KEY POINTS:
Nintendo is teaching ad agencies a lesson.
So much advertising is aimed at making products cool for my generation, they forget about the growing baby boomers that are now my parents age.
Every few weeks there's another story from the US about how Wii is so cool that it's always in short supply.
Newspapers are now running stories - being sick of the short supply Wii story - they've gone crazy on how Wii and the DS are a growing hit amongst seniors.
In Maryland, a retirement complex has scattered 25 Wii machines around. "We had a group of ladies who did a boxing session, and a 90-year-old lady got a knock out!" said Earl Davis, 73, a complex resident who comes out to cheer on competitors.
You better watch it if you are out tagging that complex!
In Iowa, virtual Wii bowling is a hit with seniors, according to a headline in the city's main paper.
In New Jersey, TV is reporting "Senior citizens in Fairport are using a high-tech game system to stay active." By "high-tech" they mean Wii.
In a New York suburb, local papers there are raving about how a 93 - year-old who hasn't done 10-pin bowling for 30 years is now having fun on a Wii.
And so it goes on.
By cunning plan or accident, Nintendo has found an entirely new market.
It began with the "mind training" Brain Age DS and later Wii games which are supposed to sharpen your IQ and mental skills.
Now out comes Sight Training (rated G) for the DS.
Supervised by a Dr Hisao Ishigaki "a leader in visual training for athletes" you test things like your ability to clearly see moving objects, take in a lot of info at once and quickly and accurately react.
In an interview the learned doctor explains: "You use many kinds of visual abilities in daily life. Identifying several objects in a wide range of vision at once, correctly recognising moving objects and so on make up your ability to see. In other words, you could say your visual ability is the accuracy and agility of your eyes. In this game we call your visual ability 'Focus Ability', and aim to improve it through training."
So does it work?
Maybe. I don't really think so, but at least it's fun.
Core training - the basic modes- is a bit serious, like the eye tests you have at an optician to see if you really need glasses.
But sports training is better. "Playing" games like table tennis and volleyball are great for eye co-ordination and so on.
In baseball, you tap the screen as if hitting the ball but it's all about doing it quick enough as the ball comes toward you.
Like the Brain Age games, the mini-game exercises are simple and fun enough in short doses to sharpen you up.
The classic loading screen 'tips' are good in practice like reading billboards quickly without moving your head on public transport and the cool-down for your eyes seems equally applicable to every day life. Banging the DS touchscreen rapidly whilst aiming at moving blocks may cause some harm rather than inhibit it.
I'm just not sure I trust it enough to head to the optician to demand some specs when i have a bad day!
MadGamer's rating: 6.5 / 10
