DS' brain titles

[kainemaxwell]

With the recent thinking games coming out for the DS (Brain Age, the Sudokus, etc), what you think of them? Are these titles helping or harming the DS' image?

[gamegirl79]

I'm really enjoying the brain games. They're not something I find myself playing every day, but still very enjoyable when I'm in the mood for something different.

I can only see this helping the DS's image because the brain/sudoku type games appeal to a much wider audience. I know people who aren't gamers at all buy a DS for these types of games.

[DocRamon]

i'd definitely say that they're a help... it expands the market. however, i think it would be harmful if the DS became ONLY brain games and turned into an educational tool. so long as they're still pumping out crap like ice age and pirates of the caribbean and miss spider... and good solid 'real' games like mario and metroid... everything is good.

i'd hate to see the DS become a target system for anyone. as it stands now, it has a pretty good mix of kids games, adult 'brain' games, 'real' games... decent combination of genres (though some are a little lacking)... DS has become a catch-all, which is part of the reason ps2 became so popular. the DS needs to stay like this, i think.

[Guru of Time and Space]

Simple math equations are SO much more fun to solve on a touch screen.

-GoTaS

[kainemaxwell]

I like how it expands the market also for the system, admist the flood of bad movie tie-ins, etc. Not bashing the good action, rpgs or other titles but addings something like that adds to the demographic. Plus it shows that handheld systems aren't just toys anymore, for any skeptics that is.

[kainemaxwell]

Whoops, double post.

[Kevin Listwan]

I think these games are great across the board, remember how tetris helped move tons of the original gameboy, these games do have mass appeal for gammers and non-gammers alike.

[THATinkjar]

My mum wants to play Brain Age on my DS, and my friend's dad read something about it in a newspaper. So, I guess it must be working.

Still, nobody wants another Nintencows. Milk, milk, milk! Was that funny? I feel sick.

[Sylentwulf]

I know people who have bought PC's so they could play solitaire. (This is back in the windows 3.1 era). If people will buy a pc to play minesweeper and solitaire, you damn well better believe people will buy a DS for soduko.

[Half Japanese]

Brain Age is a welcome distraction from the other games on the DS in that it offers something different from the usual fare (even if they are only entertaining in 15 minute spurts).

On the other hand, the Sudoku phenomenon has already started to cool off, but that doesn't mean it's any less effective as a fun (and often frustrating) timekiller.

There's no way it can hurt, but don't expect those types of games alone to carry a system. Please, please, please give us more sidescrollers or shmups. I would love a Gunstar Heroes, Guardian Heroes, Contra, etc. The dual screen setup is practially begging for shmups, but so far there's only been Nanostray. The brain games are nice, but no one goes to the steakhouse for a salad. Bring on the meat!

[atari_wizard]

Very fun and highly addicting. I found myself playing Brain Age constantly, now I'm playing the New Super Mario Bros. DS (trying to collect all the coins). I want to get the sukodu and brain age academy DS games, but may have to wait a while. Many people can pick these games up and get started right away. If it wasn't for brain age, I would have never got into sukodu. Sukodu looked way too confusing for me, but after I tried the tutorials on Brain Age, I quickly found out that it was very fun and easy to get used to. This is a great way to go. Good job Nintendo!

[zerohero]

I play it every now and then, its not a daily thing. More so a every other day thing. I do agree there needs to be more shooters and shoot um ups on the DS though.

[fishsandwich]

I was just talking about this game today to an very smart friend of mine who has no interest in v games but loves puzzles and sudoko or whatever he calls it.

i was watching CNN a few days ago. They had an ad for Brain Age during the commercials. On CNN. At night.

Damn.

[segarocks30]

I have Brain Age, I quite like it, but the voice recognition sometimes is a-n-n-o-y-i-n-g.

Brain Age: 21

[Richter Belmount]

phoenix wright , now that game is a brain game so much logic and figuring things out in that game.

[Daniel Thomas]

Brain Age is a terrific little game. It's a clever spin on the puzzle game - isn't this essentially Wario Ware for math class? It's very simple, but strangely compelling, and the science spin keeps you returning every day and spending 15 minutes.

I'm killing a lot of time on Brain Age's Sudoku, which is excellent. It's about as good as a videogame Sudoku could possibly get. It's a little frustrating that the other versions are so inferior. It would be smart for Nintendo to simply port this mode, alongside a few hundred puzzles and/or random number generator, and maybe some music tracks, into its own cart.

Hey, it's good enough to finally tear me away from Zoo Keeper, so that's telling. I don't know how long Nintendo's brain-game puzzle fad will last, but I'm hoping to see a few more titles before it's all over.

And will somebody finally port Chip's Challenge already!!

[Kid Ice]

My wife is addicted to Big Brain Academy. And she doesn't like to play *anything*.

I haven't tried any of the BBA practice games, I just keep taking the test over and over. That "which one weighs the most" game is rough!

[scooterb23]

Brain Age held my interest daily for about 3 weeks...it's been a long time since I've had a game keep me interested that long. A lot of it had to do with the graphs and stats I think.

Big Brain Academy...the mini games I feel are more interesting than Brain Age, but with no long term stats keeping...I lost interest much faster.

If more Brain games come out though...I'll be first in line to buy them.

[Daniel Thomas]

It's surprising how competitive the math tests in Brain Age are. I managed to get one of my co-workers hooked almost immediately on the x20 and x100 modes. Heaven help me if anyone discovers the Sudoku program.

Has anyone seen what Brain Age 2 is like? It's selling very well in Japan, so I'm hoping it offers new challenges, instead of merely repackaging the same old stuff.

And, oh, it needs to be said. The voice-recognition program doesn't work....unless the color test is really a test of your patienct. See how long you can hold out before screaming, "Yellow! It's yellow, you freakin' bastards!!"

[NE146]

I finally got an "A" in Big Brain Academy.. that game is addicting