bit-tech Shopping: Nintendo Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2 Months

Strengths: Uses NDS touch screen & voice capability

Weaknesses: Takes some time to recognize voice & handwriting.

Summary: The Brain Age gives you a set of mostly math problems. Try to do 1x20 in 15 minutes or less. Could be good for grade schoolers just before the big test! Don't guess: There is a high points penalty for wrong answers. As time goes by, you can improve your score & lower your age. It's a creative way to turn math into a game. Let's see you tell time (sorry if you need a digital clock) The 100 sudoku games set up the same way. 5 misses & you're out! Go back & try to make no errors to get the best score. Game cam be played for an hour at a time. Could be perfect for those long commutes. Could use a timer so you don't miss your stop! Be sure to save your results before turning off the machine! Good for gamers of all ages. Get one for YOUR MOM!

Rating: 8

Time with product: 4 Months

Strengths: Nice diversion from usual gaming, budget price

Weaknesses: Not much lasting appeal

Summary: Brain Age was a huge hit in Japan so it was only a matter of time before Nintendo brought it over to the U.S. The game measures your "Brain Age" by challenging you with a variety of brain teasers which require quick (and, of course, correct) responses. It makes full use of the DS system by implementing handwritings recognition (via the touch screen of course) and even voice recognition. The latter can be a bit touchy at times (it needs to recognize you saying different colors and sometimes mistakes one for another). The game is meant to play a little each day so you can work on your score (ie, making your brain younger). As such it is a great game. There isn't much depth or replayability (once you have achieved a low age), but that's OK as it is a $19.99 game. There is also a mode to play against other people (locally) that only requires a single cartridge. That is always a bonus and loads of fun in a multi-DS household (like ours!).

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Fun. Innovative. Challenging. Records and tracks progress for 4 profiles. Decent replay value. Lower price. Sudoku included. Good use of the touch screen feature.

Weaknesses: Mini-game variety lacks depth. Designed for play during shorter periods.

Summary: Brain Age is a collection of several mini-games designed to engage your brain's prefontal cortex (the control tower of your brain). These games test speed, accuracy and memorization skills with simple activities including Calculations x 20, Calculations x 100, and Time Lapse.Based on your performance in these mini-games, you will be given a "Brain Age" between 20 years to 80 years old; just like in golf, the lower your score, the better. The game records your results for each mini-game once per day so that you can track your progress. This Overall, I find this game to be quite entertaining. Though the mini-games are simple, they are still challenging; even if you are great at a game, you can always try for a new top score. I definitely believe the claim that playing this game daily will help you develop and maintain an active, healthy brain. If you like puzzles and brain teasers, then Brain Age is for you!

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Week

Strengths: fun, unique, uses a lot of the DS unique capabilities (microphone & touch screen).

Weaknesses: not meant to be "played" for hours at a time

Summary: I bought Brain Age for my son who has a DS. He and I tried it this past weekend and had a lot of fun with it. The concept is that you can keep your brain "young" by using the tools available in this "game". It ranks your brain on a scale from 20 (best) to 80 (worst) by having you perform a series of tests. For example one of the first tests is to name the colors shown on the DS. It will display words ("red", "black", "blue", "yellow") and those words will be in different colors. You have to say that actual color the word is written in as opposed to the word itself. It uses voice recognition so you just speak the color. Another test is where you solve 20 simple math problems as quickly as possible. You write the answer on the touch screen and it use character recognition to recognize your handwriting. The faster and more accurate that you do the math, the better (and the younger your brain is). It keeps track of overall best times (you can have 4 users set up), personal best times and it categorizes your results as walking speed, car speed, train speed or rocket speed. I think it's more fun when two people are "competing" against each other to get best times.You can use the game in training mode to practice and tune-up your brain and by doing this daily you supposedly exercise your brain and keep it active. And hopefully your "Brain Age" goes down toward 20 (best) with practice.The DS is held sideways to play so that it's like an open book. The voice recognition and handwriting recognition are good but not perfect.This is NOT a game that you will play hours at a time... it's designed to be played for shorter periods but daily. It does include about 100 Sudoku puzzles to play in between training and testing. I think the Sudoku is very well implemented in Brain Age.I don't know if this game will keep my son's or my brain any "younger" but it is fun and I would recommend it. It retails for just under $20.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Month

Strengths: Addictive, challenging, and fun

Weaknesses: Voice recognition of the word "blue" is spotty

Summary: Brain Age is one of the more interesting games I've played for a while. While not a true game, that doesn't take away the fact that it is fun and challenging. With Brain Age, your goal is to master mental exercises with precision and timing. All of the exercises you work on help improve your Brain Age, an overall score that you can get as low as 20. Also included are a few hundred Sudoku puzzles for us Americans.