Nintendo Scoops Award for Brain Training
Is mental arithmetic the new rock and roll?
Posted 22 Aug 2006
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Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training has been a true breath of fresh air in the SPOnG office this year and, of course, for videogaming culture in general.
No longer does our Andy sit all alone in a corner playing his two favourite games endlessly (the Megadrive's Speedball 2 and Quake III Arena on Dreamcast if you’re interested). Instead, he is far more interested in caving his own head in by doing sums!
So it’s good to hear that the title has picked up Edge Magazine’s EIEF06 'Innovation in Gaming' award, presented to Nintendo by the mag’s editor Margaret Robertson at the Jam House in Edinburgh last night, who said: “We’re delighted that Brain Training won – it’s a great ambassador for gaming and proves that the instincts for making rewarding and entertaining software that Nintendo has honed for decades can be applied in entirely unexpected ways.”
If you had told anyone at SPOnG that this would be the case a year ago, you would have been laughed out of the office. But no, it’s true. Nintendo has successfully made mathematics into fun play. Why they couldn’t have done this when we were at school, to combat our fear and loathing of ‘double maths’ is a great shame.
Brain Training pipped a number of other contenders to the post for the coveted award including Amped 3 (Xbox 360), Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PlayStation 2), Electroplankton (Nintendo DS), Fahrenheit (PC, PS2, Xbox), Guitar Hero (PS2) and Killer 7 (GameCube, PS2).
David Yarnton, MD of Nintendo UK had the following to say: “Winning this award recognises the innovation and creativity behind Brain Training. It’s wide appeal to both young and old, gamers and non-gamers alike demonstrates our success in moving the boundaries of traditional gaming.”
There were also some awards dished out to mobile phone games, which we suppose we should also mention, with the EIEF 2006 Edge Mobile People's Choice Award going to Dirty Sanchez Party Games, beating mobile rivals Doom RPG, Lumines Mobile, and Digital Chocolate's Tower Blocks.
More from the cold, wet streets of Edinburgh as we get it.
No longer does our Andy sit all alone in a corner playing his two favourite games endlessly (the Megadrive's Speedball 2 and Quake III Arena on Dreamcast if you’re interested). Instead, he is far more interested in caving his own head in by doing sums!
So it’s good to hear that the title has picked up Edge Magazine’s EIEF06 'Innovation in Gaming' award, presented to Nintendo by the mag’s editor Margaret Robertson at the Jam House in Edinburgh last night, who said: “We’re delighted that Brain Training won – it’s a great ambassador for gaming and proves that the instincts for making rewarding and entertaining software that Nintendo has honed for decades can be applied in entirely unexpected ways.”
If you had told anyone at SPOnG that this would be the case a year ago, you would have been laughed out of the office. But no, it’s true. Nintendo has successfully made mathematics into fun play. Why they couldn’t have done this when we were at school, to combat our fear and loathing of ‘double maths’ is a great shame.
Brain Training pipped a number of other contenders to the post for the coveted award including Amped 3 (Xbox 360), Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PlayStation 2), Electroplankton (Nintendo DS), Fahrenheit (PC, PS2, Xbox), Guitar Hero (PS2) and Killer 7 (GameCube, PS2).
David Yarnton, MD of Nintendo UK had the following to say: “Winning this award recognises the innovation and creativity behind Brain Training. It’s wide appeal to both young and old, gamers and non-gamers alike demonstrates our success in moving the boundaries of traditional gaming.”
There were also some awards dished out to mobile phone games, which we suppose we should also mention, with the EIEF 2006 Edge Mobile People's Choice Award going to Dirty Sanchez Party Games, beating mobile rivals Doom RPG, Lumines Mobile, and Digital Chocolate's Tower Blocks.
More from the cold, wet streets of Edinburgh as we get it.
Comments
hollywooda 22 Aug 2006 16:29
1/11
they should invent a game were u have to destroy brain cells!.... ohh yer that's drinking games.... I dont like the idea of smart games, it's not right, it's like ur mum hiding a piece of cabbage in your sweet apple pie, they think it's smart to educate kids while they play games!!... a wolf in sheeps clothing & all that, i sort of had something to say at the begining now it's gone a bit tits up!?.....
...... maybe i need some brain training.
...... maybe i need some brain training.
Svend Joscelyne 22 Aug 2006 16:32
2/11
I don't see how Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain is being sneaky about teaching or making gamers smarter. I mean, the clue's in the title really - people buy this with the intention of entertaining and biggin' up their brain cells.
Of course, those that don't like the sound of that idea, don't buy it. It's a simple but effective system I think. ;)
Of course, those that don't like the sound of that idea, don't buy it. It's a simple but effective system I think. ;)
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hollywooda 22 Aug 2006 16:41
3/11
I see you've been boosting your brain, well done, did u get his other title, Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How to state the bleeding obvious!...
Svend Joscelyne 22 Aug 2006 16:47
4/11
No need to get shirty, you did say this:
If you ask a stupid question... well, I'd be stating the obvious if I wrote the rest of the sentence, so I'll just leave it there.
Even though you didn't ask a question technically, but, you follow me.
a wolf in sheeps clothing & all that
If you ask a stupid question... well, I'd be stating the obvious if I wrote the rest of the sentence, so I'll just leave it there.
Even though you didn't ask a question technically, but, you follow me.
hollywooda 22 Aug 2006 16:57
5/11
i was only havin a giggle myself until u got all "Nintendo defensive" & corporate on me. If u read my first comment you'd of realised i didn't really know what the f**k i was saying!... maybe you should try his new title, Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How to get a sense of humour.... only joking!, see!, it's working already!
Svend Joscelyne 22 Aug 2006 17:01
6/11
hollywooda wrote:
i was only havin a giggle myself until u got all "Nintendo defensive" & corporate on me. If u read my first comment you'd of realised i didn't really know what the f**k i was saying!...
Erm... I hate to make you look a touch of an idiot here, but I was joking as well, full aware you knew what you were talking about. I'm not sure if you noticed the smiley or not, which amplifies the humourous situation?
'Nintendo defensive' I am not. If you look around, my posts supporting Sony, SEGA and Nintendo equally disprove that in one swift uppercut. :P (smiley, look).
maybe you should try his new title, Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How to get a sense of humour
I would, but I already completed it. ;) I recommend it to you, it would save you jumping the gun like this.
hollywooda 22 Aug 2006 17:12
7/11
hahaha, ohh man you came out swing on that one aye!?
must of hit a nerve, look i dont wanna get to personal or get into a slanging match, but i dont have time to go through forums checking weather u've defended Sega or Sony or whoever, it was a silly comment about f**k all that been blown out of proportion... agreed!?,
the only true winner here is Dr. Kawashima, god bless him & his brain......
must of hit a nerve, look i dont wanna get to personal or get into a slanging match, but i dont have time to go through forums checking weather u've defended Sega or Sony or whoever, it was a silly comment about f**k all that been blown out of proportion... agreed!?,
the only true winner here is Dr. Kawashima, god bless him & his brain......
Svend Joscelyne 22 Aug 2006 17:17
8/11
Yes, well played. :) You could have just said there's no real way of completing Kawashima, lol. :D I'd have been knackered.
Regardless, Kawashima in his all-resounding and voiceless knowledge, purely has won hasn't he? Damn him and his chin. Or rather, bless it. Either way's good.
Regardless, Kawashima in his all-resounding and voiceless knowledge, purely has won hasn't he? Damn him and his chin. Or rather, bless it. Either way's good.
Joji 22 Aug 2006 20:03
9/11
Well I'm with Svend on this one. While Nintendo and Dr Kawashima's efforts might look like an easy to slap together game, they deserve a lot of credit for making something that looks boring fun. Why? Let me explain further.
For years many smaller developers have been trying to plug the forgotten wing of the games industry known as edutainment (short for education entertainment or similar) to the public mainstream gamer etc. Their successes were small to near non existent to us gamers, bar those sales that family computer owners got.
Edutainment kind of failed miserably in short. I can't say I have ever looked at any titles myself apart from Where in time is Carmen Sandiego (looked at it for all of ten seconds then still didn't buy it), and that was many years ago in my youth.
Brain Training and Big Brain Academy are simple concepts with a Nintendo magic touch. They've succeeded where those edutainment titles failed and in even getting females buying, which we all never thought we'd see. This is small victory, because gaming benefits as a whole, as do Nintendo and the customer.
In an age where some youths (some of them chavs, yes) pride themselves on knowing who's who on MTV, but little else, I say we need these games to educate everyone so we don't keep breeding and raising stupid muppet people.
So well done Nintendo and the good Doctor. We'll look forward to Brain Training 2 in 2007.
For years many smaller developers have been trying to plug the forgotten wing of the games industry known as edutainment (short for education entertainment or similar) to the public mainstream gamer etc. Their successes were small to near non existent to us gamers, bar those sales that family computer owners got.
Edutainment kind of failed miserably in short. I can't say I have ever looked at any titles myself apart from Where in time is Carmen Sandiego (looked at it for all of ten seconds then still didn't buy it), and that was many years ago in my youth.
Brain Training and Big Brain Academy are simple concepts with a Nintendo magic touch. They've succeeded where those edutainment titles failed and in even getting females buying, which we all never thought we'd see. This is small victory, because gaming benefits as a whole, as do Nintendo and the customer.
In an age where some youths (some of them chavs, yes) pride themselves on knowing who's who on MTV, but little else, I say we need these games to educate everyone so we don't keep breeding and raising stupid muppet people.
So well done Nintendo and the good Doctor. We'll look forward to Brain Training 2 in 2007.
Joji 22 Aug 2006 20:04
10/11
Well I'm with Svend on this one. While Nintendo and Dr Kawashima's efforts might look like an easy to slap together game, they deserve a lot of credit for making something that looks boring fun. Why? Let me explain further.
For years many smaller developers have been trying to plug the forgotten wing of the games industry known as edutainment (short for education entertainment or similar) to the public mainstream gamer etc. Their successes were small to near non existent to us gamers, bar those sales that family computer owners got.
Edutainment kind of failed miserably in short. I can't say I have ever looked at any titles myself apart from Where in time is Carmen Sandiego (looked at it for all of ten seconds then still didn't buy it), and that was many years ago in my youth.
Brain Training and Big Brain Academy are simple concepts with a Nintendo magic touch. They've succeeded where those edutainment titles failed and in even getting females buying, which we all never thought we'd see. This is small victory, because gaming benefits as a whole, as do Nintendo and the customer.
In an age where some youths (some of them chavs, yes) pride themselves on knowing who's who on MTV, but little else, I say we need these games to educate everyone so we don't keep breeding and raising stupid muppet people.
So well done Nintendo and the good Doctor. We'll look forward to Brain Training 2 in 2007.
For years many smaller developers have been trying to plug the forgotten wing of the games industry known as edutainment (short for education entertainment or similar) to the public mainstream gamer etc. Their successes were small to near non existent to us gamers, bar those sales that family computer owners got.
Edutainment kind of failed miserably in short. I can't say I have ever looked at any titles myself apart from Where in time is Carmen Sandiego (looked at it for all of ten seconds then still didn't buy it), and that was many years ago in my youth.
Brain Training and Big Brain Academy are simple concepts with a Nintendo magic touch. They've succeeded where those edutainment titles failed and in even getting females buying, which we all never thought we'd see. This is small victory, because gaming benefits as a whole, as do Nintendo and the customer.
In an age where some youths (some of them chavs, yes) pride themselves on knowing who's who on MTV, but little else, I say we need these games to educate everyone so we don't keep breeding and raising stupid muppet people.
So well done Nintendo and the good Doctor. We'll look forward to Brain Training 2 in 2007.
Svend Joscelyne 23 Aug 2006 08:46
11/11
Well said Joji. I think a contributing factor to its success is definitely in its target audience - females is one thing, but I don't recall there being an edutainment game for adults and older gamers; something that would have no doubt been a no-brainer since (stereotypically, but with some element of accuracy) older people tend to do a lot of crosswords, wordsearches and now of course Sudoku.
I think older gamers is where Kawashima's hit the nail on the head there, because with that target comes a sophistication that no longer restricts it to Dora fanatics.
I think older gamers is where Kawashima's hit the nail on the head there, because with that target comes a sophistication that no longer restricts it to Dora fanatics.
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