Video Games are Good for the Brain? - Big Brain Academy

One of the cliche sayings is video games (much like TV) will rot your brain, or is bad for you in some way that doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I cant speak for all games, but, for over-concerned parents, there are some rays of hope on the horizon, the next somewhat new genre I call the Brain Teaser genre. The brain teaser genre, like the name implies, is a game based around tasks that help your brain in some way, such as memory. The first big one of this genre was Big Brain Academy.

Big Brain Academy lets you evaluate your mental age, and train in memorization, analyzing, computing, thinking and identification.Your probably thinking by now, "Well I don't care about this stuff so why should I buy this game?" Well I too don't care very much for keeping my mind trained since I am young and my life as it is keeps it pretty well trained, however after playing the memory part of this game (the most important to me) I did notice that I had an easier time remembering, and I had fun playing the mini-games while training my mind. Having fun while training your mind is somewhat hard to do, so when I find something that can do it easily and quickly I cant resist. 

If that isn't enough to convince you the fact that the price is $20 and below and for the DS (one of the best portable systems around) makes it even better. 

Overall I give this game a 6/10. It was a good game and well worth the price, but after awhile it does get kinda old.

Gotta Catch Em All - Pokemon Black

I thought for the next game I chose to review I would do an actual video game, and one of the most well known at that. You may have heard of the name Pokemon, but didn't think very much of it, well that was a BIG mistake.

Pokemon is a great game where you play the role of a boy or girl (of your choice) who is just starting on his/her journey to explore the world of Pokemon and become the strongest trainer. You get to pick a pokemon to start with then catch more Pokemon and train them to become stronger. This game through out the years has also added new things such as the pokemon contest where you try to show off your pokemon to judges, and pokemon musicals where you dress up a Pokemon and put them in a musical concert. This game has so much to it that there are very few that wouldn't find something they like in it. The most current games are pokemon Black and White, but there are also Pokemon Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Pearl, Diamond, and Platinum, each having there own somewhat different storyline, and some of them even taking place in different regions.

This game is playable on the Nintendo DS and costs anywhere from $35 and less. It is a game that lets you travel and see the beauty of the Pokemon world and like the old saying says, catch them all. I would definitely give this game a 9/10