• Ad Age, Monday, April 3, 2006 12:30 PM

Video games are not usually considered the province of Baby Boomers, a demographic group whose children are much more likely to take party in such activity. But game marketer Nintendo is hoping to change all that with the introduction of two new games that the company hopes will appeal to boomers looking to sharpen their mental skills. The games are called "Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day" and "Big Brain Academy," both of which are currently popular in Japan and Europe. The games are based on the work of Japanese neuroscientist and author Ryuta Kawashima, whose studies show that certain reading and math exercises help stimulate the brain. He and some other researchers touted by Nintendo contend mental sharpness can be strengthened with brain exercises. On the market less than a year in Japan, each game has sold more than 1 million copies, with more than two-thirds of sales have to people over the age of 25. Boomers currently make up the smallest group of video gamers. Nineteen percent of people over the age of 50 say they play video games, vs. 35% of those under age 18 and 43% of 18- to 49-year-olds, according to research from the Entertainment Software Association. The promise of video games to sharpen mental acumen could create great appeal for a group facing longer physically healthy lives with the worry of less-than-promising mental health.

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