| Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! | |
|---|---|
 North American box art | |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo SPD[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Kouichi Kawamoto |
| Producer(s) | Shinya Takahashi |
| Programmer(s) | Shinji Kitahara Yoshinori Katsuki Jun Ito |
| Composer(s) | Minako Hamano Akito Nakatsuka |
| Series | Brain Age |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle, edutainment |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!, known as Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? in the PAL regions,[a] is an edutainment puzzle video game. It was developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. Nintendo has stated that it is an entertainment product inspired by Tohoku University professor Ryuta Kawashima's work in the neurosciences.
It was first released in Japan, and later released in North America, Europe, Australia, and South Korea. It was followed by a sequel titled Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!, and was later followed by two redesigns and Brain Age Express for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare service which uses popular puzzles from these titles as well as several new puzzles, and Brain Age: Concentration Training for Nintendo 3DS. The latest installment in the series, Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch, for the Nintendo Switch, was first released in Japan on December 27, 2019.[2]
Brain Age features a variety of puzzles, including Stroop tests, mathematical questions, and Sudoku puzzles, all designed to help keep certain parts of the brain active. It was included in the Touch! Generations series of video games, a series which features games for a more casual gaming audience. Brain Age uses the touch screen and microphone for many puzzles. It has received both commercial and critical success, selling 19.01 million copies worldwide (as of September 30, 2015)[3] and has received multiple awards for its quality and innovation.[4][5] There has been controversy over the game's scientific effectiveness. The game was later released on the Nintendo eShop for the Wii U in Japan in mid-2014.[6][7]
- ^ "Spotlight: Nintendo SPD" Archived April 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Kyoto Report, January 26, 2012. Retrieved January 2012.
- ^ "Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training Is Making A Glorious Comeback On Switch". September 30, 2019. Archived from the original on September 30, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
- ^ "Top Selling Software Sales Units - Nintendo DS Software". Nintendo. March 31, 2013. Archived from the original on April 27, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
- ^ Laura Jenner (August 21, 2006). "Brain Training wins Edge award". GameSpot. Archived from the original on January 29, 2007. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
- ^ "10th annual Interactive Achievement Awards winners" (PDF). Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. February 9, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 11, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
- ^ Phillips, Tom (June 4, 2014). "Nintendo's first DS title for Wii U now available in Japan". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on June 8, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
- ^ Whitehead, Thomas (June 22, 2015). "Nintendo Download: 25th June (Europe)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
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