Brain Age bestowed Edge award, beats out Guitar Hero, others
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Aug 22nd 2006 at 11:35AM }
Nintendo's Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! has received Edge magazine's 'Edge Award,' which recognizes games that show "the willingness to aim higher and try something new." Brain Age beat out cult hits like Guitar Hero (PS2) & Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (DS), along with Amped 3 (Xbox 360), Dragon Quest VIII (PS2), Electroplankton (DS), Indigo Prophecy (PC/PS2/Xbox), and Killer 7 (GameCube). "Only Nintendo could make arithmetic fun," remarked Nintendo UK general manager David Yarnton upon accepting the award.Edge also presented an award to InfoSpace's Dirty Sanchez for best mobile game.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
LegendarySyko @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:41AM
Cool. I enjoyed that game.
Footlong! @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:42AM
hopefully success stories like this will ancourage more unconventional game ideas
Footlong! @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:44AM
encourage*
ncdign @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:44AM
Who put Amped 3 on that list!? Oh and there is a game called 'Dirty Sanchez'? Yikes! I don't even want to know what you do in it. Are they going to make a sequel called 'Cleveland Steamer'?
Jason W @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:45AM
Ive never even played it. Hell i have 33 DS games and never played one of the best selling games. So sad. Been spending to much time with my 360.
Gonzo @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:48AM
Yea.
Who would've though the concept of flash cards could expand the video game market and be considered innovative.
I can't help but have fun testing my brain although I still find the flash cards a bit boring.
Will @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:00PM
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and Guitar Hero are much much more entertaining than Brain Age. Brain Age really isn't that much of a game, moreso it's homework. Ouendan really should have won the award =/
Miharu @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:02PM
Can anyone tell what scores Edge gave to those games?
Muji @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:04PM
Dragon Quest??? I mean I like the game and all but something new??? Its the exact opposite. Oh wait...maybe by making a game thats completely not new/fresh and based on a tried and overused formula you are in fact trying something new in a twisted way??
Petrie @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:06PM
@ Miharu
If you can explain to me how Guitar Hero is at all innovative it would be greatly appreciated. The game is Guitar Freaks with a fresh coat of paint, which is NOT a bad thing. I love the game, but it isn't innovative. I concur with regard to Ouendan though.
J B Cougar @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:11PM
Please. I was doing the Dirty Sanchez before it was cool and I certainly didn't any awards for it. Unless you count the rash.
dkh @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:12PM
Dragon Quest VIII? Are they kidding? I loved that game, but only 'cause I hadn't played a Dragon Warrior since the Nintendo. I'd fought nearly every monster in that game over a decade ago with a near-identical battle system and cannot fathom what's "innovative" about it.
Great game, though :) There's always a place for well-made familiarity.
Ultimatallica @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:23PM
How the hell Brain Age beat out Killer 7 as a game that shows "the willingness to aim higher and try something new" is going to be difficult to explain.
Matt @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:30PM
Indigo Prophecy i think should have won, that game was cool and did a lot of new things, replay value was pretty high too with six different endings.
As far as Guitar Hero goes i think that game was maybe one of the best if not the best of last year, it wasnt too innovative though.
Turken @ Aug 22nd 2006 2:15PM
Well, to give Brain Age some credit... it did take me many many hours of playing to finish all the Sodoku puzzles, and their sodoku UI was extremely good. Much better than the other sodoku-only titles which have since been released.
The math problems are kinda fun. And they do help if you practice regularly. I know that for the few weeks when I was using the game daily I could feel a noticable difference in my ability to do simple mental math calculations.
halobreaker @ Aug 22nd 2006 3:29PM
Blue... BLue... BLUE!!... BLUE BLUE BLUE DAMNIT!!!
Halladay @ Aug 22nd 2006 3:51PM
Brain Age is one of my favorite DS games PERIOD. But there have been edutainment products before. It's just that this is one of the rare times that such a game is entertaining. In general though, it's not like the developers created the minigames "out of scratch" and created something new. IMO, there is nothing like killer7 out there (In terms of style, presentation, etc.). I know people love whining about the gameplay, but I dare anyone to find a game (Non-Grasshopper, of course) similar to it AND does it better than killer7.
Halladay @ Aug 22nd 2006 3:53PM
BTW, for some reason, I've never had any trouble saying BLUE to the mic. Perhaps everyone is talking too close to it or are in noisy rooms?
HaloBreaker @ Aug 22nd 2006 4:11PM
It's just known about the game. I can get it most of the time. It's only every so often that I can't. I found it a lot of fun to be tested by the game too. Maybe it's the fact that it's the kind of game that limits your play time daily, so that you're ready to go at it tomorrow.
dkh @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:54PM
I find the Killer 7 argument to be sort of weak myself. From an artistic perspective it is absolutely brilliant. However, it was an artistic game and the gameplay itself was more or less tacked on (Suda 51 admitted this, if I remember correctly). I put it in the same category as REZ in this regard- beautiful, but the art didn't enhance the gameplay and the gameplay didn't enhance the art (though with REZ it at least attempted to).