Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?

Advantages: Training every day actually works, most games are easy to use, price
Disadvantages: The best age you can get is 20, certain technological problems

...have. Brain Training, or Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training How old is your brain to use its full name, was developed by neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, whose studies evaluated the impact of performing certain mathematical and reading exercises to help stimulate different areas of the brain. Research has shown that reading aloud and performing calculations quickly are effective for training the brain. If these activities are carried out on a daily ...
...rather cartoon like image of Dr. Kawashima who guides you through the various functions. It's like having your own personal tutor telling you how to perform each of the different tasks. The first time you play brain training you will be asked to perform a series of activities to determine your brain age. This is your starting point that should hopefully improve with time the more you progress through the daily training. This figure is usually very ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to play for all ages, Beneficial to your Brain!
Disadvantages: Handwriting Recognition can be a little dodgy

...in mind Nintendo worked with Dr. Kawashima, using a Topography system, to create a range on mini exercises that are proven to increase brain activity. The Topography creates images of the brain and allowed the developers to identify which activities stimulated the prefrontal cortex, and therefore choose the most effective forms of Brain Training and which ones not to include in the game. Ok, I know what your thinking, "Ah, that sounds too complicated!", ...
...easier. The on screen Dr. Kawashima (freaky floating head) takes you through a range of questions to set up a data file for you (the game can hold 4 data files at any time, so you can get friends and family on board). Each data file has 4 options. Brain Age Check - Complete 3 tests to calculate your Brain Age Training - A range of mini games aimed to Train your noggin Graph - View how smart (or not) you've become against other players Other ... Read review

Advantages: Lots of different types of training
Disadvantages: Speech recognition/microphone isnt great, Dr Kawashimas comments can get a bit annoying

...it back in March. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training is a 'game' which consists of a number of different training mini-'games' or training exercises to get your brain flow moving and it logs your progress by assessing how quickly these mini-'games' or training exercises are completed and relating that back in terms of speeds (walking speed being the slowest, then there's faster ones like 'driving speed' each 'speed' is shown with a picture of whatever ...
...real interest in that. Dr. Kawashima himself (who I believe came up with these training exercises) appears in the game, or at least his head does anyway, bobbing about on screen. He likes to offer tips and advice, which gets a bit tedious and predictable after a while, though some of the tips to start with can be quite useful. He'll always welcome you back when you put the cartridge back in the DS and switch it on after not having it on for a while, ... Read review

Advantages: Tons of activities, keeps your brain healthy and active, lots of sudoku
Disadvantages: doesnt understand some words/handwriting

...namely Big Brain Academy and Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training, I decided to take the plunge and buy one to see what the fuss was all about. In the end I opted for Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training as after reading reviews it sounded like a better choice for the older gamer. Never mind that I didn't actually own a Nintendo DS at the time! I ordered it off Amazon.co.uk for the fabulous price of £17.99 and in 2 days it arrived on my doorstep, giving me ...
...Who is Dr. Kawashima I hear you ask? Well a quick search on google tells me that he is a Japanese neuroscientist whose research involves mapping the regions of the brain to certain human faculties and then applying this information to aid children to develop, aging people to retain, and patients to recover their learning facilities. After his book on this subject released in 1994 became a huge success it was only a matter of time before technology ... Read review

Advantages: Makes you feel clever :o)
Disadvantages: Doesn't always speak English

Dr Kawashimas Brain Training, How Old is Your Brain, mouthful huh!? After months of seeing this game advertised on telly i finally managed to sweet talk my fella into buying it for me.......along with a ds to play it on! In total a ds lite and the game cost £109.99, which i thought was exensive but as it wasnt coming out of my pocket i didnt bat an eyelid! --Main Menu-- On the main menu you can choose from: Quick Play - a series of short mini ...
...pursuade them to fork out £109.99 to play the game. Daily Training - Where most of your time is spent. More below. Sudoko - You can choose from basic and intermediate (and a third choice which i havent unlocked yet!) There are at least 100 different sudoku puzzles to choose from. Download - Here you can download other games not already in the main game, You need a DS Card which im sure costs another few quid! --Daily Training-- Here is where ... Read review