DS gets another Professor to work your head out

Once upon a time, a cry of "brains! brains!" was seldom heard outside of the schlock-horror soundtrack of zombie games and movies.

Thanks to Nintendo DS' IQ-boosting games, however, the same phrase is now more likely to be heard from the lips of preppy teenagers who play Big Brain Academy and do their homework on time, or their greying baby boomers parents trying to age gracefully.

Rival publishers have heard the call too, or at least the ring of the cash register. And like Nintendo's Professor Kawashima's Brain Training, 505 Games' new offerings also originate from Japan, involve the words brain and train, and bring a boffin to the party, in this case Dr. Makoto Shichida, professor at the University of Newport, Japan, rather than Nintendo's dear old Professor Kawashima.

505' Games' The Professor's Brain Trainer series will launch with two games – Logic and Memory. As you'd expect, these are designed to train your brain functions in different ways, with Logic focusing on problems solving, mathematical ability and concentration, while Memory should enhance your visual association, and concentration.

Do you think someone's been copying at the back of the classroom? Let's hope it proves more a variation on a theme. Expect more details to leak out before the games' designated winter release date.