Who has the biggest brain? The new mental fitness game bases on the original best-selling Nintendo DS title. Players are mentally and physically challenged in five different categories: Analyze, Compute, Identify, Memorize and Think. The player who collects the most tokens by answering questions correctly wins. Speed and accuracy count - not smarts - when answering questions at the Big Brain Academy.

University Games Big Brain Academy Game [Amazon Product Page via bits bytes pixels & sprites]

Mind-bending new Big Brain Wii screen [CVG]

The best part of the Wii version of the game will be using the Miis and testing yourself with other folks using the WiiConnect24 feature. The game is two player, so you can also play one other person in the room like Crecente did last year.

At least it means you won't get stuck alone with the mutant "foreign exchange program gone wrong" students on the box. That one guy on the right looks like a jumper. Kim Phu

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree Box Art [Go Nintendo]

The thing about how the D&AD Awards works in advertising is you have to pay a truckload of of money for every entry (your creative work) you submit, in hopes that you win a yellow pencil so that your work can then be bound in a $150 book called the D&AD annual that showcases that the "winners". Winning a yellow pencil is how everyone is advertising knows they're the nacho chip with the most cheese, and the annuals are always "a way to steal a good idea" (thanks expensive art school teacher for the tip - I know why you went so far in life!).

What will be interesting to see is how Playstation and Nintendo can actually pick up a D&AD Award for their innovative work they do without winning an award for the way their games are marketed. Kim Phu

Sony, Nintendo nominated for D&AD awards [Games Industry Biz]

I just heard word that Nintendo has gotten around to officially naming Big Brain for the Wii.

The smarty-pants Wii game will be officially titled Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree. Hmm, I wonder if that means you'll be fighting to earn a degree as opposed to increasing your brain weight or brain age?

I expect more news on this sometime this week. Any guesses? Brian Crecente

Luke Smith, former mop-headed Kotaku writer and current moppier-headed 1Up news editor, totally whipped me in a little impromptu game of Big Brain Academy on the Wii, during the NYC event.

In my defense, the game was in Japanese and some Wii pimp was trying to explain the game to me as Luke zipped through the, apparently, timed match. The winner of the game is the first person to get 12 questions right.

It was kinda cool. Once the game started we both had to zip through a bunch of short, Brain Age meets Warioware split-screen challenges.

In one challenge you're given a total and a column of squares with numbers on them. The object was to remove the squares until the remaining numbers equaled the total shown on the screen.

In another challenge, half the screen is filled with an almost Tetris-like image of stacked blocks. The other half of the screen is filled with a bunch of blocks. The object is to remove blocks from the bottom screen to match the top image.

The final challenge I can remember was having to use the pointer to match a picture by moving objects around on part of the screen.

The quick match I played with Luke was fast-paced and fun and, as I mentioned earlier, felt an awful lot like a Warioware game. I think this is another game with great potential, especially given the dual-screen multiplayer mode.

Hit the jump for the official spec sheet. Brian Crecente

Big Brain Academy (temporary name)
Format: Wii
Date Available: TBA
ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)
Game Type: Fun Mental Training
Accessories: TBA
Players: 2
Developer: Nintendo

KEY INFORMATION
The Wii Remote controller's hands-on control makes playing a cinch. This rethinking of the popular Nintendo DS game will test players' brains with fun problems and allow people of any age to play together. Multiplayer versus and co-op play modes also have been added, allowing players to use the title as a brain-training exercise or a raucous party game.
The Wii Remote's hands-on control makes playing the game a breeze, and revamps the DS game that exercised players' minds with enjoyable brain-teasers.
In addition to single-player mode, there are versus and co-op multiplayer modes that people of any age or education level to play together.
Mii data compatible.

Special powers/weapons/moves/features: The game features a two-player versus mode that uses a split screen. The same problems will appear in a different order. The first player to get 12 correct answers wins.

Nintendo's next brain age game, Big Brain Academy, is set to hit the states on May 29. I had a chance to check out the game at this year's GDC and it looked much more visual and friendly than its math-happy big brother Brain Age.

I can't wait to get this bad boy and see if my soon-to-be 5-year-old son can play it...then school him on it.

Hit the jump for more details about Big Brain Academy's minigames.

From the press release:

Big Brain Academy is a series of minigames (called Activities) that are designed to exercise the brain. Players can "weigh" their brain in Test mode, earn medals for individual activities in Practice mode or play against friends and family in Versus mode.

Big Brain Academy's Test mode will quiz players in five areas: thinking, memorization, computation, analysis and identification. After taking the test, players will be told the "weight" of their brain and areas of strength or weakness - and it will identify a brain type that is similar to their own. Once they have a score, they can keep playing the game to exercise the brain in areas where it needs improvement based on their performance in the Test mode.

This title features a riotous multiplayer mode in which up to eight people can play with a single game card. Players will compete in Activities to see who has the "biggest" brain, and the results will be displayed for all to see. A demo test can also be sent to another DS. How to progress through the game: When starting a new game, players will enter Test mode and take a five-part quiz that shows their brain "weight," a letter grade and a profession or famous historical individual that may have a similar brain. Results are based on how many correct answers players get in a set period of time - and the goal is to gradually increase the "weight" of their brain. Players also can play all of the Activities in Practice mode. If they do well in Practice, they'll earn bronze, silver, gold and platinum medals.

The 15 Activities are minigames that test logic, memory and all of them involve the touch screen in some way. The tactile nature of the Activities makes them very fun to play, while the quick play time (all take less than one minute) gives them a compelling feel.

Sample Activities

Think:
Heavyweight - Choose which object weighs more - it's not so easy with three different scales.
Pathfinder - Look at the creature on the top screen and draw a line that will lead him to his friend.

Memorize:
Sound Bites - Carefully listen to people and animals as they make noise, then try to touch them in the correct order. Memo-Random - Examine the panels on the top row, then touch the correct one when the panel is replaced by a question mark.

Analyze:
Missing Link - Look at the red line in the picture on the top screen and draw it into the picture on the touch screen. Watch out! Some pictures will be inverted.
CubeGame - Count the blocks, being careful not to forget the ones hiding at the bottom of the stack.

Compute:
Coin-parison - Choose the panel with the greater amount of money.

Written:
Math - Read the problems in word form, then solve them by tapping the number pad on the Touch Screen.

Identify:
Shadow Shift - Tap the images on the Touch Screen that match the spinning shadows on the top screen. Matchmaker - Look through a number of colorful panels to find the matching pair.

In other Nintendo DS news, gray matter game Big Brain Academy ships on June 5, instead of late May. This second title in the brain-training series already has sold more than 1 million units in Japan. The first title in the series, Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, drops Stateside April 17.

Nintendo [Official Site]

Some new screens for Big Brain Academy popped up over at a French pro gaming website. This is the game I played (and fawned over) at the NGS late last year. The backgrounds had some color added to them and the presentation has been sharpened up a bit. The game pictured (forming an item out of shapes) is a giant pain. It's awesome. For a couple more screens, check the jump; for the rest of them, click the link.

Big Brain Academy Screens [Pro Gamers]