90 days for demonstration.[2]
Gameplay
Brain Age is designed to be played a little each day, similar to other Touch! Generations titles such as the Nintendogs games and Animal Crossing: Wild World. The Nintendo DS is held on its side, with the touch screen on the right for right-handed people and the left for left-handed people. The game is entirely touch and voice-controlled; in some puzzles, the player must write out his or her answer, or he or she will have to speak the answer into the microphone. Before the player can begin a Brain Age session, he or she must input information. First, the player must confirm the date and select which hand they write with. If he or she is right-handed, the touch screen is on the right side; if he or she is left-handed, the player must flip the DS so that the touch screen is on the left side. The player must input their name and date of birth.
At the end of all Brain Age Check puzzles, Training puzzles, Quick Play puzzles, and Sudoku puzzles, the player is shown how quickly he or she completed it, the player's speed (such as "bicycle speed" and "jet speed"), and a tip for either improving the player's brain or a game-related tip. If the player's time or score in Brain Age Check or Training is high enough, it will appear on one or both of the Top Three. The Top Three shown is the player's own top three attempts at a puzzle, while he or she can also compare their top three with other save files.
While the player is navigating the menus outside of the puzzles, Professor Kawashima is always seen on the top screen as a floating, three-dimensional head. Brain Age allows up to four players to have save files on one DS game card, and these players can interact with each other in several different ways. There are five modes of play - Brain Age Check, Training, Quick Play, Download, and Sudoku.
When starting a session, Kawashima may ask the player to participate in a Picture-Drawing Quiz, which requires the player to draw a person, place, or thing by memory using the touch screen. After the player has done all three, the game will compare his or her drawing to an example created by the game developers, along with advice of what to emphasize on below its image. If there is more than one person with a save file on the same copy of the game, their images for the day can be compared to each other side by side.
Kawashima may also ask the player to participate in a Memory Quiz, which requires the player to recall a recent event, such as what the player ate or the most interesting thing you saw on television the day before. Several days later, it will ask for the answer you provided, and will then compare the answer given several days ago and the answer given on the current day to test your recollection skills. The player is not scored on his or her ability to remember. The purpose of these tasks is to help the player improve their recollection.[citation needed]
Brain Age Check
The player has four modes that he or she can play - Brain Age Check, Training, Quick Play, and Sudoku. The Brain Age Check gives the player three puzzles to complete. The first test is usually a stroop test, although the player can choose to not do it by saying that he or she cannot speak into the microphone at the moment. At the end of the Brain Age Check, Professor Kawashima assesses the age of the player's brain (or a "brain age"). The higher the brain age, the worse the player performed. The ideal age for a brain in Brain Age is 20, as Kawashima's theories claim that the brain stops developing at 20. The player may then replay the Brain Age Check, but it will not change their brain age for the day.
Once the player clarifies whether he or she can speak into the microphone or not, Professor Kawashima will describe the first puzzle. If the player answered that he or she can speak, it will start with a Stroop Test; if the player says otherwise, however, the game will pick a puzzle at random, including Calculations X 20, Word Memory, Connect Maze, and Number Cruncher. An extra puzzle is Speed Counting, which is accessible through the hidden Brain Age Select mode.
During the Stroop Test, the game will display one of four words: blue, black, yellow, and red. One word will appear on-screen on random, and it will repeatedly show one of the words until the puzzle ends. Each word is one of the four above mentioned colors (eg, the word red may be colored blue), and the player must say the color, rather than the word. There is another puzzle which requires the player to speak called Speed Counting. In Speed Counting, the player counts up from one to 120 as fast as they can without slurring numbers or using short versions of numbers (such as "one-twenty" instead of "one hundred and twenty"), although they are not required to speak into the microphone. Once the player is finished, he or she must push "Done".
Word Memory gives the player a list of 30 four letter words, that the player must study as well as he or she can for two minutes. After this two minutes is up, the player must write down as many words as he or she can remember in three minutes, although if he or she finished beforehand or gives up before three minutes is up, the player can simply push select to end it. Another puzzle called Connect Maze gives players a randomly created group of circles, with letters and numbers in them. There is one circle for every letter in "A" through "M", as well as a circle for every number 1-13. The player must then connect a line between a letter and a number, starting with "A". The player must connect the letter "A" to the number one, and then connect it to the letter "B" and then the number two, and so on until the player reaches 13.
Calculations X 20 presents the player with 20 mathematical equations, including addition, subtraction, and multiplication. On the top screen are the questions, which scroll up as they are answered (either correctly or incorrectly), while the touch screen is used to write out the answer. In Number Cruncher, the player is presented with many screens containing several numbers, which vary in their appearance and actions. For instance, a screen may feature five blue numbers, three red numbers, and one moving yellow number, and above it is a question, such as "how many blue numbers are there?", which the player must answer as quickly and accurately as possible.
Training
The Training mode allows the player to play a variety of puzzles, with all but one of the puzzles being exclusive to the Training mode. Once the player completes at least one puzzle, Kawashima awards him or her with a stamp, which he or she places on the current date. If the player places at least three puzzles, the stamp will expand in size. After accumulating a certain amount of stamps, Kawashima will award him or her with a new puzzle, difficulty mode, or additional feature under the Options menu. Each puzzle can be played as many times as the player likes, although only the first play-through of the day will count in the graph for that puzzle.
There are nine puzzles in Training mode. The first is Calculations X 20, which is the same as the one found in the Brain Age Check. One question will appear on the top screen, and the player must hand-write the answer on the touch screen. There are a total of 20 questions, including addition, subtraction, and multiplication. There is also a similar mode called Calculations X 100, which is the same as Calculations X 20, although with 100 questions instead of 20. It features a Hard mode, which has the same mechanics but adds division problems.
The next puzzle is Syllable Count, which shows several phrases one after the other on the top screen, and the player must write the number of syllables in each phrase on the touch screen. Another puzzle is Reading Aloud, which gives the player an excerpt from a story such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and tasks the player with reading the story aloud to see how quickly he or she can do it. The player progresses through the excerpt by pushing Next, until he or she reaches the end of the excerpt. If the player pushes Next too quickly, the puzzle will end prematurely.
Time Lapse displays two analog clocks (eg. one at 2:45 and one at 7:30), and requires the player to calculate the difference in time between these clocks. Another puzzle called Triangle Math has a series of mathematical equations that the player must solve. It is designed similarly to the Calculation puzzles, in that the equation is on the top screen, and the player writes the answer on the touch screen. The equations have three numbers and two mathematical symbols in between them (eg. 3 + 4 + 8 or 3 - 4 + 8), which is solved by adding or subtracting the first two numbers, and then adding or subtracting the last two numbers.
Head Count features a group of people on the top screen (eg. 4). After a few seconds to allow the player to count the number of people, a house falls over them. The player must watch the screen carefully, as the people inside will leave the house and more people will enter the house. This will eventually cease, and the game asks the player to write down how many people are currently in the house. The puzzle gets more difficult as the player progresses in it.
Low to High features several boxes on both screens, each in the same pattern as each other. The game will count down at varying speeds, and when it hits zero, numbers will appear in these boxes for a short period of time. Afterwards, the player must touch the boxes on the touch screen from lowest number to highest by memorizing the numbers on the top screen. Afterwards, the game will introduce one puzzle after the other in a similar fashion. The puzzle does not end until the player makes a certain amount of mistakes. The final puzzle in Brain Age is Voice Calculation, which is similar to the Calculations puzzles. However, this puzzle requires the player to speak the correct answer into the microphone instead of write it on the touch screen, similar to the Stroop Test.
Quick Play
Quick Play can be played by anyone, regardless of if they have a save file or not. Quick Play allows the player to play three modes - Quick Brain Age Check, Quick Training, and Quick Sudoku, all only providing the player with one of the easy puzzles in each of these modes to try. Quick Brain Age Check only allows the player to play the stroop test. In Quick Training, the game only allows the player to play Calculations X 20. And in Quick Sudoku, the play may only play the easiest Sudoku puzzle available. At the end of each session, the player's brain age or time will be assessed, and Kawashima will give a preview of the full game.
Download
A player with a copy of Brain Age can send certain game data to other Nintendo DS consoles using the DS Download Play feature. He or she may either download Quick Play mode to this player's Nintendo DS, or Calculations X 30, a variation of the other Calculation puzzles which can be played by up to sixteen people.
Sudoku
Included in the North American, European, and Australian versions of this game is a Sudoku mode, which features more than 100 puzzles across three different modes - Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. Sudoku involves a 9x9 grid, which features numbers in every square. Some of these numbers are visible, while others are not. The objective of every Sudoku game is to fill in each square with the correct number using the visible, pre-written numbers to guide them. Each row and 3x3 grid has nine squares in it, and each row and 3x3 grid must have one of every number in the 1-9 range. Ideally, a completed Sudoku puzzle should have nine of all of those numbers in the 9x9 grid.
The player can choose between two modes of play - with notification, or without. When played with notification, the game allows the player to miss only five times before the puzzle is automatically ended before completion. Each miss results in a 20 minute penalty which is added onto the player's time. Additionally, if the best time for a puzzle was achieved with notification, the game will make note of that next to the best time.
The majority of the puzzle takes place on the touch screen, which displays the entire Sudoku puzzle. The player must first tap on the square he or she wishes to fill in, and the touch screen will show a zoomed in image of that square while the other screen shows a zoomed out version of the puzzle. While zoomed in, you are able to move to another square next to it by using one of the arrows. To fill in a square, the player must handwrite the number using the stylus. Once the number is written and the player moves on from that square, it will be converted into a cleaner version of the number.
Brain Age also takes advantage of a strategy used in pen and paper Sudoku puzzles, in which the person marks which squares a number could possibly be by writing a miniature number. There are also four options at the player's disposal - Undo, Erase, Zoom Out, and Save & Quit. Undo allows the player to revert the latest change in the puzzle, Erase allows the player to erase everything in one square (alternatively, the player can circle just one number to erase it), Zoom Out is used to go back to a zoomed out view after he or she has zoomed in on a square, and Save & Quit allows the player to do a quick save and quit the puzzle, which is erased once the player resumes.
Scientific effectiveness
Although the game was developed in conjunction with Professor Ryūta Kawashima, the effectiveness of the game in maintaining mental fitness amongst its users remains unclear. Nintendo of America has refused to support any scientific claims to the benefits of the game, stressing that they are in the entertainment business.[6] However, Nintendo of Australia's official Brain Training web site features an article that shows Glenn Rees, the National Executive Director for Alzheimer's Australia, stating that Brain Training contributes to brain health, and that routinely playing it may help increase alertness and agility of thought.[7]
Reception
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Compilations of multiple reviews | |
Game Informer-8.25 out of 10 X-Play-4/5
Initial reactions from retailers was concern about the new title's ability to sell. The most important retailers in Japan were given the game for 15 minutes to test it out. In the end, Nintendo secured nearly 70,000 orders for the first shipment, an amount above most expectations. In comparison, the sequel had over 850,000 orders placed before its launch.[5]
Brain Age met with positive sales figures. The game debuted selling around 43,000 copies in May 2005, considered a good number for an educational title. Although most titles only stay in the Japanese weekly top ten list of games for a couple of weeks, DS Training for Adults managed to stay, as of January 2006, between the most sold games for 34 weeks (except three weeks). As of June 11, 2006, Brain Training has sold 2,322,970 copies in Japan alone.[14] During its first three weeks on sale in North America, Brain Age sold 120,000 copies,[15] becoming the fifteenth title in the Tops U.S. Console Charts during the month of May in terms of income.[16] The title has stayed in the top ten of both Amazon and Best Buy list since its release.[17][18] In Europe, Brain Training received critical acclaim, becoming number 1 in the Nintendo DS sales chart, and number 4 in the all-platforms chart on debut,[19] and selling more than 500,000 units in just over two months.[20] As of January 22 2007, Brain Training has sold over 2 million copies in Europe.[21] As of October 26 2006, Brain Age and Brain Training combined have sold 8.51 million copies worldwide,[2] making it the third best-selling DS game.
The game was received with somewhat mixed reviews in the Western market. While the reviews were generally positive, many of them criticized the game for having poor voice and handwriting recognition at times.[citation needed] The game's design earned it Edge magazine's EIEF06 Edge Award for innovation.[3] In 2007, Brain Age received the Interactive Achievement Awards for handheld game of the year.[4] The game has also been featured in numerous media apparitions including newspapers and television in different countries, including USA (Time magazine[22][23] and Discovery Channel[24]) and Australia (featured in Seven News[25]).
Overseas release
The positive sales figures and overall reception in Japan led to Brain Age being released in various countries around the world. In the North American market, the game is known as Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day and was released on April 17, 2006, and included 108 Sudoku puzzles of different levels of difficulty. Nintendo gave out copies of the North American version of Brain Age at the 2006 Game Developers Conference. They also shipped free retail versions to special members of the Nintendo NSider Forums. Both groups received their copies before the official release date. It has also been given away to certain retailers with the purchase of a Nintendo DS Lite.[26]
The game was released as "Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?" in the UK and Ireland. Like the American version, this version also features Sudoku. All 3 parts are saved on one cartridge.[27] In the United Kingdom, its television commercial features the voice of Chris Tarrant.[28] A recent advertisement also features Chris Tarrant playing the Reading Aloud game himself on a park bench as the man next to him looks intrigued.
Nintendo Australia featured an ad campaign that coincided its Australian release. During the period of June 15, 2006 to July 17, 2006, Nintendo Australia stated that for every copy of Brain Training purchased, Nintendo would donate $1.00 to Alzheimer's Australia.[7]
The game is one of the launch titles for the DS Lite in South Korea, along with English Training: Have Fun Improving Your Skills!. It was released on January 18, 2007.[29]
See also
References
- ^ Brain Age was released in Japan as Tohoku University Future Technology Collaborative Research Center's Professor Ryuta Kawashima Presents: Brain Training For Adults - DS Training (東北大学未来科学技術共同研究センター川島隆太教授監修 脳を鍛える大人のDSトレーニング, Tōhokudaigaku Mirai Kagaku Gijutsu Kyōdō Kenkyū Sentā Kawashima Ryūta Kyōju Kanshū Nō o Kitaeru Otona no Dīesu Torēningu)
- ^ a b c Tor Thorsen (2006-10-26). "Nintendo posts $456.6 million profit". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-04-30. Cite error: The named reference "gamespot" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Laura Jenner (August 21, 2006). "Brain Training wins Edge award". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
- ^ a b "10th annual Interactive Achievement Awards winners" (PDF). Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. February 9, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
- ^ a b Simon Carless Simon. "Breaking: GDC - Detailed Nintendo Keynote Coverage". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2006-08-23.
- ^ Catherine Arnst (2006). "Chicken Soup For The Aging Brain". Business Week. Retrieved 2006-10-23.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b "Keep Your Brain Stimulated: Dr. Elizabeth Zelinski speaks". Nintendo of Australia. Retrieved 2006-08-10.
- ^ IGN Staff. "Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day Review". IGN.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (NintendoDS)". 1UP.com.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Brain Age Review". GameSpot.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "BBrain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (DS)". GameSpy.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Brain Age - DS". Game Rankings.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!". Metacritic.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Media Create Software Sales: 29 May - 4 June". Media Create, GameScience. 2006-06-06.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "E3 2006: 120,000 Brain Age Units in 3 Weeks" by Daemon Hatfield, IGN, May 9, 2006, last accessed on June 11, 2006
- ^ "New Super Mario Bros. Tops U.S. Console Charts" by David Jenkins, Gamasutra, June 9, 2006, last accessed on June 11, 2006
- ^ Tor Thorsen. "US Console charts: May 14-20". Yahoo!.
{{cite web}}: Text "date 2006-05-22" ignored (help) - ^ Tim Surette (2006-07-07). "US console sales charts: June 25-July 1". GameSpot.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Kawashima Is Top Doc!". Nintendo Official Magazine. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
- ^ "Europe goes Brain Training mad!". Nintendo of Europe. Retrieved 2006-08-10.
- ^ "Nintendo DS breaks sales records". Nintendo Europe. 2007-01-22.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Players Flex Their Mental Muscles With Brain Age For Nintendo DS". Nintendo.com. 2006-01-30.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Brain Age Advert In Time Magazine", Kotaku, April 19, 2006, last accessed on June 11, 2006
- ^ "Brain Age American TV Ad". Kotaku. 2006-04-21.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Brain Training featured on Seven News - UPDATE". Aussie-Nintendo.com. 2006-06-02.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Michael McWhertor (2006-06-11). "Free Brain Age With DS Lite Purchase". Kotaku.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training". Revolution Europe. Retrieved 2006-06-11.
- ^ Nick Clayton (July 15, 2006). "Nintendo start to think outside the box". Living - Digital Culture. Scotsman.com. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
- ^ "매일매일 DS 두뇌 트레이닝". Nintendo of Korea.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)
Further reading
- Interview with the localization team at 1Up.com and
In the Nintendo Wii video game "Super Paper Mario", on one of the later levels, "dorguy the second" tells you (if you get a perfect score on his quiz) that you have a very young brain age. Game Informer
External links
- Official Sites