Mind Quiz

Mind Quiz
Developer(s) Sega
Publisher(s) Ubisoft
Designer(s) Rieko Kodama
Platform(s) Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)

Nintendo DS

  • JP: September 14, 2006
  • NA: March 13, 2007
  • PAL: March 23, 2007

PlayStation Portable

  • NA: October 31, 2006
  • AUS: November 16, 2006
  • EU: November 17, 2006
Genre(s) Educational
Mode(s) Single-player

Mind Quiz, also known as Mind Quiz: Exercise Your Brain or Mind Quiz: Your Brain Coach (Nounenrei: Nou Stress Kei Atama Scan in Japan), is a mental training game for the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. It is similar to Nintendo's Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! It involves playing different training exercises to measure and improve particular parts of the player's brain, such as one's brain age and its brain stress degree.

Overview

The game offers over 40 training games,[1] each being separated into 4 brain training categories:

  1. Calculation — Tests the player's ability to apply their mathematics skills.
  2. Reflex — Displays problems that mostly require the player to rapidly press the buttons.
  3. Judgement — Examines how well the player can apply their decision-making and thinking skills.
  4. Memory — Tests the player's ability to memorize certain numbers, shapes, and the like.

Grading system

Grades in Mind Quiz range from A+ to E,[1] each being associated with a different level of performance.

A+ A B+ B C+ C D+ D E+ E
>95.0% 90-94.9% 85-89.9% 80-84.9% 70-79.9% 60-69.9% 50-59.9% 40-49.9% 30-39.9% <29.9%

Game modes

Game modes include[2]

Exams

Take any one of five different exams testing in all four Mind Quiz fields.[2]

Galleries

View two different galleries: one containing animal pictures, and one containing Brain Trainer Awards.[2]

Network

Accessible from the Main Menu, this function requires two PSP systems with the Mind Quiz: Exercise Your Brain UMD inside, and with the WLAN switch on. One player selects "Player Search" and is the host. The other player selects "Participate" and is the recipient. Once a connection is established, the players prepare and start competing. Each player is given a set number of questions. Whoever gets all questions first wins.

The phrase "Super Spastic" is highlighted in red

Gameplay

After entering the Training Mode, the player is asked his first question. When the game is finished, a report card will show time, rate %, and letter grade, along with a comment from the teacher.

UK Recall

On June 29, 2007, Ubisoft, the game's publisher, voluntarily pulled the game from store shelves in the UK upon complaints that the word spastic, a term that is offensive in the UK, was triggered when the player didn't perform well on certain questions.[3] Ubisoft stated "As soon as we were made aware of the issue we stopped distribution of the product and are now working with retailers to pull the game off the market."[4]

The only country where the European English version of the game is sold is Australia since the term is not considered especially offensive there or overly sensitive.

The same incident occurred with the game Mario Party 8, released for the Nintendo Wii, just a month later. The same word caused controversy and was recalled in the UK. However, unlike Mind Quiz, that word was replaced by the word "erratic" and it was finally re-released in the UK on August 3, 2007.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
GameSpot4.9 out of 10[5]
IGN4.0 out of 10[6]

The title received mixed reviews; garnering 51.20% on GameRankings. GameSpot gave the game 4.9/10 (Poor), stating that "Mind Quiz: Your Brain Coach is a shameless clone of Nintendo's brain-training DS game, Brain Age" and that "This game isn't good enough to serve as a game for Brain Age players who are looking for more of the same because it's too similar yet too shallow to entertain that crowd. If you fall into the group of people who haven't played Brain Age, you should go with that one rather than waste your time on a pretender like Mind Quiz."[7] However, the game averaged 75.3 on Metacritic.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Google Translate". Translate.google.com. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  2. 1 2 3 4. "Mind Quiz : Exercise your Brain - PSP". Gamekult.com. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  3. ↑ Mind Quiz Yanked in UK for Offensive Term.
  4. ↑ News about discontinued game on Aussie-Nintendo.com
  5. ↑ Gerstmann, Jeff (2007-04-06). "Mind Quiz Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  6. ↑ DeVries, Jack. "Mind Quiz Review". IGN. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  7. ↑ GameSpot Review
  8. ↑
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