cabel.name: On Brain Training is a really intriguing story about the latest gaming craze sweeping Japan…and it’s ‘brain training’ – puzzles that you play on a Nintendo DS, held in book/portrait mode.
I _love_ the sound of this…it combines Nintendo DS. a wide range of demographics and simple games that sound fun and educational…
My daughter had a Nintendo DS for christmas – I’m really taken by it’s interface…the touch screen has been used well for some games…and the level of multi-modal input is excellent (like blowing into the microphone to ‘blow up’ balloons in mariokart).
It was also interesting to watch the universal acceptance and the device get picked up by all family members…in a way I’ve not seen with other video games lying about the house.
This brain training game sounds like it would have the same impact in the family group as it is in Japan.
it’s also great to hear of runaway commercial success with a simple product…simple, innovative interfaces and a broad appeal for ‘gaming’.
You just don’t see that with the PSP and 360, which just seems to want to focus on ‘boys’.
UPDATE: It’s an interesting article, particularly at the end…as the author highlights the ‘playful’ (aka experimental) nature of applications on computers, like iDVD…
As discovery and curiosity, learnt from games, comes ‘pre-packaged’ with every new computer user, I wonder whether the literal office metaphors of current application UI will change to offer more discovery?
UPDATE 2: Wow – what a beautiful ‘game’ – touchscreen interface to make sounds…and Nintendo are releasing a small version of the DS – that’s my Birthday sorted out :-)