A video game that is said to help the older generation sharpen their minds and delay the onset of dementia is about to launched. Backed by a 2 million advertising campaign, Dr Kawashima's Brain Training is the first video game to be aimed at the over-45s. Designed by a Tokyo neuroscientist for Nintendo's DS handheld games console, it includes dozens of mathematical, language, memory and IQ-style puzzles. Players must race against the clock to complete the task, which also include reading aloud and drawing. The game is already a huge hit among Japanese pensioners and is part of a drive to increase the appeal of video games to women and older customers. Instead of churning out the usual mix of shooting, racing and sports games, computer games companies are increasingly producing non-competitive and occasionally charmingly pointless video game "experiences". They include Nintendogs, where the objective is to raise a cyber-puppy; Electroplankton, where the goal is to encourage fish to make music; and Trauma Centre: Under the Knife, where players carry out virtual operations. Shigeru Miyamoto, the head of Nintendo's entertainment division, said Brain Training would reach those who previously assumed computer games were not for them. "There are big lines between those who play video games and those who do not," he said. "For those who don't, video games are irrelevant. They think all video games must be too difficult. We want to remove that barrier. It's very simple. There are dozens of different questions. It's a very unusual experience." Brain Training has sold more than 1.4 million copies since its Japanese launch just under a year ago. It arrives in Britain in mid-May. The female market is also crucial for computer games companies. Its virtual puppy game Nintendogs was a big hit among teenage girls and women in their 20s. Animal Crossing is typical of the new generation of games. There is no point, no purpose and no competition. Players simply amble around the virtual world talking to other visitors, posting letters, selling and buying and decorating their home. The game exists in real time and the user experiences the changing seasons. "It's been called slow life," said Mr Miyamoto. "The main purpose is to communicate with other people." It is not just the content of games that is changing to appeal to older and female gamers. The design of the DS, which uses a touch sensitive screen and stylus, means people don't have to learn how to use a push button keypad. Nintendo's new home entertainment console, the Revolution - due later this year - takes it one step further with a wireless joystick.
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