Iwata reveals his own brain age

So Iwata challenged his industry friends back at the GDC, but now shows that he’s still up to the task himself, his own brain age turning out to be 27 – of course, only after a while of training with Nintendo’s newest product also aimed at non-gamers – Brain Age.

The interview in which he mentions this fact, courtesy of MTV, shows Iwata continues to support the game where he can. Not surprising, since the game became a smash-hit in Japan, partially responsible for the massive DS Lite demand there.

Ironically, controversy now surrounds the game’s quasi-creator Prof. Ryuta Kawashima. Games blog Kotaku dug up some interesting information showing that the professor behind Brain Age’s system conducted a study on video games in 2001 with rather negative results. As a consequence, Kawashima claimed video games could lead to an “increasingly violent society”.

If Kawashima would still stand behind his opinion today, even with a yummy paycheck from Nintendo in the pocket? Either way, Brain Age has attracted an audience going beyond the usual share of gamers – a direction Nintendo plans on pursuing even more with the Revolution.

So Iwata challenged his industry friends back at the GDC, but now shows that he’s still up to the task himself, his own brain age turning out to be 27 – of course, only after a while of training with Nintendo’s newest product also aimed at non-gamers – Brain Age.

The interview in which he mentions this fact, courtesy of MTV, shows Iwata continues to support the game where he can. Not surprising, since the game became a smash-hit in Japan, partially responsible for the massive DS Lite demand there.

Ironically, controversy now surrounds the game’s quasi-creator Prof. Ryuta Kawashima. Games blog Kotaku dug up some interesting information showing that the professor behind Brain Age’s system conducted a study on video games in 2001 with rather negative results. As a consequence, Kawashima claimed video games could lead to an “increasingly violent society”.

If Kawashima would still stand behind his opinion today, even with a yummy paycheck from Nintendo in the pocket? Either way, Brain Age has attracted an audience going beyond the usual share of gamers – a direction Nintendo plans on pursuing even more with the Revolution.