Brain Training, Big Brain Academy, Brain Buster, Brain Age, Brain Assist, Brain Challenge, the list of software titles for the Nintendo DS that wants to encourage us to work our grey matter grows month after months. The latest in the ever-growing line is Conspiracy Entertainment and Otaboo's Best of Tests DS. Hooray!
» Read More 

Neocrisis writes: SouthPeak and developer Arkedo have gotten a lot of requests for the Big Bang Mini music and they've been listening. The award winning soundtrack is now available for free as a stand-alone download.
» Read More 

SouthPeak Interactive Corporation have announced that its unique NintendoDS Shoot-'Em-Up Big Bang Mini will be available across Europe today. What's more to commemorate the release, developer Arkedo Studio is officially releasing the game's award-winning soundtrack for everyone to enjoy.
» Read More 

SouthPeak Games has announced that a demo of Arkedo Studio's Big Bang Mini for NintendoDS is now available as a free download via the Nintendo Channel on Wii. The explosive demo gives players a first taste of the unique Shoot-'Em-Up before it launches in Europe.
» Read More 

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."
» Read More 

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.
» Read More 

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.
» Read More 

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:
» Read More 

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.
» Read More 

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.
» Read More