Burlingame, Calif. - "Brain Age" was all the rage in 2006. The collection of mini-games designed to stimulate your prefrontal cortex--in other words, stave off mental aging--was advertised in mainstream publications and coveted by the masses. The title, which convinced parents and other non-game-playing elders to seek out the Nintendo DS handheld console, is often credited with kick-starting the Nintendo revolution that expanded videogames beyond the core "Halo" or World of Warcraft" audience.
NextGen Player writes:
DZ: This week marks the 100th week the original Brain Training has been in the UK charts.
Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, the man behind the popular Brain Age games for the DS, is a pretty strange dude. He refuses to accept any of the $11 million in royalties he's entitled from his involvement in the games, and he doesn't even really like videogames in the first place. All he wants to do in life is work. What a nutjob!
Wii
A report today from Jesse Divnich at the simExchange says Nintendo has turned casual games and gamers into the primary forces driving the videogame industry. Using data from the holiday 2007 shopping season, the firm said that one factor in the industry's growth has been a larger-than-expected next-generation adoption rate among casual gamers. (GameDaily, 01/09/08)
According to VG Chartz, here are the top 10 European software titles - with individual platforms, publishers, and units sold - for the week ending November 24th:
The official NPD numbers are in for September, and the Xbox 360 swept, even beating out the Nintendo Wii for that month.
Visitors to the AARP Life at 50+ National Event & Expo Sept. 6-8 in Boston try their hands at Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day, made exclusively for the portable Nintendo DS. Nintendo will be showing Brain Age 2 at a variety of upcoming events across the country, including a 50-city Mall Experience, Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk Events and expanded-audience events like home shows and fitness expos.
Nintendo's press machine has confirmed that a two-toned black/red version of the DS Lite will be made available later this month in North America.
Nintendo has released the first details on their next brainbending DS game, which is due August 20th. This fact sheet includes details on all 15 new mini-games and the multiplayer modes.