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Flawed implementation, problematic

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 26 / 41
Date: June 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Firstly, the interface is a bit flawed. On many many occaisions I would say the correct answer (the Nintendo DS/DS Lite has a mic that this game uses), and it wouldn't register my answer being correct even though I was speaking the correct term. So, actually I was correct but the game thought I was wrong and gave me a poor rating. This can be very frustrating and seems unfair when it displays the color Blue for example, and you clearly say "blue" and it doesn't even register.

Secondly, it relies on how fast you can write with the stylus. A lot of people may be very quick to think the correct answer, but may not be that good writing on the screen with the stylus, which can be awkward since to play this game, you have to hold the DS or DS Lite turned on it's side like an open book. It will give you a bad score just based on this, even though you knew the answer.

Thirdly, the sayings that are on the screen during game play are strange and condescending. I think they are supposed to make the doctor virtual character seem powerful and superior, but really a lot of what he says doesn't make much sense. There is no way to turn this off, which can be a bit annoying because you have to sit through or click throw his sayings each time you play.

This game should not rely so much on stylus and voice input and it should be redesigned to use the buttons more. As it is designed, the buttons are virtually never even pressed!

The game is more frustrating than fun not because I can't answer the exercises quickly and correctly most of the time, but because the game doesn't recongize my correct input as correct the majority of the time. What good is that?

The premis of the game is empty-it's supposed to exercise your brain but in reality, playing Super Mario Brothers (or any other game) probably exercises your brain just as much and is a whole lot more fun.

I give it a thumbs down.

Software problems make the game unfair and frustrating

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 23
Date: June 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Like others who have reviewed this, I have to agree that the voice recognition and the handwriting recognition in this game are so poor that they become major obstacles in enjoying the game. I am a professional voiceover artist for a living and I assure you my diction is quite good, and yet it cannot understand the word "blue" when spoken by myself or anyone else my family. It takes many repeat trials of saying the word over and over again before it accepts it. Because one of the tests used over and over is a color recognition test, the player needs to say the word "blue" into the game countless times during play, which is an exercise in futility.

In addition, the handwriting recognition is also a major problem. In my case, my handwriting is admittedly not the best anyway, so it just makes any test that involves handwriting impossible for me to pass. The questions are presented and I know the answers, but I cannot enter them because it cannot understand my handwriting, and it takes countless multiple trials of attempting to style my handwriting to what the game wants in order to enter it. It's absolutely nothing but a huge waste of time.

Since your "Brain Age" is determined by timed tests where you must answer questions correctly where the answer is "Blue" and/or require handwriting recognition, it is really quite pointless to continue since you cannot ever get even a reasonably accurate score. Competition between other members of your family is equally pointless, since the voice recognition and handwriting acceptance by the game seem to be essentially random. There is simply no way to win this game by being the "smartest", which of course ought to be the point of the game.

If this were a shareware PC game downloaded from the Internet, I might expect such problems, but this is a professionally released game from a major game manufacturer. Even at a $20.00 price tag, it's still a waste of money. Shame on Nintendo for releasing such a shoddy product.

Fundamentally flawed

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 18 / 25
Date: September 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

After five minutes on the initial test having my speaking "blue" misrecognised constantly, and my written "4" interpreted as either a 9 or a 0, I looked through the manual for the instructions on how to train it to recognise YOUR speech and handwriting.

It didn't have one. Because it doesn't have those features. Which renders the game next to useless. Am I prepared to alter the way I speak and write to play this, and keep that in mind constantly while I try to solve puzzles? No.

The REALLY stupid thing is that it prints the number 4 (in questions etc) the way that character is usually printed on books, on your keyboard etc, i.e. with three contiguous strokes forming a figure with a pointy top, but it seems trained to recognise only an "open" four, i.e. one with no join at the top.

Play "Big Brain Academy" instead - less famous but FAR more playable.

Great idea. Horrible writing and sound recognition = unplayable.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 37
Date: April 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was really looking forward to this. I like the idea of a game challenging you to improve your thought speed by daily training. Very intriguing premise.
However after trying out the game at a DS download station at a local Gamestop I don't think I'll be picking it up.
The game has huge problems with recognition. On one of the tests you have to say the color a word is written in, not the word (which is a different color), into the mic. I would have gotten every one right and in good time but the DS could not recognize my speech. Which I thought to be somewhat strange since I generally pronounce my words quite well. So, after clearly enunciating BLUE! for the fifth time the game finally recognized what I was saying.
Ugh.
Next up was the quick math test, where you do simple arithmetic problems in rapid succession. Now I will admit that my writing isn't very neat but come on! The DS recognized all my 9's as 8's, oftentimes it would skip the next problem after I'd only just put the stylus to screen with an answer giving me an incorrect for the problem, and when it wasn't misreading my solutions it simply wouldn't recognize them at all; giving me a question mark for my efforts and I would have to do the problem again.
What I find exceedingly frustrating here is that I like the idea and I want to play the game, (or use the tool, depending on your perspective) but at least for me it seems impossible to achieve accurate results.
Highly disappointing.

IT'S A RIP OFF!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 23
Date: April 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The stupid thing doesn't recognize your handwriting so when you write the correct answer under timed conditions it counts it as wrong. Likewise, it often can't understand your voice either. So you sit there for 10 minutes saying the same thing over and over again and it keeps asking you to repeat it. There is one "test" where you're asked to memorize 30 words in 2 minutes and then write them all back in 1 minute. Fine; great; no problem. Right? WRONG! It can't recognize your handwriting so you, under timed conditions, you can't even get one of the words. So at the end, the software tells you that you're basically stupid. Well, I'm returning it and the lame Nintendo DS too. DON'T BUY IT! It will only frustrate you.

Brain Age

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 58
Date: July 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

VERY disappointed, as this was simply a disc. I don't own a Nintendo game. The way it showed on TV I thought it was a game I was purchasing. I can't use this at all.

Misinformation! This is *** NOT *** a stand-alone game!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 34
Date: August 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I saw it mentioned on ABC's 20/20 last night, and the first thing I did, was search for it at Amazon. Fortunately, I chanced upon Carla Schroeder's comment. Had it not been for her warning, I would have ordered one for my brother as well. So, thank you, Carla, for saving me $39.90!

Not Impressed

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 37
Date: July 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was totally unimpressed with this software. I usually don't play computer games, but Brain Age's ad's were very convincing. So I bought it and tried it. Not impressed at all.

Not what I expected

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 28
Date: August 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Of course I am brain dead. Why else would I order this game? I didn't see anywhere in the explanation where you had to BUY a whole bunch of other stuff. What a disappointment. I sent it back. So far I haven't had my credit card credited back. So I would like to review this with less than a star--how about a dwarf star? Or a black hole?

NOT ACCURATE AT ALL!!!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: January 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm a stay-at-home mom who spends all day speaking to 1 and 5 years olds, so I thought I'd get this game to refresh my mind and keep it active. First of all, the voice recognition is EXTREMELY POOR! I had BLACK written in BLACK saying BLACK 20 times before it registered, so my initial brain age was something like 83. It has MAJOR ISSUES reading my writing as well...tonight, for example, it read a 14 as a 41, it read a 4 as an 11, and a 10 as a 50! It's soooo annoying! Make sure you have a screen protector or else you can wear out the touchpad where the MORE button is...the professor guy says the same thing over and over and you have to touch MORE about 7 times after you finish each type of training. I maybe use the training once a week now when I'm bored and have been using this software mainly for the Sudoku. Save your money, it's really not worth it.

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