The BBC’s Watchdog program is upset with Brain Training. Very upset! Host Nicky Campbell has criticised the game and accused it of “discrimination”, after hearing testimony from folks who can’t be understood by the game thanks to their strong accents. That’d be northerners, Scots, Northern Irish, and Welsh, then. In other words, nearly half the population of the United Kingdom. My advice: learn to deal with the disappointment, and move on. Many Americans and Australians, and in particular New Zealanders and South Africans, are all in the same boat, and our lives aren’t lying in ruins just yet. Brain Training discriminates against Northerners, says Watchdog [CVG][Pic]
Man, Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training has sold a lot of copies. So has its sequel. Millions. Tens of millions. Which has made Nintendo a lot of money. But what about Dr. Kawashima himself? The guy’s entitled to his share of the royalties, and so far those royalties amount to $US 22 million (of which he’s entitled to half and his employer, Tohoku University, the other half). So what’s he doing with all that cash? Living the high life? Partying with rappers, wearing alligator-skin boots and fishing dead hookers out his mansion’s swimming pool? Nope. He’s turned all $US 11 million down. Not a single yen has gone in my pocket. Everyone in my family is mad at me but I tell them that if they want money, go out and earn it.
I’m not a Doctor, but if a game with my face on it entitled me to $US 11 million, I’d sure as shit take the $US 11 million. ‘Brain training’ Dr Kawashima has no time for games [AFP, via Go Nintendo]
Nicole Kidman’s a liar! Or so says science. And not Dr. Kawashima’s dodgy Nintendo science, either, British cognitive neuroscience. As part of a feature on the Telegraph’s website debunking celebrity endorsements, Brit neuroscientist Dr Jason Braithwaite takes issue with Nicole Kidman’s endorsement of Brain Training for the Nintendo DS. While Kidman gushes: I have quickly found that training my brain [with Nintendo's Dr Kawashima's Brain Training computer game]is a great way to keep my mind feeling young.
Braithwaite poops her party with There is no conclusive evidence showing that the continued use of these devices is linked to any measurable and general improvements in cognition. Practice at any task should lead to some form of improvement for that specific task.
So…Brain Training might be Nintendo’s very own patented snake oil. Does it really matter? So long as old folks are having fun playing it, who gives two shakes of a lamb’s tail about the hard science behind it. Gwyneth Paltrow among criticised celebrities [Telegraph, thanks Mick!]
Dr. Kawashima has been very, very good to Nintendo. With his polygonal mug offering the kind of sanguine advice that’s as useful for housewives as it is old folks, the Brain Training DS games have sold about a billion and one games over the past few years. Which explains why Namco Bandai would want to get hold of the good doctor’s licence for their upcoming mobile phone game Brain Coach with Dr Kawashima. A Namco Bandai Europe rep: The formula of this application has already proven successful by establishing a base of millions of Nintendo DS players worldwide, and with Dr Kawashima’s approval we are pleased to bring this official mobile game to the larger mass of mobile phone users.
So it’s a complete rip-off of the DS game, then. Just for phones! And even more people have one of those than a DS. All signs point to many, many sales.
