411mania gives a rundown on this week's game releases. Highlights include Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica, Star Ocean: Second Evolution, Commander in Chief, Big Bang Mini, The Excitement of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Ultimate Shooting Collection.

Ar tonelico II
"Overall, the better-than-average story, unique battle system, and all the little things that you can do in the game help to make this a worthy purchase for those of you who like JRPGs and do not mind buying PS2 games this late in the system's life."

Star Ocean: Second Evolution
"As far as changes go, you can expect new playable characters, updated artwork, cut scenes, and voice work, as well as new dialog."

Commander in Chief
"While I am apprehensive about juggling so many issues at once, I was sold on the idea that I can 'determine the course of world events by invading a neutral country, toppling an unfriendly regime, or plotting assassinations' and then face the 'economic, political, and military consequences.'"

Big Bang Mini
"Obviously, maneuvering around enemy fire, debris, or anything else that's moving about is done with the stylus. To keep the controls completely on the touch screen, the game requires you to flick the stylus toward the top screen to launch attacks. Making it through the game requires you to figure out when to attack and when to move your ship to safety."

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekidou
"The main game plays simply enough - all you have to do is watch the bar at the bottom of the screen and wave the Wii remote as instructed."

Ultimate Shooting Collection
"Despite its shovelware-looking cover and shovelware-sounding name, the three games that are included might actually be worth more than the shovelware-price, at least if you are a shmup fan."
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Make sure you stop by the Nintendo Channel on your Wii for a downloadable demo of Big Bang Mini. You'll get a better understanding of the unique shooter game, while having some fun with it.

SouthPeak Games tells us what's inside the demo, as well as how to get it:
"The demo of Big Bang Mini includes levels from three of the game's worlds – Hong Kong, Aurora and Luxor – giving players a glimpse of this massive action title. The full retail version will has 9 uniquely themed worlds, over 90 challenging levels of play, epic boss battles, and 7 modes that will do everything from literally waking them up to giving them hours of endless challenges.
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Coming up this week in new videogames is EA's follow up to its well received Skate game. Skate 2 will be available for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Nintendo gamers on the Wii and DS have SimAnimals to play with, as well as some fireworks with Big Bang Mini. The Sony PSP gets a good RPG release this week with Star Ocean: Second Evolution, which has been getting decent reviews. Check out the game releases for the week of January 19 to January 23, 2009.
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Today, SouthPeak Games have announced the games they will be showing at the Leipzig Games Convention this year (20-24th August, 2008). A wide range of games will be both demonstrated and available for hands-on play, across a range of platforms and genres. All the games showing will be releasing in 2008 or early 2009. The games line-up at GC2008 will be as follows:
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SouthPeak Games has announced that Arkedo Studio is developing Big Bang Mini, a fireworks-based shooter in which the main objective is to use the stylus to create fireworks in order to deal with waves of enemies that loom overhead. Miss and you'll be forced to tackle another challenge - avoiding falling sparks created by your missed explosions. The end of each level comes with a unique opportunity for would-be fireworks designers to make the 'Final Bouquet' - a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that will proclaim your victory. Big Bang Mini will be released for Nintendo DS in Autumn 2008 - the first four screenshots found their way in GamersHell's gallery.
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People buying Nintendo DS consoles to give their grey matter a workout with brain training games are wasting their money, a new study shows.

Titles such as Brain Training, More Brain Training and Big Brain Academy, which cost $50 on top of the $200 DS handheld, are no better than a pen and paper at stimulating memory and improving brain power, a study of 10-year-old children by the University of Rennes in France has found.

Nintendo claims in its advertising for the games - which in Britain feature Nicole Kidman - that they "stimulate your brain and give it the workout it needs" to improve blood flow and "practical intelligence".

It also claims the games can improve memory and keep your mind young, reinforced by the fact that players are given a "brain age" when completing the tests, which lowers as performance improves.

In Australia, Nintendo furthered the perception that the games boost memory by announcing it would donate $1 to Alzheimer's Australia for every copy of Brain Training sold.

Market watcher GfK said Brain Training was the seventh best-selling console game in Australia last year, with more than 140,000 units sold.

But the study of 67 10-year-olds found that homework, reading, playing puzzles such as Sudoku and board games such as Scrabble were just as good as, if not better than, the brain training games.
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NextGen Player writes:

"Every man has a list of health problems they hope don't happen to them during their lifetime. Male-pattern baldness, myopia and impotence come to mind. Well, after seeing Nintendo's new 'Build Your Brain' ad campaign I am officially adding shrunken head syndrome to my list.

The ad on the right is one of many that have been appearing around Toronto in the past two weeks. Each ad contains two people (generally 40-something couples), with one person having an abnormally tiny head. Yes folks, this is what happens if you don't have your daily dose of Brain Age.

The ad reads:"

More after the jump.
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GamesIndustry.biz writes: "Brain Training titles for the Nintendo DS are continuing to dominate software charts in Europe throughout 2008 so far, proving the long-tail viability of the games and backing up Satoru Iwata's E3 press conference comments.

According to information released by Media Control GfK International, Brain Training titles took the number one placing in charts listing the top-sellers for the first six months of 2008 across a host of countries."
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Wii

Wii Sports - 17,850,000
Wii Play - 9,230,000
Super Mario Galaxy - 5,190,000
Mario Party 8 - 4,350,000
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 4,300,000
Super Paper Mario - 2,160,000
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree - 2,000,000
Mario Strikers Charged - 1,650,000
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - 1,140,000
Link's Crossbow Training - 1,070,000
Wii Fit - 1,050,000

Nintendo DS

Nintendogs - 17,790,000
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl - 14,170,000
New Super Mario Bros. - 13,140,000
Brain Age - 11,710,000
Brain Age 2 - 9,840,000
Mario Kart DS - 9,670,000
Animal Crossing Wild World - 9,200,000
Super Mario 64 DS - 5,780,000
Big Brain Academy - 4,610,000
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - 3,820,000
Pokemon Ranger - 2,610,000
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Explorers of Darkness - 1,540,000
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The Simpsons Game for PlayStation 2 has finally managed to take out the top spot in the Australian game charts -- seven weeks after its initial release -- according to data trackers GfK Australia. The DS version of the game also made it into the top 10, taking out the seventh spot.

Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii -- last week's number one -- fell down to number two during the week of December 10-December 16. Drawn to Life for the Nintendo DS has reappeared in the overall charts at number three after a brief hiatus. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the Xbox 360 climbed up from the previous week to number five, while Activision's other chart topper -- Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock -- is nowhere to be seen. Halo 3 for the 360 has reappeared at number nine, while Nintendo's Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree bundle ended the week at number 10.
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