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Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain (Nintendo DS) | 
| From: Nintendo
Category: Video Games
List Price: £19.99
Buy Used: £1.94
as of 6/9/2010 10:05 CDT details
You Save: £18.05 (90%)
New (38) Used (115) from £1.94
Seller: zoverstocks
Rating:  reviews
Sales Rank: 221
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: puzzle-games
Rating: To Be Announced
ESRB: Everyone
Media: Video Game
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Age: 3 - 18 years
Operating System: Nintendo DS
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.7 x 5 x 0.6
MPN: NTRPANDE
Model: 45496737122
UPC: 045496737122
EAN: 0045496737122
ASIN: B000EGELP0
Publication Date: April 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: "How Old Is Your Brain?" is the latest Japanese phenomenon on Nintendo DS - and now it's hitting Europe! If you're bored of playing games that don't stretch your brain cells and you'd like to give your grey matter an extensive workout, pick up this program. The tests have been devised in cooperation with Dr. Kawashima himself, a renowned neuroscientist. With Brain Training you can train both your mental awareness and your memory. Hold the DS vertically, like a book, and write your answers with the stylus on the touch screen. The exercises are quick challenges that help stimulate your brain. There's a combination of arithmetic, reading and memory tests, and the program calculates your score in the form of a 'brain age' by assessing the speed and accuracy by which you perform these simple tasks. The title has sold over 1.4 million copies in Japan and is hugely popular with young and old alike. And that's hardly surprising - because playing regularly for just a few minutes a day has been found to stimulate parts of the brain related to thinking, creativity and concentration. So if you want to tone your intellectual muscle, Brain Training is a fine way to get started!
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
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| Customer Reviews:
 Surprisingly entertaining June 22, 2006
Henry Stanley (United Kingdom)
102 out of 104 found this review helpful
I must admit, having heard about Brain Age (the US title of Brain Training) some time ago, I wasn't immediately interested. It seemed to me to be nothing more than a 'mini-game'; something frivolous and not to be taken seriously, all the more so when you notice it is priced at a lower point than other DS games.
However, suspending disbelief I purchased a copy to play with on my new DS Lite and was stunned at how good it is. Firstly, you must have your 'Brain Age' calculated, which involves completing a Stroop Test -- that is, coloured words appear and you must speak their colour into the microphone. Sounds easy? You'd think so, but it really isn't. When the word "Red" written in blue comes up, you have to say "blue". Surprisingly tricky. The voice recognition works almost-perfectly, slightly hiccupping on the word 'blue', but working very well other than that.
After that, you must perform small daily tasks that constitute your 'brain training'; tasks such as Calculations x 20 in which a series of small mental arithmetic puzzles appear on screen and you must work them out and write the answer on the touch-screen, which is then transcribed for you. Again, quite boring-sounding, but doing it against the clock -- and against your previous record -- is more fun than you might think. And the handwriting recognition works a charm too.
Other functions include the built-in Sudoku, not particularly well-integrated with the 'brain age' daily training (it forms more a separate add-on game) but still very worthwhile nevertheless. I found it far easier to use than doing a sudoku on paper, not least because you can easily write in miniature 'suggestions' in the corners of blank squares and delete them later on.
All-in-all, this is an excellent game to add to anyone's DS. It's charming, easy to pick up; you can play it with friends or family (it can link up with up to sixteen other DS units with just one game card) or just do a sudoku on your own. And -- more amazing than any of these things -- it makes maths fun! Scary stuff.
Stunning Fun & Development August 22, 2006
Chevvy, UK, Winchester (WINCHESTER, HAMPSHIIRE United Kingdom)
37 out of 38 found this review helpful
I bought this as my grandchildren had them, with Mario and Dr. Kaw ... Brain Training. It helps "use it or lose it, brain maintenance for us oldies - 55 plus..." and believe me it is terrific not just the daily training but also SUDOKO is actually great fun this way (from a once cynic!!!) Provides hours of endless fun, every night, and still I am not at the top of the all the software facilities ... Ideal on long journeys or boring TV evenings
Its true - using your brain can be fun. November 3, 2007
D. M. York (Manchester, UK)
26 out of 27 found this review helpful
There should be an award dedicated to a game that is both addictive and makes you think. Brain Training has made me realise that since finishing compulsory education I have stopped using my brain in the ways that I am supposed to and have allowed it to become lazy. The mathematical puzzles really did show such; things that I probably could have done a few years ago have now really made me pause. The sign of hope is that this is a "game" that will teach you to start using your brain again, simply by performing simple mathematical and logic tasks for a few minutes every day. Since having bought the game I have noticed a significant difference in my concentration and mathematical proficiency, which is quite a stunning thing to admit. What is best about this game is that it doesn't make it seem like it is a job that you are doing but that you are actually playing a game, and in all honesty as somebody who hated maths in school I now cannot stop playing on the number puzzles.
An amazingly addictive game... January 1, 2007
D. Martin (Sheffield, UK)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I bought this for my girlfriend for Christmas - not to indicate she's a bit thick, not at all - but I figured she'd love a Nintendo DS really and figured that two games would be perfect for her - the Nintendogs and this.
I must say that this is the one she likes the best so far - she's 27 (nearly 28) and has been going in to the game every single day to see if she's improving. She's obviously getting used to the DS at the same time, but her brain age is currently sitting around 30 (so she's got a bit of work to do) - although she has been as low as 24 one day. The game can hold data for a number of people and one of the best things is that it allows you to compare and contrast your brain age (and a variety of other little surprises) with the other contestants... like how you all drew a Koala from memory.
The games themselves can be quite challenging - there are little tricks to doing well at some of them, like head count. She is amazing at the Calculations x 20 and Calculations x 100 regularly getting a Flying Speed result. There is a good split between memory, mathematical, logical and verbal testing... I must say I find it amazing that such a little DS like this can quite ably recognise several voices and styles of handwriting. The game is totally responsive and the only snag is the chattiness of the host.
Linking this up to another DS will open up new areas of possibility I am sure... and that's where we'll be heading soon. Oh, before I forget - the extra Sudoku games are a real bonus - amazing fun working your way through these - I must've been one of the few people in the country who hadn't played Sudoku before - now I'm hooked, thanks to this game.
Annoyances... few really... but I would like to be able to have another go at doing my brain age rather than being limited to once per day. It is quite obviously the case that sometimes I've not gone into the game in the right frame of mind and have ended up with a brain age of 47! Most embarrassing!
Surprisingly entertaining June 14, 2006
kingg (London, UK)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I've had the US version of this game since the beginning of May 2006 and my girlfriend and I have had a lot of fun competing to lower our 'Brain Age'. The aim is reduce your Brain Age from 80 (worst) to 20 (best) by training your brain with a number of simple tasks, such as calculations, reading aloud, and memory tests. It doesn't sound like much on paper but the game really pulls you in and has you coming back to it every day to beat your scores and unlock new training programs. There are 4 game files available and the game is best played with 2 or more people.
The Brain Training part of the game is fairly short-lived, however. What will keep you coming back for more is the Sudoku - 100 puzzles ranging from Basic, Intermediate, and.. [I haven't unlocked the third level yet!]. It is really well laid out and is an excellent introduction for novices such as myself. I've found, however, that some of the 'Basic' puzzles are on a par with the Guardian newspaper's 'Hard' puzzles.
This is the kind of game that anyone can pick up and play. Everyone I've showed it too has loved it and tried to steal my DS! For the low price, you won't regret buying it, and it will probably spend more time in your DS than most other games.
By the way, if the game is not recognising your pronunciation of 'Blue' in the Stroop test, try saying "Boo" instead.
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