Gamertell

With the holidays drawing nearer, some parents may feel the pressure to purchase a game for a child or family member. Yet, they may be conflicted about the purchase, and want to go with something educational. BeBop Games may be hoping to lure in those shoppers with its new, educational word game Brainisaurus. More a straight educational title, rather than edutainment, Brainisaurus has over 40,000 words and 50 “challenge” levels.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any system requirements listed anywhere on the BeBop Games site. It doesn’t seem like it has any major download requirements, since the screenshots look somewhat plain. I’d say if you have a Windows PC with XP or better, you should have no problem with running Brainisaurus. I tried running the 23mb trial on my Windows Vista PC and had no trouble. The full version is $19.95, but…

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Title: Brain Training for Dummies
Price: $19.99
System(s): PC
Release Date: October 21, 2008
Publisher (Developer): Electronic Arts (Electronic Arts)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Pros: Educational, 15 different exercises, can chart progress, informative and easy to navigate and play.
Cons: Not much fun and you have to read directions for some games.
Overall Score: Two thumbs sideways, 70/100, C-, ** out of 5

EA’s latest line of somewhat-casual games in the For Dummies series are designed to be educational, informative, lighthearted and most importantly fun. The only thing is, Brain Training for Dummies doesn’t quite hit all the points. It is a handy title, and has well designed exercises with simple controls to help build certain skills in players, but it isn’t really fun.

That doesn’t mean its bad. It just may not be for everyone. People accustomed to Nintendo’s Brain Age line may not be as crazy about Brain Training for Dummies because it doesn’t have the same zeal and appeal when it comes to the title’s presentation and tests…

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At CES 2008 the Music Wizard Group showed off their newest innovation, the Guitar Wizard. Guitar Wizard, which will work with real guitars and computers, is an educational game designed to teach people to play a guitar. The item shown at CES 2008 was a prototype, as the official product is scheduled to be released in Fall 2008.

Guitar Wizard allows people to use their own accoustic or electric guitar with the game. The package will come with the SoundTech Ediface Digital Guitar Interface, the Guitar Wizard program, labels and an attachment for a guitar the user already owns. Users simply install the two programs on a laptop or desktop and follow the on screen instructions on their real guitar. The Guitar Wizard program teaches how to play the guitar and the SoundTech Ediface Digital Guitar Interface digitizes the music. A price for the product has not yet been announced.

The Guitar Wizard program will most likely be very successful. Especially with people familiar with the Guitar Hero games. It seems like initially the instruction will start out relying on the user’s hand-eye co-ordination to follow the on-screen cues, until the user becomes familiar with the necessary motions.

“Editor’s Note: The item prices and previous image with this post was
incorrect and have been updated.“

Read [SFGate.com] Also Read [Engadget]  Site [Music Wizard]

• Test your vocab skills with Brainisaurus
• Gamertell Review: Brain Training for Dummies for PC
• iriver P20 PMP, M3 GPS to be on display at IFA

Left Brain Right Brain, yet another educational game for the Nintendo DS, shipped yesterday (December 4, 2007) and should now be available in a store near you. Rather than just exercising your mind, this title from Majesco also works on your dexterity as well. The game is designed to sharpen memory, improve hand-eye co-ordination and promote ambidexterity.

Players will have to alternate playing the various Left Brain Right Brain exercises with both hands. The various mini-games will switch off during play, requiring you to perform exercises with both hands. There are 15 different drills, with five different levels of difficulty for each one to make sure that your skills are improving. There is also single card multiplayer so you can challenge a friend to see who’s the best. The game is $19.99 and is rated Everyone.

Of course if you are willing to wait until January, GameStop will probably have about 10 copies used. Most people don’t really stick with these games. They’re fun and a novelty for about a week, then its back to Mario.

Read [Go Nintendo] Site [Majesco]

• Steal Princess to treasure-hunt in the US, after voyaging through Europe and Japan
• Nintendo DS taps into e-reader market
• Test your vocab skills with Brainisaurus

Scholastic Media, a division of Scholastic Corporation and a leading producer of quality, family-oriented media including feature films, home video, TV and interactive products, has announced a distribution agreement with Activision Publishing.

Scholastic Media has developed two children’s games for the Nintendo DS platform, I Spy: Fun House and Animal Genius, both with a suggested retail price of $29.99. I Spy is currently available and Animal Genus is scheduled to be released September 2007. Both games are rated “E” for everyone by the ESRB and distributed by Activision…

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