Brain games aim to boost your IQ

Smart thinking

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training has sold some 1.8 million copies, and it is still in the Japanese top 10 a year after release.

But the brain training games' success is down to more than just a neat gameplay gimmick.

Unlike Nintendo's fictional creations, such as Donkey Kong or Mario, Dr Kawashima really is a leading Japanese brain expert.

A graduate of the Tohuku University School of Medicine, Dr Kawashima works at the same university's New Industry Creation Hatchery Centre, and is one of the country's top researchers into brain imaging.

He is also a best-selling author. His two books on brain training have sold more than a million copies in Japan.

Nintendo's President Satoru Iwata personally shepherded the idea of a brain-enhancing game through production.

It originally arose from a remark by a member of Nintendo's board of directors that he knew nobody his own age who played games.

And Mr Iwata sought Dr Kawashima's involvement, seeing the two men's similar fifty-something ages as common ground.

It is all a long way from a typical video game's development, and the differences continue in the older, non-gamers that Nintendo is explicitly targeting with the title.

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training will be the first video game ever to be advertised and featured in Saga magazine, for instance.

"As these new types of games gain in popularity, we must find new and different ways to bring them to new audiences, many of whom will have never played a traditional videogame before," explained a Nintendo spokesperson.