Nintendo to release new version of Brain Age brain training game

Nin­ten­do res­ur­rects Brain Age on Switch (Ven­ture­Beat):

“Nin­ten­do is going to bring back one of its biggest fran­chis­es on the hybrid Switch handheld/home con­sole. No, it’s not F‑Zero or Style Savvy. The com­pa­ny revealed in an announce­ment today that Brain Train­ing is com­ing to the Switch in Japan on Decem­ber 27.

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Min­utes a Day was a major suc­cess on the Nin­ten­do DS in 2005 and beyond. It was part of the publisher’s efforts to appeal to an audi­ence of play­ers beyond core gamers … Nin­ten­do has played up the poten­tial health ben­e­fits in the past. It often brings up the game’s rela­tion­ship to Dr. Kawashima and his work on aging at Tohoku Uni­ver­si­ty. Kawashima was even your coach in Brain Age and Brain Age 2. And the pub­lish­er is once again invok­ing his name for the Switch update.

But the com­pa­ny has stopped short of mak­ing direct claims itself. It says Brain Age takes inspi­ra­tion from Kawashima. It doesn’t call the Brain Age games a med­ical treatment.

I’m some­one who real­ly enjoyed the Brain Age games. And even now, with knowl­edge of the skep­ti­cism around the sci­ence, I’m still inter­est­ed. Even if it was a Place­bo effect, the games made me feel sharp­er. So I’ll give this new game a chance if it gets an Eng­lish version.”

News in Context:

• Solv­ing the Brain Fit­ness Puz­zle Is the Key to Self-Empow­ered Aging
• What are cog­ni­tive abil­i­ties and how to boost them?
• Can brain train­ing work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions
• Six tips to build resilience and pre­vent brain-dam­ag­ing stress
• Fun Brain Teasers and Illu­sions for Teens and Adults of Any Age