Nintendo Confirms 'Touch Generations' U.S. Branding

Nintendo of America has officially confirmed that, starting in June, it will begin branding its more casual Nintendo DS titles under the new Touch Generations label, already used in Japan and in Europe to differentiate its particularly 'mainstream'-oriented titles such as the Brain Training series. The company explains that the brand "will include titles that anyone can pick up and play, even with little or no experience with video games", and that the move "represents one of the many ways that Nintendo is making it easy for new demographics of people to be introduced to video games." In making the announcement, the company confirmed the upcoming North American release dates for the second wave of Touch Generations titles, including Big Brain Academy, launching June 5th, and the second title in the brain-training series, focusing on memorization, computation, analysis and identification, the Mitchell-developed Magnetica, also launching June 5th, and a puzzle game formerly known as Puzzloop that some consider the original version of Zuma, as well as all-Sudoku title Sudoku Gridmaster, launching June 26th. Nintendo also specified the previously released titles that are also considered part of Touch Generations, including Brain Age, Nintendogs, Tetris DS, and True Swing Golf, all released for Nintendo DS over the previous few months. "We remain committed to turning video games into an inclusive mass medium that everyone can enjoy," commented George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Touch Generations will help novices and newcomers identify the fun and uniquely engaging experiences that are available only on Nintendo DS."