一种由日本任天堂游戏公司开发、据说能帮助老年人锻炼脑力、防止痴呆的电子游戏产品即将于5月份在英国上市。这款叫做“大脑训练”的电子游戏机的目标客户群为45岁以上的中老年人。

    让老人大脑的“灰质细胞”玩游戏

   据英国《每日电讯》3月18日报道，这款游戏机是由日本东京的一些神经科学家为任天堂数字游戏公司开发的，游戏设计包括许多与数学、语言、记忆以及智商有关的迷题。游戏者须在一定时间内完成游戏任务，游戏动作有时还包括大声阅读和画画等。

    报道说，“大脑训练”游戏机目前在日本老年人中广受欢迎，在日本上市不到一年时间已售出140万部，甚至让越来越多的女性顾客和年龄更老些的顾客也“爱上了”游戏机。

    “愉悦而无意义”的游戏开始流行

    与单纯的射击、赛跑和体育类型的游戏相比，目前的电脑游戏公司越来越注重开发一些非竞争性的、有时甚至是“愉悦而无意义”的电子游戏，包括电子宠物、电子植物以及外科手术中心（可进行视频手术游戏）等。

    任天堂娱乐公司负责人宫本茂说，这款“大脑训练”可以让一些原以为自己不适合玩游戏的人爱上它。他说，玩游戏和不玩游戏的人有很大的区别，对于一些不玩游戏的人来说，电子游戏是和他们不相关的东西，他们认为所有的游戏肯定都太难了。“而我们想要消除这一障碍。它非常简单，是一种不同寻常的经历”。

    A video game that is said to help the older generation sharpen their minds and delay the onset of dementia is about to launched.

    Backed by a 2 million advertising campaign, Dr Kawashima's Brain Training is the first video game to be aimed at the over-45s.

    Designed by a Tokyo neuroscientist for Nintendo's DS handheld games console, it includes dozens of mathematical, language, memory and IQ-style puzzles.

    Players must race against the clock to complete the task, which also include reading aloud and drawing.

    The game is already a huge hit among Japanese pensioners and is part of a drive to increase the appeal of video games to women and older customers.

    Instead of churning out the usual mix of shooting, racing and sports games, computer games companies are increasingly producing non-competitive and occasionally charmingly pointless video game "experiences".

    They include Nintendogs, where the objective is to raise a cyber-puppy; Electroplankton, where the goal is to encourage fish to make music; and Trauma Centre: Under the Knife, where players carry out virtual operations.

    Shigeru Miyamoto, the head of Nintendo's entertainment division, said Brain Training would reach those who previously assumed computer games were not for them.

    "There are big lines between those who play video games and those who do not," he said. "For those who don't, video games are irrelevant. They think all video games must be too difficult. We want to remove that barrier. It's very simple. There are dozens of different questions. It's a very unusual experience."

    Brain Training has sold more than 1.4 million copies since its Japanese launch just under a year ago. It arrives in Britain in mid-May.

    The female market is also crucial for computer games companies. Its virtual puppy game Nintendogs was a big hit among teenage girls and women in their 20s.

    Animal Crossing is typical of the new generation of games. There is no point, no purpose and no competition. Players simply amble around the virtual world talking to other visitors, posting letters, selling and buying and decorating their home. The game exists in real time and the user experiences the changing seasons. "It's been called slow life," said Mr Miyamoto. "The main purpose is to communicate with other people."

    It is not just the content of games that is changing to appeal to older and female gamers. The design of the DS, which uses a touch sensitive screen and stylus, means people don't have to learn how to use a push button keypad.

    Nintendo's new home entertainment console, the Revolution - due later this year - takes it one step further with a wireless joystick. ( 程瑶）

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