medialifemagazine.com
Games for the brain, and right on time
By Heidi Dawley
Sep 24, 2007 - 7:45:49 AM
For baby boomers, the timing could not be one whit better.
For years now, they have refused to follow in the steps of their elders as they aged, choosing rather to reinvent each life stage as they entered it. Grow old? Never. They run on treadmills, lather up with youth-saving creams, inject Botox, swallow Viagra and drop in on the plastic surgeon as if it were a trip to the dentist.
It's about more than simply fighting off age. It's about staying vital.
So no surprise that the new hot-seller is computer games to keep that other part of the baby boomer lifestyle fit as well, the mind. Think of them as a sort of gym for the brain.
That's their promise, anyhow. And they are selling.
The first such games came out in the U.S. roughly 18 months ago and sales have been strong since, with one, "Brain Age" from Nintendo, having sold 8.61 million copies worldwide, 1.4 million in the U.S. Its sequel, "Brain Age 2," was launched in the U.S. in August and hit No. 13 on the list of top video games that month. More and more, they're advertising on TV. Says Phil Elliott, editor of GamesIndustry.biz, a London-based international trade site for the games industry: "They have had prolonged success."
What separates the brain games from the run-of-the-mill computer game is in the challenge to the user to exercise the brain and to stretch it, using parts that may have been growing moldy in recent years. There are a range of puzzles, including math problems, Sudoku and memory skills. Some may remind them of aptitude tests those baby boomers took years earlier in school.
In one game, there is a ball of a certain color, say red, that's bouncing around a room. The user is challenged to click when the wall it's heading toward is a different color, say blue, which then changes the colors of the ball and the walls. But the user loses if he or she clicks when the ball is headed toward a wall of the same color. The game requires speed but also attentiveness.
In another challenge, the user is shown a design, but just briefly, then asked to answer questions about what has just been shown.
Not all the games require a game box. Brain Fitness, from Posit Science ($395), and MindFit, from a Cognifit ($139), come as software. HappyNeuron.com and MyBrainTrainer.com are subscription web sites.
Do these games really combat mental decline? They may indeed, believe some researchers. Earlier this month, Baroness Susan Greenfield, a top British neuroscientist and an Alzheimer's researcher, received a slew of press coverage after endorsing MindFit, one such product.
"There is evidence that such stimulation prompts brain cells to start branching out and form new connections with other cells," Greenfield is quoted as telling The Times of London.
And even if they don't make faster, better thinkers, these games appeal to an impulse that's particularly strong among baby boomers.
"This generation has always been one that has been fully confident that there is something available to address any one of their needs and problems," says Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.
It is, of course, not just boomers that are interested, but the fact that huge numbers of them approaching retirement is likely to propel sales.
"There is an appeal to these kinds of things that go across the board," says Thompson. "But the timing thing is part of the recipe. You have a large number of people that will be really receptive to what these people have to offer."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in popcult, two new releases topped the box office charts over the weekend: “Resident Evil: Extinction,” which brought in $24 million, and “Good Luck Chuck,” which sold $14 million in tickets.
In DVD rentals for the week ended Sept. 16, the comedy “Blades of Glory” was No. 1 was for a third straight week, followed this time by “Georgia Rule.”
On iTunes this morning, Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” was No. 1 for the third straight week, with Nickelback’s “Rockstar” at No. 2.
And in books, “You’ve Been Warned” by James Patterson and Howard Roughan debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times’ hardcover fiction best-sellers list for the week ended Sept. 15, as well as on USA Today’s book chart for the week ended Sept 16.
The O.J. Simpson book “If I Did It,” which is officially by the Goldman Family, came in at No. 3 on The Times' hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list for the week ended Sept. 15.
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TOP MOVIES
Weekend Box Office Estimates
Weekend of September 21-23, 2007
|
|
Rank
|
MOVIE
|
Engagements
|
Box office (millions)
|
|
1
|
Resident Evil: Extinction (Screen Gems)
|
2,828
|
$24.00
|
|
2
|
Good Luck Chuck (Lionsgate)
|
2,612
|
$14.00
|
|
3
|
The Brave One (Warner Bros.)
|
2,755
|
$7.43
|
|
4
|
3:10 to
Yuma (Lionsgate)
|
2,902
|
$6.35
|
|
5
|
Eastern Promises (Focus Features)
|
1,404
|
$5.75
|
|
6
|
Sydney White (universal)
|
2,104
|
$5.32
|
|
7
|
Mr. Woodcock (New Line)
|
2,237
|
$4.98
|
|
8
|
Superbad (Sony)
|
2,305
|
$3.10
|
|
9
|
The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal)
|
2,009
|
$2.79
|
|
10
|
Dragon Wars (Freestyle)
|
2,246
|
$2.51
|
|
Source: Yahoo Movies
|
|
IMDb TOP DVD RENTALS
Week ending September 16, 2007
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|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
|
1
|
Blades of Glory
|
1
|
|
2
|
Georgia Rule
|
6
|
|
3
|
Delta Farce
|
7
|
|
4
|
Fracture
|
5
|
|
3
|
Perfect Stranger
|
3
|
|
6
|
Wild Hogs
|
2
|
|
7
|
Vacancy
|
8
|
|
7
|
Disturbia
|
4
|
|
9
|
The Death and Life of Bobby Z
|
9
|
|
10
|
Away from Her
|
-
|
|
Source: IMDB
|
|
ITUNES TOP 8 SONG DOWNLOADS
for week ended Monday, September 17, 2007
|
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
|
1
|
Crank That, Soulja Boy
|
|
2
|
Rockstar, Nickelback
|
|
3
|
So Small, Carrie Underwood
|
|
4
|
Me Love, Sean Kingston
|
|
5
|
Shut Up and Drive, Rihanna
|
|
6
|
S.O.S., Jonas Brothers
|
|
7
|
Beautiful Girls, Sean Kingston
|
|
8
|
The Great Escape, Boys Like Girls
|
|
Source: iTunes
|
|
NEW YORK
TIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS
Week ending September 15, 2007
|
|
Fiction (hardback)
|
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
Weeks on chart
|
|
1
|
You’ve Been Warned
by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
|
-
|
1
|
|
2
|
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
|
1
|
17
|
|
3
|
Pontoon
by Garrison Keillor
|
-
|
1
|
|
4
|
The Wheel of Darkness
by Douglas Preston and
Lincoln Child
|
2
|
3
|
|
5
|
Bones to Ashes
by Kathy Reichs
|
3
|
3
|
|
Nonfiction (hardback)
|
|
1
|
Power to the People
by Laura Ingraham
|
-
|
1
|
|
2
|
Giving by Bill Clinton
|
1
|
2
|
|
3
|
If I Did It
by the Goldman family
|
-
|
1
|
|
4
|
Quiet Strength
by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker
|
5
|
10
|
|
5
|
Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light by Mother Teresa
|
2
|
2
|
|
Fiction (paperback)
|
|
1
|
The Collectors
by David Baldacci
|
1
|
2
|
|
2
|
74 Seaside Avenue
by Debbie Macomber
|
2
|
2
|
|
3
|
Killer Dreams
by Iris Johansen
|
3
|
2
|
|
4
|
At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks
|
-
|
1
|
|
5
|
Act of Treason by Vince Flynn
|
5
|
2
|
|
Nonfiction (paperback)
|
|
1
|
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
|
1
|
34
|
|
2
|
90 Minutes in Heaven
by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey
|
2
|
47
|
|
3
|
The
Glass
Castle by Jeannette Walls
|
3
|
88
|
|
4
|
Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
|
5
|
33
|
|
5
|
Looming Tower
by
Lawrence Wright
|
-
|
3
|
|
Source: New York Times
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
USA
TODAY BESTSELLING BOOKS
Week ending September 16, 2007
|
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
|
1
|
You’ve Been Warned
by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
|
-
|
|
2
|
Giving by Bill Clinton
|
1
|
|
3
|
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
|
6
|
|
4
|
The Collectors
by David Baldacci
|
3
|
|
5
|
74 Seaside Avenue
by Debbie Macomber
|
2
|
|
6
|
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
|
4
|
|
7
|
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
|
8
|
|
8
|
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
|
9
|
|
9
|
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
|
7
|
|
10
|
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
|
11
|
|
Source:
USA Today
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