DS Brain Games Details

Nintendo today released two fact sheets for their widely popular Brain training games, already released in Japan, Big Brain Academy and Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. They are as follows:

Big Brain Academy
How much does your brain weigh? Find out with Big Brain Academy, the DS title that makes mental exercise incredibly fun.

• Big Brain Academy is a series of minigames (called Activities) that are designed to exercise the brain. Players can “weigh” their brain in Test mode, earn medals for individual activities in Practice mode or play against friends and family in Versus mode.

• Big Brain Academy’s Test mode will quiz players in five areas: thinking, memorization, computation, analysis and identification. After taking the test, players will be told the “weight” of their brain and areas of strength or weakness – and it will identify a brain type that is similar to their own. Once they have a score, they can keep playing the game to exercise the brain in areas where it needs improvement based on their performance in the Test mode.

• This title features a riotous multiplayer mode in which up to eight people can play with a single game card. Players will compete in Activities to see who has the “biggest” brain, and the results will be displayed for all to see. A demo test can also be sent to another DS.

When starting a new game, players will enter Test mode and take a five-part quiz that shows their brain “weight,” a letter grade and a profession or famous historical individual that may have a similar brain. Results are based on how many correct answers players get in a set period of time – and the goal is to gradually increase the “weight” of their brain. Players also can play all of the Activities in Practice mode. If they do well in Practice, they’ll earn bronze, silver, gold and platinum medals.

The 15 Activities are minigames that test logic, memory and – all of them involve the touch screen in some way. The tactile nature of the Activities makes them very fun to play, while the quick play time (all take less than one minute) gives them a compelling feel.

Sample Activities:
Think:
• Heavyweight – Choose which object weighs more – it’s not so easy with three different scales.
• Pathfinder – Look at the creature on the top screen and draw a line that will lead him to his friend.
Memorize:
• Sound Bites – Carefully listen to people and animals as they make noise, then try to touch them in the correct order.
• Memo-Random – Examine the panels on the top row, then touch the correct one when the panel is replaced by a question mark.
Analyze:
• Missing Link – Look at the red line in the picture on the top screen and draw it into the picture on the touch screen. Watch out! Some pictures will be inverted.
• CubeGame – Count the blocks, being careful not to forget the ones hiding at the bottom of the stack.
Compute:
• Coin-parison – Choose the panel with the greater amount of money.
• Written Math – Read the problems in word form, then solve them by tapping the number pad on the Touch Screen.
Identify:
• Shadow Shift – Tap the images on the Touch Screen that match the spinning shadows on the top screen.
• Matchmaker – Look through a number of colorful panels to find the matching pair.

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
Give your gray matter the workout that it needs to stay sharp and focused. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day is inspired by the research of Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, a prominent Japanese neuroscientist. His theories revolve around keeping brains stimulated by performing mental activities quickly.

• Brain Age is a series of exercises designed to give brains a workout. Activities include performing 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 that determine their brain age within the game. This number is called the “DS brain age.” As the player uses the software over a series weeks and months, their ability to perform the exercises will improve and their DS brain age will decrease. 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 to friends or compete with up to 16 players in a battle to see who can solve math problems the fastest.

• Brain Age also includes more than 100 sudoku puzzles, which are among the most popular types of brain-challenging puzzles in the world.

If users send their friends a wireless demo or have multiple people playing on one game card using DS Download Play, they can compare their scores to see who has the lowest DS brain age.
Brain Age is played with the DS turned sideways to make it feel more like a book.

Activities:
Sudoku – Use logic to fill in missing numbers on a grid.
Syllable Count – Count the syllables in well-known phrases.
Reading Aloud – Read classic literature as fast as possible.
Stroop Test – Say the names of colors as they appear.
Word Memory – Memorize words that appear on screen.
Speed Counting – Count to 120 as fast as you can.
Connect Maze – Draw lines to connect letters and numbers in alphabetical and numeric order.
Calculation – Perform simple math problems quickly.
Head Count – Count people as they enter and exit a house.
Triangle Math – Solve math problems in a certain pattern.
Low to High – Memorize the position of numbers, then touch them in order from lowest to highest.

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