Brain Age for Nintendo DS -- Superlative Picks

The Best At Any Price

www.superlatives.com

Other Departments

Superlative Picks: July 31, 2006

Video Games

Brain Age for Nintendo DS
$19.95 at Amazon.com
$19.99 at J and R Computer/Music World
$19.82 at Walmart.com

Whether or not you’re a video game fan, most people’s image of these games are of sports, war, fighting, and other role-playing scenarios. Whatever you may think of video games (or the game players), most agree that they help (to some degree) to keep sharp the “hand-eye” coordination. Over ten years ago a local Boston station ran a story on how a hospital kept a game console in the surgeons’ lounge.

Recently I discovered a game for the Nintendo DS pocket system which trains something more important that one’s coordination; the game helps exercise your brain. Appropriately called “Brain Age”, the software includes a number of mental exercises designed to keep your mind sharp. You start by finding out what your current brain age is, anywhere from 20 to 80. Then, you can select from any or all of the game’s training exercises:

“Calculations” requires you to correctly – and quickly – solves a series of simple math problems.
“Low-High”, also a timed exercise, flashes a series of numbers which disappear, at which point you must remember, from low number to high number, the sequence which was presented.
“Syllable Count”, again timed, presents a simple sentence. You must write down the correct number of syllables in that sentence, as quickly as possible.

As you use the software each day, more training games are “unlocked” for you to use.

I actually like this game a lot. When I do my “daily brain exercise,” I find myself trying to outdo my previous best times. And yes, I also like it when new games are unlocked. But perhaps my favorite feature is viewing the graph of my progress from day to day. While I try to use the game every day, it comes out closer to 3-4 days each week.

I find only one problem with “Brain Age”. Writing your answers for Calculations, of course, depends upon the accuracy of the handwriting recognition of the game software. Occasionally I have written the correct answer, but the software would incorrectly interpret what I wrote. As a stop-gap, I had to modify how I wrote certain numbers (especially “4” and “5”) for the game to work.

Brain Age requires that you have a Nintendo DS game system; the game is not available for PC, Mac, Playstation, Xbox, or any other platform. But if you have a Nintendo DS, this games gets a high recommendation. Brain Age, like most games, lets you compete. But inlike most games, Brain Age helps to keep the gray matter sharp.

superlative picks

arts & entertainment • lifestyles • shopping

about Boston Superlatives • contact Boston Superlatives