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The elderly gamers

Nintendo brain-training game a hit with Japan's seniors

TOKYO: Like many retirees, Isamu Shishido sometimes forgets names and even his own telephone number. But now the 67-year-old says he has found a product that could sharpen his thinking: a new brain-training game from Nintendo Co. The ailing maker of Mario and Pokemon games has scored a smash hit by courting Japan's burgeoning gray market with "Brain Training for Adults" — a number and puzzles game that Nintendo says can stimulate the brain and ward off dementia.

"I don't want to end up some crazy old man," Mr. Shishido explained at a crowded Tokyo electronics store after trying the game on display. "I want to play a little every day before going to bed."

The game, played on the company's hand-held DS console, is part of an effort by Nintendo to broaden its customer base amid falling profits.

Other recent DS software hits let players study English, raise a virtual puppy, or converse with animals in an imaginary village — all departures from traditional games that cater to young males by focussing on sports, shootings and fist fights.

The brain training game has sold 3.34 million copies since its May 2005 launch. That in turn has fuelled the popularity of the easy-to-use Nintendo DS console, which is operated with only a plastic pen and touch pad, rather than a complicated set of controls.

The console has sold more than six million in Japan since its December 2004 release. That is more sales than for Japanese rival Sony's sleeker and more sophisticated PlayStation Portable, which also went on sale in December 2004 and has sold 4.2 million units in Japan and the rest of Asia.

Customers like Mr. Shishido, a food company retiree, will have to wait to buy a DS console, however: A new slimmed-down version was launched last week and promptly sold out, forcing eager buyers to scour Japan's electronics shops in hopes of finding one in stock. The next big shipment is not expected until mid-March. "`We're not surprised. People who never even liked computer games are now getting hooked," said a Nintendo spokesman.

To cater to older consumers, the Nintendo DS is user-friendly. With just pen and touch pad, players can turn the console sideways to make it feel more familiar, like a book. Nintendo's strategy seems to have worked. Some hospitals have even started putting Nintendo DS units in waiting rooms and wards for patients. — AP

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The elderly gamers

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