Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo DS, 2006)

Brain Age for the Nintendo DS is somewhat of an anomaly. By all technical terms, it's a game; you learn the rules, play your guts out, and go for a high score. Then again, it's nothing like a game; simple math equations, classical reading, or just counting as fast as you can are the order of the day. You hurriedly scribble the answers (which the game will occasionally completely misinterpret), shout the names of colors (which the game will occasionally completely misinterpret), and try desperately to write out that list of words you were just supposed to memorize (will the game will occasionally completely misinterpret). All of this to receive a score like you've never seen: a score for your brain.

If you want a game that you will play for a few hours at a time, look elsewhere. Nintendo seems determined to have you play this game for a few minutes every day (much like Nintendogs or Animal Crossing). The added Sudoku puzzles add some longevity, but it won't keep you glued to your DS. It's odd and occasionally unwieldy, but I keep coming back. Never before has a game made me feel so dumb, and never before have I felt a game may just make me smarter.

In this game, you have several different ways to "train your brain" including math problems, sudoku puzzles, and pattern/color recognition. The game incorporates all of the DS's capabilities (touch screen, voice recognition, use of both screens). There are small issues with the game. Sometimes when you write a number on the touch screen, the game mistakes if for the wrong number. This is easily adjusted if you write your fives more like an "S" and your fours like an upside-down small letter "h". It's not a huge drawback.

The only thing that keeps it from being a 5/5 in my book is the fact that it doesn't recognize the word "blue" about three quarters of the time you say it. I've had many other people try it out with the same result. If the makers fix this small glitch, I would definitely give it a perfect score.

Pros: This is one of the coolest ideas I have seen on any gaming system. Its designed to activate a fairly important area of your brain, the prefrontal cortex. That area of the brain is primarily responsible for deciding between correct/incorrect and desirable/undesirable choices. The more you train with this product, the more efficient this area of your brain becomes at performing these evaluations! Talk about a life-hack.

Cons: Its not really a *game*, per say. Its a training device. Think of it as a gym for your brain. But unlike a gym, it only targets one general area in particular. What about other useful brain areas? Finally, bad handwriting will throw off your scores. That is frustrating. I don't know how it mistakes my 1s for 5s... grrrr. I have also heard that it doesn't recognize the spoken word "blue" very good, but I have only had a problem with that maybe twice.

Brain Age for the Nintendo DS is somewhat of an anomaly. By all technical terms, it's a game; you learn the rules, play your guts out, and go for a high score. Then again, it's nothing like a game; simple math equations, classical reading, or just counting as fast as you can are the order of the day. You hurriedly scribble the answers (which the game will occasionally completely misinterpret), shout the names of colors (which the game will occasionally completely misinterpret), and try desperately to write out that list of words you were just supposed to memorize (will the game will occasionally completely misinterpret). All of this to receive a score like you've never seen: a score for your brain.

If you want a game that you will play for a few hours at a time, look elsewhere. Nintendo seems determined to have you play this game for a few minutes every day (much like Nintendogs or Animal Crossing). The added Sudoku puzzles add some longevity, but it won't keep you glued to your DS. It's odd and occasionally unwieldy, but I keep coming back. Never before has a game made me feel so dumb, and never before have I felt a game may just make me smarter.

I love this game for many reasons. First of all I have to say that I generally am not interested in video games at all. I decided to buy this one because I enjoy Suduku and thought it might be interesting to try it on the DS lite. I did not expect to become addicted to the daily brain tests. I am 32 years old and on my first Brain Age test my brain was 78 years old. My brain now, according to Brain Age, is a young 20 years old. Amazingly, I have also noticed that I am able to remember things, outside of Brain Age, much better as well. I am very impressed with this game and very rarely miss a day.
My kids have also tried to test their Brain Ages and play Suduku, but only my oldest who is 11 is really able to use this "game". Dr. Ryuta also points out to my daughter when calculating her Brain Age that because she is less than 20 years old the Brain Age may not be accurate.
The Suduku, which is the reason I bought the game in the first place, was very challenging and I loved pushing myself to figure out how to complete the most difficult puzzles. I was both disappointed and exhilarated when I completed the last puzzle. I am looking forward to trying Brain Age 2 and the Brain Age for the Wii.
I highly recommend Brain Age, in fact the only thing that I don't like is that it is finite.

I decided to get the Nintendo Train your Brain in Minutes a Day because I've read so much about it and how it trains those old brain cells. Well, they were right! I'm doing much better in my memory,and all the items that it claimed to do. I bought from E-bay because of the cost, the newness of the item and especially the price.
I'll be purchasing more of the training discs now that I see how well this one worked on my brain cells. Feel confident about the purchase you may make.

Bought this for my wife and it quickly became a family favorite prompting the purchase of the second Brain Age also. Its a fun way for the family to have friendly competition and keep your mind sharp! Different excercises in math, reading, colors and other interesting memory type games which really keep you on your toes! Many hours of entertaining game play and an easy and relaxing way to clear the cobwebs out of your mind. I would highly recommend this game.

This is a remarkably fun and engaging game plus it has a purpose!! First things first, I was stunned and disheartened when I took my first 'brain age' assessment once I received this....but OH MY it got my attention. I spend a few minutes a day (sometimes less) and the results are amazing. I can actually 'feel the burn' - truly recognize that I am stimulating a number of dustier areas of my mind simultaneously with these fun (and yes, sometimes frustrating) games. Well worth the frustration and a great motivator as you see your brain become younger and your performance improve from snail pace to jet speed!! Would highly recommend for anyone - especially that adult who has everything (just be sure to get them a DS or DSL!!)

One of the first games I ever played on a DS that can be enjoyed by an adult. I finally went out and bought my own DS at age 52 and love it. I love the Sudoko feature in it. You can choose to be warned that you have made a mistake or not ,which for me takes alot of frustration out of Sudoko.I also enjoy the other features and it has indeed helped my memory with regular use. Easy to use even for us old chicks that did not grow up in the video game generation.Recently bought Brain Age 2 and love that also.

First, I dont enjoy most video games. I got this game for my 11 y/o because I wanted her to stimulate her mind while she played on her DS for hours at a time. Then I tried it. My hubby tried it. We love it. It is like a compitition now between us all. It offers different games to get your mind working. May be a bit hard for kids under 10. I say this is a MUST HAVE for anyone with a NIN DS.

This game is a great game at first. Your goal is to try to get your brain age down to twenty by doing practice excersices and tests. Those are really addicting at first as you try to beat yourself or others on the same DS. The problem is, once you get your brain age down to twenty, there is nothing left to do except start a new account. Having to redo all that is quite boring. This game is a great buy at under 10$, but don't go more than that.

If you want to stretch your brains legs and have some fun doing it, here is the game for you. Brain Games exercises your frontal lobe and tracks your personal performance. Use it daily or weekly......or monthly if you want. This "game" will have you remembering things you thought you never could. It worked for me, I remembered to write this review! (ha..ha)

In this day of junk games, this one really stands above the pack. Have fun and learn something doing it. We need more games like this one!

With Brain Age for Nintendo DS, you can keep your mind in good condition. In this unique game from Nintendo you hold the DS in a vertical position, similar to a book. It doesn't take long to get use to this and is great for both left and right hand players. This video game has simple excercises that are used train you brain. Some of these excercises include: math calculations, reading, counting, memorizing, and much more. Each day, your "Brain Age" is calculated to show how old your brain is.
This game is great for almost all ages and is very easy to play. This game also contains Sudoku, a challenging puzzle game. This game is about US$20.00 which is a great price compared to other games. Another great game from Nintendo.

This will be a simple review, because the game is fantastic. You train your brain minutes a day with this game and research has said that it should improve your complex thinking throughout your daily routines.

Sometimes our brains need a little excercise, this is the perfect training game to get your concrete thoughts moving!

The tasks you're given are basic math and reading comprehension and memorization. You start off with small amount of problems, maybe problems of 20 to 100, then eventually they get larger where they measure how quickly you can read, memorize count, etc...

All in all, Brain Age is a unique brain teaser that is at a great budget price! Whether or not it's improving your mind fans of logic puzzles and other basic puzzle games should enjoy it!

I bought Brain Age to see if it really worked at keeping your mind sharp. It really does work. It is fun to use and challenging. I went to having a 72 year old brain age to 28 year old brain age in less than a week. On the days I don't use it, I don't feel as sharp as the days I do. It also has Sudoku games that you can play.
My only complaint is that when you are able to get all the programs to train your brain you are unable to download more later on through the internet. But it is still fun to use and worth buying.

Brain Age, for nintendo DS, Directed by Kouichi Kawamoto and produced by Satoru Iwata, is a great challenging game to get your brain working. Many different challenges and games await you in this game that tests your mental strength, ability, capacity, and speed.
According to the game, your brain should be operating at a 20 year old level of speed and knowledge. If your brain is operating at an older age than your ACTUAL age, you need to work on it. Doing the daily exercises offered by Brain Age has shown to sharpen your memory and brain function. It really does work your cortex! Try it. If after a week of daily training and testing you dont feel sharper, think faster, and do better at your mathmatics and memory activities, it means you need SERIOUS training.
"Your belly needs food doesnt it? Well, so does your brain!" One of the best peices of advice given by the makers of brainage! SO feed your prefrontal cortex and get started training for the mental olympics with this fabulous, fun game!
It even has an added bonus. Soduko, available in a couple different skill levels, and MANY different puzzle challenges.
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In my opinion this is a game like no other, except Big Brain Academy that is. It's breaks the tradition of the normal video game but in a good way. The puzzles it offers are a great time spender. It was made to be played every day but after the unlocking of all the different mini-games, it's hard to keep wanting to play it. One of my favorite features of the game is its Sodoku puzzles. It has over 100 puzzles with three different difficulties. I had never played Sodoku before but after brain training I was able to complete every last puzzle. This game offers at least a good month of fun and is definitely worth its pricetag.
Hope I Helped- And Don't Forget To Vote!!!
justinfarber10.

Well, it makes you think at least, but you will be addicted to this game. To be honest my family has to rotate the DS through out the day so everyone can have their turns, wow! You will be pleased with this game, and for twenty dollars new, you can't go wrong.

I love this game. I am a nerd by nature, but even if I wasn't I know I would enjoy learning from playing this game. The best part about the game is that it tracks your progress and gives you graphs to see how you are doing over time. I like the voice recognition aspect, even if it is not perfect.

The only thing I don't like about the game is its multiplayer aspect. There should be a choice of what you want to play, not just calculations. oh, I also don't like that different graphs are not created when you do a different difficulty level.

Overall, I love this game. I do my best to play it every day because it is fun and I feel like I am actually doing something productive. A must have for all DS owners. If you have to pick between this game and Big Brain Academy, get this one.

I like to do puzzles, crosswords and of course Sudoku. This brings interesting challenges for exercising the mind to the DS and is truly great for all ages. What better way to occupy yourself during the 10 minute commercial spans that seem to be the norm on TV now.

This game can be very addictive. I found it fun to test your Brain Age with friends and family. I like how it has many different games to test your brain and to keep you sharp. I find myself not wanting to put the game down. I can't wait for Brain Age 2.

This game was new as promised.
I actually bought the game for my daughter however, at 32 years old-I am addicted. This is a great game.

When I first got this game, I had heard that it was fun. But I had no idea it would be SOOOOO addictive!!! The game basically has a couple of different sections. One section tests your "Brain Age" as defined by the game. The other is for playing against other people. And the last is different brain exercises. You have exercises that use voice, and then exercises that use the stylus. There are basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and divinsion exercises. There is head count, where you have to count how many people are left in a house while some enter and some exit the house. There is a syllable count where you have to count the syllables within a number of sentences. There is a basic reading exercise. There is an Analog clock exercise where you have to figure out how many hours difference between the two clocks. There is a vocal exercise where you have to shout the colors as fast you as you can. And a couple more exercises. EACH being very fun. I found myself literally playing this game for an hour or two everyday for about a month or two.. It's highly addictive and well worth the price tag. So I highly recommend it.