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Brain games put noggin to work

By Lin Clark Miller
Special to the Star-Bulletin

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 17, 2009

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Competition to win consumer fitness dollars is fierce. Although tamer, the brain-game industry has become increasingly creative in its efforts to win what few dollars folks have left after bailing out Wall Street and investing in this year's Elmo: "Live" -- with or without his trademark red fur.

Many electronic games exist to improve function and slow aging in brains of all ages -- and brain owners should know that significant improvement can be realized at any age. Here is a guide to a smattering of available brain fitness games:

Online Trainers

» MyBrainTrainer.com: An online mental gymnasium featuring short, individual exercises that stimulate different parts of the brain. The trainer can be customized and personalized, and provides immediate feedback so improvement can be monitored. A BrainDiary helps determine when members are at their sharpest, and a message board provides a forum for members to share tips. A membership fee applies, although you can try out sample games for free.

» Noggin.com: A Nick Jr. site for preschool-age and older children that's bursting with learning games, lots of animations, downloads and fun facts -- even a program where children can create their own home page. A free trial is available; after that you'll need to subscribe.

Computer Games

» "Brain Fitness Program": Based on neuro-plasticity, or the brain's ability to change, adapt and even rewire itself. Six exercises speed up and sharpen how the brain processes and remembers sounds, helping participants recall more of what they hear in conversations, while picking up more details and improving their ability to keep up (even in noisy places). As players match sounds, the exercises get faster, forcing the brain to more quickly process sounds. (CD-ROM and DVD)

» "ItzaBitza": An interactive drawing and reading game for children age 4 and older that stimulates creative thinking and promotes reading skills. Living Ink prompts the child to draw certain objects and brings them to life, making their art a significant part of a game that allows them to create their own adventures. As the child meets challenges, easy, basic words become more difficult. (CD-ROM)

For Game Systems

» "Brain Voyage": Travel around the world via an anthology of 16 puzzle genres that test memory and logic skills in games similar to "Yahtzee" and "Battleship." Mazes and math problems are also included. (Nintendo DS)

» "WordJong": Combines "Scrabble" and mah-jongg, featuring tiles decorated with letters instead of symbols, with the idea of forming words. Players of most ages can tackle a new puzzle every day, take on a series of increasingly difficult layouts in the "Temple Challenge" or play against the computer or another human. (Nintendo DS)

» "Big Brain Academy": Participants can determine their brain type, learn their strengths or weaknesses and take quizzes in thinking, memorization, computation, analysis and identification. A multiplayer mode allows up to eight people to compete in activities that test logic, memory and other brain functions. (Nintendo DS)

» "Mirror's Edge": A character named Faith travels through a future world where free runners move crucial, private information, while evading government surveillance. Players find routes to their destinations, fight foes and solve puzzles to win. Although weapons are involved, the first-person action adventure for ages 16 and up focuses on finding the best route through the game's challenging environments without losing momentum, and features a liberating, acrobatic and unique style of movement and perspective. (PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)

» "Cooking Mama World Kitchen": Players use the Wii remote as a universal cooking tool to chop, grate, slice and stir up 51 recipes, prepare meals for international friends and team up with a friend to create meals in a contest mode. The remote is used in new ways to save meal-prep mistakes via hilarious 3D minigames. (Wii)

» "Wii Music": Players use the motion-sensing abilities of the remote and nunchuk controllers to mimic real-life instrument play while the controllers hint as to how they're doing. Novices learn to play and carry a tune instantly, while aficionados create mixes and rearrange tunes. Players use more than 60 instruments on more than 50 songs to create a wide variety of sounds, and can electronically send their creations to other WII users, who can make changes and send the tunes back. Minigames let players create music videos, conduct an orchestra, play hand-bells or test their musical ears -- all beneficial for the brain. (Wii)

Competition to win consumer fitness dollars is fierce. Although tamer, the brain-game industry has become increasingly creative in its efforts to win what few dollars folks have left after bailing out Wall Street and investing in this year's Elmo: "Live" -- with or without his trademark red fur.

NINTENDO

Many electronic games exist to improve function and slow aging in brains of all ages -- and brain owners should know that significant improvement can be realized at any age. Here is a guide to a smattering of available brain fitness games:

Online Trainers

» MyBrainTrainer.com: An online mental gymnasium featuring short, individual exercises that stimulate different parts of the brain. The trainer can be customized and personalized, and provides immediate feedback so improvement can be monitored. A BrainDiary helps determine when members are at their sharpest, and a message board provides a forum for members to share tips. A membership fee applies, although you can try out sample games for free.

» Noggin.com: A Nick Jr. site for preschool-age and older children that's bursting with learning games, lots of animations, downloads and fun facts -- even a program where children can create their own home page. A free trial is available; after that you'll need to subscribe.

Computer Games

» "Brain Fitness Program": Based on neuro-plasticity, or the brain's ability to change, adapt and even rewire itself. Six exercises speed up and sharpen how the brain processes and remembers sounds, helping participants recall more of what they hear in conversations, while picking up more details and improving their ability to keep up (even in noisy places). As players match sounds, the exercises get faster, forcing the brain to more quickly process sounds. (CD-ROM and DVD)

» "ItzaBitza": An interactive drawing and reading game for children age 4 and older that stimulates creative thinking and promotes reading skills. Living Ink prompts the child to draw certain objects and brings them to life, making their art a significant part of a game that allows them to create their own adventures. As the child meets challenges, easy, basic words become more difficult. (CD-ROM)

For Game Systems

» "Brain Voyage": Travel around the world via an anthology of 16 puzzle genres that test memory and logic skills in games similar to "Yahtzee" and "Battleship." Mazes and math problems are also included. (Nintendo DS)

» "WordJong": Combines "Scrabble" and mah-jongg, featuring tiles decorated with letters instead of symbols, with the idea of forming words. Players of most ages can tackle a new puzzle every day, take on a series of increasingly difficult layouts in the "Temple Challenge" or play against the computer or another human. (Nintendo DS)

» "Big Brain Academy": Participants can determine their brain type, learn their strengths or weaknesses and take quizzes in thinking, memorization, computation, analysis and identification. A multiplayer mode allows up to eight people to compete in activities that test logic, memory and other brain functions. (Nintendo DS)

» "Mirror's Edge": A character named Faith travels through a future world where free runners move crucial, private information, while evading government surveillance. Players find routes to their destinations, fight foes and solve puzzles to win. Although weapons are involved, the first-person action adventure for ages 16 and up focuses on finding the best route through the game's challenging environments without losing momentum, and features a liberating, acrobatic and unique style of movement and perspective. (PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)

» "Cooking Mama World Kitchen": Players use the Wii remote as a universal cooking tool to chop, grate, slice and stir up 51 recipes, prepare meals for international friends and team up with a friend to create meals in a contest mode. The remote is used in new ways to save meal-prep mistakes via hilarious 3D minigames. (Wii)

» "Wii Music": Players use the motion-sensing abilities of the remote and nunchuk controllers to mimic real-life instrument play while the controllers hint as to how they're doing. Novices learn to play and carry a tune instantly, while aficionados create mixes and rearrange tunes. Players use more than 60 instruments on more than 50 songs to create a wide variety of sounds, and can electronically send their creations to other WII users, who can make changes and send the tunes back. Minigames let players create music videos, conduct an orchestra, play hand-bells or test their musical ears -- all beneficial for the brain. (Wii)

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