Incredible 'Brain-Training' Craze in Japan Moves Across Ocean to the United
States
REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- After decades of exercising
players' thumbs, Nintendo is now moving to their minds. Brain Age(TM): Train
Your Brain in Minutes a Day for Nintendo DS(TM) will help players flex their
mental muscles. Brain Age represents the first in a series of U.S.
brain-training titles that already have taken Japan by storm.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060130/LAM055 )
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050516/NINTENDODSLOGO )
Brain exercise has been a hot topic lately. Baby Boomers and
test-prepping school kids alike want to challenge themselves. In fact, a
recent Time magazine article cited Brain Age in its exploration of the trend
of people looking for ways to exercise their brains.
But Baby Boomers picking up a video game system? It's not as far-fetched
as you might think. Three separate titles in the brain-training series are
currently a huge craze in Japan. Each of them has achieved sales of more than
1 million units, with the most recent title hitting that milestone in less
than a month. The craze has been fueled largely by older players, many of
whom had never played a video game system before.
Brain Age (known as Brain Training in Japan) was inspired by the work of
Professor Ryuta Kawashima, a prominent Japanese neuroscientist. His studies
evaluated the effect of performing reading and mathematic exercises to help
stimulate the brain.
"Young or old, everyone looks for ways to get a mental edge," says Reggie
Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales &
marketing. "Our brain-training series, led by Brain Age, builds on the
popularity of word and number puzzles and acts as a treadmill for the mind."
Brain Age presents players with a series of fun mental brain-training
challenges that incorporate word memorization, counting and reading. It even
includes sudoku number puzzles, which have become extremely popular features
in newspapers around the country. The distinctive touch screen of Nintendo DS
lets users write their responses, just as though they were using a PDA.
Players even turn the Nintendo DS sideways to make it feel more familiar, like
a book. The more often users challenge themselves, the better they become at
the tasks and the lower their estimated DS "brain age."
Nintendo's brain-training series of games represent a cornerstone of
Nintendo's aim to expand the world of video games to new audiences. The second
title in the series, Big Brain Academy (known as Brain Flex in Japan) offers
players 15 fun activities that test their brain powers in areas like logic,
memory, math and analysis. Up to eight people can play with a single game
card, and each activity takes less than a minute to complete.
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day is rated E for Everyone and
launches on April 17. Big Brain Academy is Rated E for Everyone and launches
May 30.
The worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive
entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets
hardware and software for its popular home and portable video game systems.
Each year, hundreds of all-new titles for the best-selling Game Boy(R) Advance
SP, Nintendo DS(TM) and Nintendo GameCube(TM) systems extend Nintendo's vast
game library and continue the tradition of delivering a rich, diverse mix of
quality video games for players of all ages. Since the release of its first
home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 2 billion video
games and more than 360 million hardware units globally, creating enduring
industry icons such as Mario(TM) and Donkey Kong(R) and launching popular
culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid(R), Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). A
wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash.,
serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.
For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at
http://www.nintendo.com.
SOURCE Nintendo
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