Personal Trainer: Math

Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: Jan. 12, 2009
System: Nintendo DS
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Also known as "Make Kyle Feel Bad About His Division Skills: The Game!"

0:00 Doing math drills doesn't sound like much fun to me, but Nintendo sent me the game so I figure I owe it to them to at least try it out. I'm a bit afraid to see how much my math skills have atrophied since my school days. Hopefully this isn't calculus-level stuff.

0:01 I hold the DS on its side, book-style. "Welcome to Personal Trainer: Math!" says a blue-haired guy in a blue suit. He has no mouth, yet he somehow says: "My name is Hideo Kageyama. I'm going to be your new math teacher." Hey-o, Hideo.

0:03 The game recommends starting with the Daily Test, and who am I to argue? "Oh, I see that this is your first-ever daily test. It's important that you practice math every day." Hence the "daily" part of "daily test," right?

0:04 The first test is a series of flash cards. I have to count how many items appear on a flash card and write the number on the touch-screen. Really, that's it. This doesn't feel like "math" to me. Feels more like "counting." Counting is not math! My time of 31 seconds got me second place by only a second, mainly because I had to correct the faulty text recognition a couple of times.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer

MindHabits

Developer: Got Game Entertainment
Publisher: Got Game Entertainment
Release Date: Aug. 14, 2008
System: PC
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Whenever I see your smiling face/I have to smile myself...

0:00 I heard about this obvious Brain Age-alike through a press release and figured it was worth a shot. Who doesn't want to "feel better and think better" in "just five minutes a day," after all?

0:01 The splash screen has a goat quoting Dr. Mark Baldwin: "Improve confidence in all walks of life, from work to play." That's fine and all, but why is a goat saying it?

0:02 A bare-bones list of profiles pops up with some of the bounciest music I've ever heard. Catchy! The game requires my birth city and my favorite color or it won't let me play. That's a bit creepy.

0:03 "Hello and welcome to MindHabits," says a modern-looking cartoon woman with shortish black hair. This "award-winning" game is designed to give you a "more positive state of mind," she says. Then she talks up Dr. Mark Baldwin, five minutes a day, blah blah blah.

0:04 The "Thought of the Day" is from Ella Fitzgerald, about not giving up. Both cute and nauseating at the same time.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer