Review: Smart As   When the Nintendo DS was first introduced in
my house there was one game that I played above every other
title.  Brain Age.  Maybe it was the perfect storm of having a
new toy in the house and only one game that I could play that
the kids couldn’t (or didn’t want to).  Maybe it was the fact
that Sudoku was an integral part of the game.  Or perhaps it was
the idea that I could exercise my brain each day for just a few
minutes and through either real science or placebo effect, I
felt smarter after giving a good run at the game.  Then again,
it could have been the pleasant geometric face of Dr. Kawashima
greeting me each time I fired up the game.  Of any of these
potential choices, Brain Age proved one thing: video games don’t
have to be violent.  Video games don’t have to be twitchy.
 Video games can be smart and educational.  I’m not certain why
my game time with Brain Age dropped off.  Probably some
other shiny new game took my fascination, or perhaps my kids had
found a game that required