$20 for a shot of brain Viagra.
by Chris Buffa on Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The brain-building exercises in Brain Age 2 return with a more plentiful and varied selection.
If you play Nintendo's DS game, Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!, you'll probably cure cancer, avoid Alzheimer's and build nuclear weapons. At least that's what it and the game's resident MD, Dr. Ryuta Kawashima wants you to believe. Whether or not playing this fun little game stimulates your Prefrontal Cortex, we don't care. All we know is that the mini games rock and we can't get enough sudoku.
Much like the original Brain Age (also available on the DS), the sequel presents you with a series of exercises (in this case, 15) designed to increase blood flow to the brain, thus making you smarter than the idiots who play "stupid" video games, like Bioshock (Bioshock's so sweet). Each mini game works on a timer, challenging you to respond as quickly as possible, the goal is to see how "old" your brain is (the lower the number, the better). The games make use of either the microphone or touch screen. Rock, Paper, Scissors, for example, displays a hand in one of three positions, and you need to speak your answer into the DS. It starts out easy, with you saying Rock to break scissors, scissors to beat paper, and so on, but the game intentionally screws with you by asking you to lose.
Did You Know?
Most of Dr. Kawashima's experimentation in developing exercises for Brain Age 2 were performed on live, genetically enhanced and super-intelligent human/chimp hybrids.
Another game, Piano Player, tasks you with tapping the appropriate piano keys, the goal being to complete a song. Sign Finder asks you to complete a simple equation by writing an addition, subtraction, division or multiplication symbol. Memory Sprint forces you to keep track of a runner, paying close attention to where he places after crossing the finish line. Trust us, the name sound awful, but the game's quite addictive. Don't be surprised when you pass up the latest first person shooter so you can play another round of Math Recall or Word Scramble, because bottom line, no one wants a high brain age.
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