Last week, as you might have heard, Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch was released on the Nintendo Switch in PAL regions. The title debuted in 18th place on the UK charts in the same week.
What wasn't previously revealed, though, was the fact launch sales of the latest Switch title are "15 times larger" than its 3DS predecessor Brain Age: Concentration Training (also known as Dr Kawashima's Devilish Brain Training: Can You Stay Focused?) in this location.
If you're wondering how it's managed to achieve this, it's all because Devilish Brain Training suffered a severe delay in Europe.
This 3DS title was first released in Japan in 2012 but didn't get a release in Europe (including the UK) until July 2017. That's five years after the original Japanese release, and by that stage, the Switch had been out for nearly six months in PAL regions and the 3DS was beginning to lose its momentum.
Here's hoping the new Brain Training entry for Switch arrives sooner rather than later in North America.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 30
I grabbed a physical copy, partly because I wanted another stylus to use with my Switch. Haven't touched it much yet though. The number recognition hates my writing apparently.
I'm surprised anyone bought the game at all.
When is it releasing in the states? I would love to play this game again! Loved it on the DS forever ago haha
@BenAV : The writing recognition was decent in previous titles, but is quite bad in this one. It almost never registers my 5s correctly, even though there is a specific setting for the number 5 and whether one's preference is to write it with one stroke or two (I write it with one stroke for the purposes of this software). I'll change the setting tomorrow and see if it makes a difference.
I don't understand why it doesn't immediately register S-like shapes/strokes as a 5.
Perhaps those with neater handwriting may have better luck.
The software should have included an exercise upon first loading the software so that it can gauge the handwriting of the user, similar to voice recognition. It's quite frustrating as timing is everything, particularly with Calculations x25.
Otherwise, I'm having a blast with it and play it when I wake up every morning (though the software does not consider it a new day until 4.00am, which I found out the hard way yesterday).
@Liam_Doolan When is NL's review coming?
@Quarth It should be out before the end of this week. Chris Scullion is covering it.
I'm gonna assume the North American release would be announced next Direct.
@Liam_Doolan Thanks!
@Silly_G 9s seem to give me a lot of trouble. I draw something that's clearly a 9 but it thinks it's either an 8 or a 0 half the time and it's like how does it look anything like that. I've also had trouble with 1s out of all things. I draw a straight line up and the game's like ??? and I'm like ???????
That could quite realistically be 30 copies
I'm assuming that it will be a shadow drop at the next direct for NA.
It's all due to the devil image that they used for the 3DS game. What was Nintendo thinking? You expect old granny to get excited for a DOOM based brain training game?
@electrolite77
Not sure if serious...🤔
Even during the slowest weeks of the year, pretty much every game in the Top 20 will sell well above 1,000 retail copies.
The 1st week of January is not a slow week whatsoever.
The game looks terrible in the trailer. Did they deliberately suck the fun out of the title? I guess we'll know more when the review drops...
Would like to get this and a Stylus. Love that we still get unique games like these for those who like to exercise the brain.
@westman98
Not entirely. But it’s well known that the 3DS game was a total flop (it was £12 in Smyths not long after launch) and when anyone does that ‘x times bigger than last time’ without giving actual numbers you know it still isn’t a huge number (see:Wii U sales PR)
Fun fact: In the UK, the first Brain Training is the best-selling Nintendo DS game ever, with 3.6+ million copies sold. At one point, it was the best-selling game across all platforms in the UK before COD Modern Warfare 2 finally overtook its record in late 2010. To this day, it is Nintendo's 2nd best-selling non-bundled game ever in the UK, behind Mario Kart Wii.
Brain Training 2 only sold about half as much as the first, but it was still enough to make it the 3rd best-selling DS game in the UK. In total, the two Brain Training games and its spin-off, Big Brain Academy, have sold over 6 million copies in the UK on the DS. The collapse of this franchise (and Nintendogs) is one of the major reason why the 3DS sold significantly less than the DS across Europe, especially in the UK.
Brain Training on Switch had a decent launch, but it will need legs if it is to be successful. I'm not too optimistic, but dying franchises like Just Dance and Mario & Sonic were both revived on Switch, so the same could certainly happen for Brain Training.
That's great news.
The game is split into two sections, Quick Play and Daily Training. Daily Training is handheld exclusive as it primarily makes use of the touch screen. Quick Play contains three single-player activites that utilise the IR camera in the right Joy-Con, and three multiplayer activities. Quick Play is designed for docked/tabletop play.
Those with a Lite won't be missing much (though this hurdle can easily be overcome with the use of separate Joy-Con).
It's clearly a budget title with very little content beyond the meat of the package (being the training activities), so unless you intend to play for a few minutes each day (I'm averaging about 20-30 minutes by doing all of the training activities and the Brain Age test), you may find yourself disappointed if you're not familiar with the series by now.
I just wish that there were more multiplayer activities as it could have really added some value to the package and make it more appealing for those looking for an accessible party game for persons of all ages and skill levels. There was a lot of potential, but most of the package is comprised of activities from earlier titles in the series, and the multiplayer activities, while fun, are brief.
I'm just grateful to have a new entry on Switch and that Dr. Kawashima hasn't been condemned to mobile/F2P hell. I hope this isn't the last that we'll see of him, and I look forward to training my brain a little each day, just like the old days. I really hope this succeeds.
How does this compare to the original DS version?
I remember friends of my parents buying the DS specifically to play Brain Training.
This resulted in my parents buying me and my brothers a copy in the hopes we would get smarter. Funnily enough, all three of our DS’s got fair usage out of it. It was fun.
Anyway, in a world before smartphones it must have sold well on the DS, right?
@Silly_G Wait, people exist who use more than one stroke for the number 5? Come again now?
Why... That's just inefficient as hell.
@westman98 I'm surprised people hate diversity in gaming.
@Blizzia That's how it's taught in my country. Also makes it easy to make sharp corners, making 5 and S clearly distinct.
I've read the game is full of technical issues and is missing a lot of the content from the DS version. I'm assuming most people don't know this when purchasing the Switch version.
@KoopaTheGamer i mean, it's the same with one stroke. You just slow the stroke slightly if you have trouble. But you still do it in a single stroke.
5 and S are clearly distinct in a single stroke as well, since the stroke is always slowed at the middle part when you switch from straight lines to drawing the half-circle (or vice versa).
Just baffling why anybody would do it in two strokes.
I've got the first two Brain Age games for DS, so I'm set for life.
My local GameStop still sells copies of both for $2.99.
Glad to see the game is selling well though.
It sold “15 times better” and end at 18th. So it went from being a massive failure to mostly ignored. It has to be a pretty awful number if 15X sales still gets you nowhere.
@Blizzia You learn it the way it's taught on school, and that's it. It's not easy to change your writing after using it for years either, no matter the efficiency.
@KoopaTheGamer We can agree on that for sure
@Ttimer5 When it comes to the states, I'll grab it if the price is right. As you get older and your main focus is working and paying bills and worrying about your home, family, and work...you tend to do things for your brain...I need to start doing more...this "game" could be helpful.
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