Body and Brain Connection
Encyclopedia
Body and Brain Connection, also known as Dr. Kawashima's Body and Brain Exercises in PAL regions, is an entertainment
puzzle game
developed and published by Namco Bandai Games
for the Xbox 360
's Kinect platform. It was released in Japan on November 20, 2010, in North America on February 8, 2011, and in Europe on February 11, 2011.
The game features mental problems, such as math questions, in order to keep the user's brain active; in order to answer the questions, the player must perform various physical motions. It received mostly mixed reviews from critics, who felt that the game was mostly harmless.
video game Brain Age does. The player is guided through the brain age tests by Ryuta Kawashima
, who also appeared in Brain Age.
Games are usually short exercises that last only for a few minutes. Some of the games include a math game which requires the player to make hand motions in either a "greater than" or "less than" sign and a game which makes the user kick a ball into the goal with the right answer for a math question. Multiplayer is included with the game.
's Chris Watters called the game "shallow and flawed" for its lack of content, but noted that it successfully used Kinect in a "novel way". The Daily Telegraph
s Tom Hoggins noted that the game successfully created a new genre called "mathercise", a portmanteau of exercise and mathematics, but felt that the game was weaker than Brain Age because it was attached to a console. The Guardian
s Sarah Ditum criticized the game's single player as "slightly sinister" for the mean comments the game makes after bad playthroughs, but praised the game's multiplayer a fun minigame
collection. GamePro
s Eric Neigher praised the game for bringing something new to the brain-training genre, but criticized the game as not "living up to its potential" and having games to similar to others in the genre.
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
puzzle game
Computer puzzle game
Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion....
developed and published by Namco Bandai Games
Namco Bandai Games
is an arcade, mobile and home video game developer and publisher based in Japan which is the product of a merger between the video game development divisions of Bandai and Namco. Namco Bandai Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings and specializes in production and sales of...
for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
's Kinect platform. It was released in Japan on November 20, 2010, in North America on February 8, 2011, and in Europe on February 11, 2011.
The game features mental problems, such as math questions, in order to keep the user's brain active; in order to answer the questions, the player must perform various physical motions. It received mostly mixed reviews from critics, who felt that the game was mostly harmless.
Gameplay
Body and Brain Connection is a puzzle game which asks mental questions but requires that the answers be performed through physical actions. The game's goal is to reinforce the mental answers by having them be drilled into the player by playing with motion controls. When the player starts the game, it allows the player to take a test which lasts for about ten minutes to determine their "Brain Age", much like the Nintendo DSNintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
video game Brain Age does. The player is guided through the brain age tests by Ryuta Kawashima
Ryuta Kawashima
is a Japanese neuroscientist known in PAL regions for his appearance in the Brain Training series of video games for the Nintendo DS -Biography:Kawashima was born...
, who also appeared in Brain Age.
Games are usually short exercises that last only for a few minutes. Some of the games include a math game which requires the player to make hand motions in either a "greater than" or "less than" sign and a game which makes the user kick a ball into the goal with the right answer for a math question. Multiplayer is included with the game.
Reception
Body and Brain Connection received mostly mixed reviews from critics, who felt the game was mostly harmless; it received a 57.5% from GameRankings. GameSpotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's Chris Watters called the game "shallow and flawed" for its lack of content, but noted that it successfully used Kinect in a "novel way". The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
s Tom Hoggins noted that the game successfully created a new genre called "mathercise", a portmanteau of exercise and mathematics, but felt that the game was weaker than Brain Age because it was attached to a console. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
s Sarah Ditum criticized the game's single player as "slightly sinister" for the mean comments the game makes after bad playthroughs, but praised the game's multiplayer a fun minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
collection. GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
s Eric Neigher praised the game for bringing something new to the brain-training genre, but criticized the game as not "living up to its potential" and having games to similar to others in the genre.