Brain Trainer Portable 1 & 2 Set

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» A couple of years ago, Nintendo ignited a new gaming genre which challenged gamers with arithmetic, mental exercises, and other interactions which required thinking and reasoning. Sega jumped on the bandwagon with Brain Trainer which sold relatively well...

Brain Trainer - Original Arrival Date: October 20, 2005
«©NCSX» The logo of Tokohoku University, Sendai sits on the front of Sega's latest PSP game. In case you're wondering, the logo depicts a brain underneath a samurai helmet. The Brain Trainer software includes brain exercises which are based on the work of Ryuta Kawashima, a professor of neuroscience at Tohoku U. Ryuta Kawashima conducted research which showed that elderly test subjects who suffered from dementia improved dramatically when they were inducted into a regimen of math and reading-out-loud exercises. Ryuta found that these two simple activities helped the communication skills and motor functions of the elderly test subjects. Sensing a sensation, Ryuta Kawashima trademarked his mental exercise program under the name of Learning Therapy and he wrote two books called Nou Kitaeru Otona no Doriru (Drills for adults to train their Brains) with different math exercises and passages to read. The books were a success in Japan and sold more than 2 million copies.

Earlier this year, Kawashima's learning program reached the Nintendo DS and now the PSP is a recipient of more brain training courtesy of Ryuta's groundbreaking work. At the outset of the interaction, players enter their name, date of birth, and other personal details. You are then shuffled into a classroom where a guide introduces you to the exercises. Input is entered through the four face buttons. For example, an arithmetic problem appears on the left portion of the screen and the possible answers are shown on the right side of the screen. Press the face button that corresponds to the answer and you're off to the next problem.

The full name of this game is Touhokudai Gaku Mirai Kagakugijutsu Kyoudoukenkyuu Center: Kahashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu Nou Chikara Trainer Portable.

NCS Software Notes
* The math drills are made up of simple addition and subtraction equations. You're graded not only on correct answers but also on the speed at which you answer them. Scoring 20/20 questions at a slower pace will earn you a "B" but answer the equations quickly and you'll earned a coveted "A" score.

* Drills can contain 20, 30, or 50 questions; the quantity is selected by the test taker.

* Math tests include the aforementioned addition and subtraction exercises but there's also a series where one presses the PSP face buttons in the sequence of the numbers shown on screen from lowest to highest. There's another where a series of digits are shown and then followed up by another series of digits. The goal here is to press on the number that has changed from the previous series.

Upon booting the software, users are prompted with three menu selections for (1) Registering a new test-taker, (2) Resuming a saved account, and (3) Engaging another player in ad-hoc testing battle. Up to four players may create a data file to store personal information such as name, date of birth, and sex to keep track of their testing results and any improvements as exercises are conquered over the course of days, weeks, and months.

At the outset of the Brain Trainer Portable 2, a quick examination is given to determine the player's brain age in order to set up a baseline. The optimum brain age is 20 years old. Once the baseline is established, a series of drills and exercises may be played to improve one's calculation, judgment, memory, and reflection skills. For example, if your brain age is 50 but you're only 25 years old, the testing may drop your brain age to something that's closer to your chronological age.

Exercises featured in Brain Trainer 2 Portable include
» Perform calculations with three figures. For example 1 + 2 + 5 = ?
» Determine the sum of colored numbers that are mixed with other numbers
» Play rocks-scissors-paper by pressing TRIANGLE, O, or X.
» Arrange jumbled pictures so that they're whole once again
» Stare at a splayed out die and figure out the missing face
» Look at shape patterns and fill in the missing pattern sequence
» A face appears. It appears again. What's missing in the second showing?
» Four objects are shown in a square. Memorize them and their positions
» ...and many more