New Nintendo Software Lets Players Exercise Their Brains

April 17, 2006

New Nintendo Software Lets Players Exercise
Their Brains

Thumbs Get a Rest as Gray Matter Gets a
Workout

Nintendo’s ability to appeal to younger
generations with innovative, imaginative and inspired video games takes a mature
twist today, as the company launches its creative vision for consumers of all
ages. Brain Age(TM): Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day for Nintendo DS(TM) is
designed to keep people’s minds active with fun mental workouts that incorporate
the user-friendly voice-command and touch-screen capabilities of Nintendo DS.
Brain Age also includes more than 100 sudoku puzzles.

"Adults with little or no video gaming experience
don’t have to worry about complicated button mashing," says Reggie Fils-Aime,
Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales & marketing, whose Brain
Age is 30. "Brain Age is just the latest example of Nintendo’s commitment to
creating software for a broad range of consumers with varying levels of
experience."

Brain Age is the U.S. version of the popular
brain-training software in Japan that already has sold more than 2 million
units. The title provides an entertaining and engaging way for Nintendo to reach
out to a broad audience, including seniors and baby boomers (who began turning
60 in January). Brain Age can be a part of an overall regimen for keeping the
brain active, says Dr. Elizabeth Zelinski, dean and executive director of
Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California.
"Nintendo’s Brain Age should be just one element of an active lifestyle that
includes mental stimulation, exercise and a good diet," Zelinski says. "Brain
Age is a great way for people to keep challenging themselves."

Brain Age challenges cognitive abilities with
exercises like memorizing words, counting and tracking people as they enter and
exit a house, and drawing lines to connect letters and numbers in alphabetical
and numeric order.

Nintendo continues to push the boundaries of
video games. The company broke new ground with noncompetitive game play in
Nintendogs(TM), fused music and art with Electroplankton(TM) and now introduces
brain-training exercises with Brain Age, which appeals to consumers of all ages.
Launching April 17, Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day is rated E for
Everyone and is expected to be priced as low as $20 at retailers throughout the
United States.

For more information about the title, visit
www.brainage.com.