Granny, get your game on!

Nintendo has been telling us for a year or so about its Brain Age games appealing to elderly players looking to keep their mind sharp and active. But I’m probably not alone when I questioned whether this was true or some feel-good marketing campaign surrounding the Nintendo DS handheld system. Except on a flight from Toronto to Vancouver today, I saw it with my own eyes…

Nintendo has been telling us for a year or so about its Brain Age games appealing to elderly players looking to keep their mind sharp and active. But I’m probably not alone when I questioned whether this was true or some feel-good marketing campaign surrounding the Nintendo DS handheld system. Except on a flight from Toronto to Vancouver today, I saw it with my own eyes…

Once we reached our "cruising altitude" and the seatbelt light was turned off, I did what I always do: reach for my laptop and boot up. Except I wasn’t the only one pulling out tech toys in my row.

A little old lady beside me reached into her purse and pulled out a black Nintendo DS, took out the stylus pen and began tapping away. "Brain Age?" I asked, curiously. "Yes," she said with a smile, as if she knew what I was thinking: grandma was a gamer. OK, no "Grand Theft Auto" t-shirt, mind you, nor was she sporting a Master Chief tattoo on her left bicep, but a gamer just the same. In fact, she also pulled out a set of swank headphones to hear the game’s audio. You go girl!

In case you missed our feature on aging gamers, Nintendo’s Brain Age games feature a series of fun brain-sharpening exercises that range from reading and counting activities and word memorization games to drawing challenges and the wildly popular Sudoku number puzzles.

According to Nintendo, some doctors are "prescribing" the Brain Age games to elderly patients.

"Playing these puzzle and word games can keep a player’s brain active and focused, and also serves as a de-stressor" says Dr. Carl Arinoldo, a Long Island, NY-based psychologist. "Studies have shown older people experience better mental clarity when playing these types of games, and they can even ward off the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia," Arinoldo adds.

Filed Under: Games