Nintendo Honors 'Ageless' Americans With Brain Age

Officials from Nintendo have announced that the company is honoring 100 individuals within the U.S. between the ages of 54 and 104 years old as part of its latest efforts to promote the Touch Generations branded Brain Age for the Nintendo DS. The individuals, identified with the help of the Grandparent Marketing Group, run the gamut of professions, from marathon runners to NASCAR race car drivers, and together according to Nintendo personify what it is to be “ageless.” Because of this, Nintendo has gifted each of the 100 honorees with a DS Lite and a copy of Brain Age. Specifically, some of the more intriguing recipients of this honor include Connecticut's George B., who at 72 is the oldest person ever to swim the English Channel, as well as Maine's Jim M., a 68 year old car crash stuntman, the oldest in his profession in America. Brain Age, the flagship title for Nintendo's Touch Generations label, is based on the research of Japanese Professor Ryuta Kawashima, and takes advantage of the various unique capabilities afforded by the Nintendo DS hardware. The game is purported to stimulate brain activity through a series of brain "exercises" ranging from simple arithmetic to reading aloud and counting syllables. The Western version of Brain Age also includes sudoku number puzzles, which have become extremely popular features in newspapers around the country, and especially in Europe, adding to the game's relevance. "These honorees represent the kind of people we all want to grow up to be," commented George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "They refuse to act their age. They think young, and therefore they act young. Brain Age is one more tool in their anti-aging arsenal."