Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? (Nintendo DS) - PC and Console Games (Nintendo)

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.

Customer Reviews of Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? (Nintendo DS)

Keith R
London
20th August 2008

Really bad character and voice recognition
The character recognition is dire - enter a 1 then a 2 with an obvious gap between for 12 and it sees a 4 ! Enter a 1 and a 3 and it interprets a 9. It frequently fails to recognise Yellow (the only 2 syllable colour in the game and it interprets as Red). Most software lets you adjust for your own voice - this does not. You cannot correct wrong scores. I am now aware that the Brain Training has been panned on BBCs Watchdog - I wish I had seen it. VERY VERY FRUSTRATINGDr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? (Nintendo DS)

Steve Maxwell
UK
19th August 2008

mental exercise is fun
If you are looking for a game that gives your brain some stimulation, then this is for you. It is simply addictive because you are challenged to beat your previous best. When you record a flyer ( best record ) a train goes by and the game creator gives you emphatic praise.

There is a number challenge (for example) involving people walking in and out of a house. You have to count the number of people coming and going and estimate how many are left in the house. Simple? You should try it. I managed to get two right out of five. I was disappointed with my first effort but I was rewarded with a Train!

Give this a go. You will not be disappointed.

V. Shaw
yorkshire uk
19th August 2008

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How old is your brain?
I have just recently bought a Nintendo lite, and this is one of the first games I played, and I can honestly say , it is really good fun, despite the fact that I scored an 80 year old brain on my first attempt (I am only 37!!)
I have never been a big maths fan, but this IS fun, let all your friends try it too. Very engaging, highly recommended.

florrienightgown
Tyne and Wear
7th August 2008

Good game but gets boring and frustrating
This game can be great fun but, it has its limits. I find that it can quickly become boring and repetative. It can also be quite frustrating as the voice recognition is sometimes poor and you find yourself yelling at it to get it to regonise what you are saying, in addition sometimes it does not recognise what you are writing.

Dr Kawashimas "waffling" can become rather tiresome as well!

Ross Whiteford

26th July 2008

Good outweighs the bad.
I agree that this game can get incredibly boring and frustrating due to Kawashimas comments but simply by selecting that you cannot talk when you are doing the test will lower your brain age. The variety of games does get boring but unlocking them all is fun so until you've done that the game definitely keeps you interested. Worth playing.