My Brain Hurts - Brain Age
Can a videogame make you smarter? Well, it sure can make you feel dumb!
by Wootini
Nintendo has gone out of its way to make sure that the Nintendo DS has games as unique as the console itself, and Brain Age is certainly unique. Based on the theories of a Japanese scientist, Brain Age claims that by doing various math and word puzzles in short bursts every day will make your brain work more efficiently. Whether or not this is true, I've got no clue, but it sure makes for an interesting videogame!
After entering in your personal information, you begin with just a few exercises to try, but as you dilligently plug away, more and more are opened up until you have a nice variety to choose from. Everything from simple math to speed reading to counting syllables in a sentence. Obviously, some of these are more fun than others, but what's amazing is that simply by putting math problems in a videogame, I don't actually mind doing them! Sometimes, at the beginning of your session, the digital representation of Dr. Kawashima (who hosts the game, and is only a little annoying) will ask you to draw three things from memory, like Abe Lincoln or a football helmet, and surprisingly, this can be difficult as you try to remember exactly what they look like. It's a little useless, though, unless you're playing with another person on the same game card, because then it's fun to compare your drawings to your friend's.
Interestingly, you hold the DS sideways in your hands like a book, writing on the touch screen on the right (adjustable for the southpaws -- they think of everything!) The handwriting recognition is surprisingly good, with 5's the only number I run into trouble with on occasion. The voice recognition is less successful. I've never had much of a problem, but it seemed to have no idea what Frank was saying. And I know he was speaking English -- I was there. The other snag is that you can only try each challenge once a day. Well, you can try it again, but it'll be the same, and only your first score is recorded in your records, so it's useless, really. It's not that big a problem, though, as you're really not going to want to do more than one round of math. (Except when I screw up the syllable counting and want to do over -- no go...)
Also, you will occasionally want to test your Brain Age to see how your training is coming along. The game presents you with a series of three separate problems that you solve, and based on your performance it totals up your scores and rates you accordingly. According to what, I've got no idea, but it seems like there must be a reason behind it somewhere. Your brain can be anywhere from 20 to 80 years old, and obviously you want a young brain. The first thing you'll do is check your Brain Age, and mind was almost depressingly old. Luckily, after a week of training, I got it down into the 30s and now am well into my 20s. Sometimes as low as 20, if I'm lucky! My brain is younger than I am! Yay!
There's also some sudoku puzzles included, which are a fun diversion, and almost more entertaining than the game itself. Well, that is, if you like sudoku. Not everybody does, but if you're crazy enough to buy a videogame that consists solely of brain teasers for fun, odds are you're probably predisposed towards liking sudoku. (I prefer this version to the newspapers because it's easier to erase your answers if you screw up)
Obviously, this game isn't going to be for everybody, but Nintendo has done a surprisingly good job of bringing lots of really unique games to the US, like Nintendogs, Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright and now Brain Age. So if you're in for something quirky and different, give it a shot. Hell, it's only 20 bucks! Now, where's my cooking simulator?
