 | | |
| Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! | 
 enlarge
| From: Nintendo
Category: Video Games
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $13.00
You Save: $6.99 (35%)
Buy New/Used from $13.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (292 reviews)
Sales Rank: 44
Platform: Nintendo Ds
ESRB: Everyone
Media: Video Game
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 5 - 20 years
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 0 x 0 x 0
MPN: ntr p ande
Model: 45496737122
UPC: 045496737122
EAN: 0045496737122
ASIN: B000EGELP0
Release Date: April 17, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
Fun but not without flaws April 24, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Brain Age is not your typical game. It's basically daily exercises designed to "train" your brain. There are math problems. There Reading games. There is a memory game where a list of words is shown and you have a couple of minutes to study and then you have a limited ammount of time in order to write down as many words as you can remember. The gameplay is daily training exercises followed by a brain age check. You can only record your brain age and score your training exercises once per day so gameplay is limited. You can replay the exercises but you can only record yout score once per day. I have had this game for about a week and I em enjoying it. It does have its flaws. Voice recognition and writing recognition can be problematic at times. The word blue is a common problem. People cannot get the game to recognize it if it's pronounced the common way of BLOO. If you say the word more like blew with an emphasis on the eww, it will recognize it 9 times out of 10. When writing, try to write all in caps. You have to practice at it, but you'll get the hang of the writing style in no time. Even writing numbers can be a problem. I've written a 9 and the game thought I wrote a 4. If you practice you can overcome these minor annoyances. This is the type of game that will appeal to a whole new audience for Nintendo. I think this game is a must own. At $20 , it's a great value.
The only game you can get your Mom to play April 23, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I picked up Brain Age, not really knowing what to expect. I've had it for a day now and have been very pleasantly surprised. Don't listen to the 1 star idiots who claim the microphone is terrible - just be in a quite room, and don't scream and it will work. I really enjoy the Sudoku puzzles too (they're SO addicting) so I won't need that clumsy old book anymore!
But the best part? Anyone can play it because of it's simplicity. Even your parents! My mom got totally into this game (Try "High and Low", its really competetive!). So just get the game, it's great!
 Great Game April 23, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I bought this game with a number of doubts, but since it was $20, I decided to give it a try, and I am glad I did. The game is surprisingly fun, with a number of different exercises for you to do that you actually do need to concentrate on to complete.
As for voice and handwriting recognition problems, neither I nor any of my friends who have played my copy have had any problems whatsoever. There is the occasional error that occurs, but that only happens when I try to hurry and don't enunciate or write properly. It's likely that those having problems with the system are trying to speak too quickly, and are writing too sloppily for the game to recognize. Take your time and enunciate properly, as well as write out the words/numbers clearly, and there will be no problems.
Excellent "game"; I've been playing it everyday since I got it five days ago (admittedly not that far back) and it's still just as refreshing as the first day. And I can see where the exercises could indeed help "train your brain". The simple math exercises and memorization/tracking games require you to concentrate, and also require that you think quickly, both of which are incredibly valuable.
Whether or not this will translate back into real life is debatable, but given the low price (in terms of both time and money) it is worth a shot. At the very least your ability to do simple arithmetic will improve - which is sorely needed in today's age of calculators; it is often shocking to me how difficult people find it to calculate how much to tip, how much change they should receive, etc.
And finally, the Sudoku puzzles themselves are worth the $20 purchase. I hadn't even heard of Sudoku prior to buying this game - apparently I've been living under a rock the past couple of years - and I was addicted after playing a few puzzles. The first ten or so puzzles are pretty easy, but naturally they get progressively harder, and there are over 100 puzzles, so these will last you a while. And the Nintendo DS's interface is PERFECT for Sudoku. The ability to easily write in "potential" answers as notes along with the ability to easily correct errors and erase numbers is lovely.
In conclusion, this is a great game, and very much worth the paltry $20 price tag it is being sold at. It is fun, intuitive to control, may increase your ability to think clearly and effectively, definitely will increase your ability to do simple math, and has Sudoku; you can't go wrong.
 IT'S A RIP OFF! April 23, 2006
4 out of 23 found this review helpful
The stupid thing doesn't recognize your handwriting so when you write the correct answer under timed conditions it counts it as wrong. Likewise, it often can't understand your voice either. So you sit there for 10 minutes saying the same thing over and over again and it keeps asking you to repeat it. There is one "test" where you're asked to memorize 30 words in 2 minutes and then write them all back in 1 minute. Fine; great; no problem. Right? WRONG! It can't recognize your handwriting so you, under timed conditions, you can't even get one of the words. So at the end, the software tells you that you're basically stupid. Well, I'm returning it and the lame Nintendo DS too. DON'T BUY IT! It will only frustrate you.
 A new concept...but just gimmick? April 22, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Many DS gamers (including me) were anticipating one of the bestselling Japanese title to release in United States and see what all the hypes are about; Nintendo Power wrote a long article about how clever Brain Age is and how addicting it can be. When I see the price of the game, I know something is wrong. I agree that this game is very clever and a brilliant concept, but it doesn't offer much gameplay. Brain Age revolves around numbers, words, and colors; you have to complete the puzzles as quickly as possible to "train your brain" and get the exceptional brain age of 20.
You cannot unlock every puzzles in one day, because you need to collect stamps everyday to unlock more puzzles for you to solve. This game can be quite repetitive, especially during the first few days since not everything is unlocked. I think the "train your brain" concept is just a gimmick, since there is no scientific research to back it up (but I know doing puzzles are better than just being a couch potato). The puzzles are fun at time, but quite annoying when it comes to puzzles that require you to speak to the microphone; as mentioned from previous reviewers, there is a definite problem for the game to recongnize the word "blue", I thought I was not saying the word right, but it turns out that many gamers are experiencing the same problem. Other than that, this game is quite fun, but you will probably lose interest in "training your brain" after several weeks. As a bonus, Brain Age includes 100+ sudoku puzzles for you to solve! These puzzles can get hard!
So in conclusion, this game is worth $20 for some reasons:
1. Repetitive gameplay.
2. There aren't much things you can do in one day.
3. This game is cheap to make...not much graphics, not much sounds, and no music.
4. Some problems with voice recognition.
But there are also some great factors:
1. Clever concept.
2. Nice stylus control.
3. Don't have to spend too much time to "train your brain".
4. Multiplayers can be quite fun...let's see who's better in math!
This game is actually worth the money if you are looking for new things to play, but if you are a hardcore gamer, you may want to skip this game.
|
|
|
myGamer.com | | |
