The "Training the Brain" Genre have come out with even more titles to get you puzzled and tested on how well you are which are now spreading onto the Nintendo Wii and also the Playstation Portable. The newest Brain Train game for the Nintendo Wii is "Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree", for the Playstation Portable they are "Hot Brain" and "Practical Intelligence Quotient".

Gotta hand it to Nintendo for getting gamers to use their noggins as much as their knuckles. Who knew that when the Japanese game giant released "Brain Age" last year that it would set off a trend in games that supposedly "train the brain."

Now three more titles have arrived that supposedly will warm up that gray matter between our ears.

Nintendo's latest brain game, and the first for its wonderful Wii home system, is "Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree" ($49.99). The title uses the Wii's motion-sensing controls, so it will get your hands and brain working' in conjunction. It features 15 activities and can be played solo or with up to eight people.

For the PlayStation Portable, there's "Hot Brain" ($29.99). The game uses puzzles and other graphical challenges, and features the voice of Fred Willard. The game purportedly "engages the mind through a series of puzzles and challenges designed to raise the activity and temperature of your brain." Challenges deal with logic, memory, math, language, and concentration.

And finally, also for the PSP, is the second incarnation of "Practical Intelligence Quotient" ($29.99), from publisher D3. Like its predecessor, in "PQ2" you lead a figure through a "Tron"-like environment, solving puzzles and using logic throughout block-laden mazes.

tidus04 via sunherald.com »