Nintendo Positions Personal Trainer: Math as Serious Game Product

Nintendo of America announced that its latest Nintendo DS title, Personal Trainer: Math, aims to address a negative perception of math among children, as noted in a recent survey. The Wakefield Research-conducted survey, in which 400 parents and 400 children aged 9-14 were asked math-related interview questions, found that more than one-third of surveyed children described math as their most difficult subject in school. In addition, one in five children believed that they are more likely to grow up to become a professional actor or athlete than they are to get A's and B's in math in the coming school year. Nintendo's Personal Trainer: Math, releasing this week in North America, features daily math drills, along with 40 exercises designed to improve mathematic ability. The exercises range from basic mathematics to multiplication tables and calculation ladders. "Personal Trainer: Math provides a fun antidote for math anxiety," said Cammie Dunaway, the executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo of America. "People can keep their math skills sharp while tracking their progress every day to see how they improve." Nintendo's Brain Age and Brain Age 2 contained similar self-improvement features, though both titles tested only basic math skills with a focus on improving general concentration, rather than specific improvement in mathematics. Personal Trainer: Math is the second release in Nintendo's Personal Trainer series, following last year's culinary instructional title Personal Trainer: Cooking.