I've just discovered a new product from Sega Toys, called Brain Trainer. It was originally released in Japan in October 2005, and is just now making its way to U.S. stores. It's so new to the U.S., Sega's Brain Trainer page is still available only in Japanese. However, viewing it with a web translation program can help clear things up (although the word maeno should be cortex).

The Brain Trainer itself looks like a small book. It does bear an unfortunate superficial resemblance to some joke electric shock books. When you open it up, you see basic instructions on the inside cover. On the other side, you see a screen with a 10-digit keypad, as well as buttons marked Menu/Stop, Select, Enter and the power symbol.

There are four activities which can train your brain. In the basic training mode, you're given 100 simple mathematical problems, all involving whole numbers, to solve as quickly as you can. The other three exercises are in the advanced training menu, and include counting verbally from 1 to 120 as fast as you can, focusing on 3 numbers and combining them in various ways, and the memorizing of a 30-digit number. As you exercise, the Brain Trainer keeps track of your progress, which you can view over a 30-day period, or a 1-year period, and both by time taken, and percentage of correct answers. This is a very handy feature for seeing your improvement.

It may sound like Sega is trying to cash in on the brain-training fad started by Nintendo's Brain Age, but the opposite is actually the case. The Brain Trainer was released in 2005, while Brain Age wasn't released until April 2006. However, both are based on the research of Dr. Ryuta Kawashima. While the games are well-known and used here in the U.S., apparently there is an absolute mania for brain-training games in Japan.

Whether or not the benefits are as claimed, I have found it to be fun and enjoyable. It's only $29.95, and is right down the alley of anyone who wants to train and strain their brain to entertain!