A number of scientists have disputed claims that brain training games can improve your memory and keep your mind healthy. Consumer magazine Which? assembled a team of experts to examine the research behind such claims and found that there wasn’t much evidence to back them up.

Brain Training’s instruction booklet says “training can help consolidate memory and creativity and may hopefully help develop a resistance against decline in later life”. But the Which? panel of scientists disagreed. “There is no evidence that using this product will have any functional impact on your life whatsoever,” they said.

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Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars has been granted an 18 certificate by the British Board of Film Classification, making it the first DS title to receive the adults-only rating. According to the BBFC, the game contains “very strong language and drug references”, and it’s also known to include drug-dealing and safe-cracking mini-games. It was passed by the body with no cuts made to its content.

Having conquered other gaming platforms such as PC, PlayStations, and Xboxes – GTA IV grossed $500 million in its first week on sale – Chinatown Wars will become the first game in UK developer Rockstar’s series to launch on Nintendo’s DS this March. So will the mature themed title find an audience on the platform, and how will a free-roaming, city-based series big on scale and exploration handle on Nintendo’s pocket-sized console?

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Deep Silver will release four new titles from its kid-focused Let’s Play series this Friday – Let’s Play Firemen, Let’s Play Fashion Designer, Let’s Play Pet Hospitals and Let’s Play Schools. The publisher says that the Let’s Play range of titles has been designed to provide “interesting and exciting non-violent content” for children, offering the opportunity to try out various jobs. The titles are said to feature amusing mini-games that ensure a “well-balanced, motivating mix of fun and education”.

We know that children like to take on various grown-up roles and therefore on the whole the idea of introducing them to various professions at an early age certainly seems like a sensible enough one to us. If none of the jobs listed above take your fancy then Let’s Play Shops and Let’s Play Mums will also be released in June. If you fancy pre-ordering any of the games coming out this week then just click the Get The Full Story button and we’ll direct you to Amazon’s pre-order pages.

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Professor Layton And The Curious Village has returned to the top of the DS chart, with last week’s bestseller, Mystery Case Files: Millionheir, dropping to number three. Sandwiched between the pair is Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, which moved up one place from last week.

Mario Kart DS took fourth place and New Super Mario Mario Bros. fifth. Click through for the full top ten.

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If you dream of working with animals one day then this could well be the game for you. Targeted at young female gamers, My Pet Shop’s set to deliver care and nurture gameplay plus an engaging storyline. Following your move from the metropolis of Gold City, it sees you endeavour to run the best pet shop ever seen in your new home, the colourful world of Green Town.

You’ll have to find and care for over 40 cute – and sometimes unusual – pets including dogs, cats, pigs, pandas and bears. Caring for and playing with the pets will earn you money to buy fashion accessories for them and you can also teach them tricks, all of which will help when entering the town’s photo and fitness contests. You’ll also be able to show off and share your pets with your friends using the DS wireless connection.

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No sooner had we posted the US release date, then the UK date came through! The Nintendo DSi will be available from Friday 3rd April, and if you pre-order, it will be delivered to you that very morn. Oh, and we get it one day before the US too. Boo-yaaah!  Speaking of the US Amazon have reportedly sold all of their pre-order allocation. Merchants are starting to take pre-orders here in the UK,  and it is advisable to do so to avoid disappointment. Don’t just take our word for it – you know what Nintendo are like. ALL the big launches sell out. For Nintendo DSi Preorders and other stock details, just click on the link. 

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Nintendo’s confirmed that the third iteration of its DS handheld, the DSi, will launch in the States on April 5, and a European release date surely can’t be far away now! Coming in blue and black models upon its U.S. release, the DSi will cost $169.99, which is about $40 more than the DS Lite currently retails for. If you’re thinking about upgrading from your existing DS or picking up the portable for the first time, you’ll be interested to know that, beyond the fact that it’s slimmer and has bigger screens, the DSi introduces a raft of new features…

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Oxygen Games has revealed Challenge Me: Brain Puzzles, the debut entry in a new range of DS games “designed to relax and stimulate your mind”. The company says that the title, which combines number based games Sudoku and Picture Logic, will deliver hours of entertainment and “may also improve your mental skills”. We see no reason why it wouldn’t do both, but then that’s hardly a novelty considering the plethora of brain training and puzzle games currently available.

In fact, the screenshots make the game look like it really would relax you, probably to the point of sending you to sleep. Perhaps that’s a little unfair though, because it’s not as if Sudoku puzzles look any more exciting in the back of the paper. Plus they’re pretty addictive, and playing them with the DS and stylus – 500 challenges are included – gives you that extra interactivity a pen and pencil can’t.

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The most common of DS Lite models, Polar White and Onyx Black, may soon be discontinued as Nintendo looks to avoid causing confusion when it launches its newest version of the handheld, the DSi, later this year. The white DS Lite has already been discontinued in the States and according to reports, retailers are now beginning to phase out the black model.

It’s unconfirmed at the moment, but the move would make sense seeing as Nintendo’s preparing to release its newest DS model, the DSi, later this year in the West, and initially it’ll probably do so in black and/or white variations. We expect a similar phasing out – of one model at least – to occur on this side of the pond as well a little closer to the DSi’s planned spring-summer launch, so there’s still time to get your hands on one of the classic white or black models if you feel the urge.

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No we’re not telling you off, you can turn the air blue if  you want (God knows we do sometimes), what we’re on about is the new range of language games coming to the DS from PlayV.

Mind Your Language comes in French, German, Spanish and Japanese with more languages to follow later in the year. Features include over 1000 recorded words so you can perfect your pronunciation, and 8 different types of game which ensure you have an understanding of the written language also. (My Coach was criticized for only building vocabulary and not emphasising on the grammar enough.)

Now regular readers will know how much we love words and ‘learning’ on this blog and we await this series excitedly. Only a few more days before it is released. So which language will it be?

Mind Your Language is out on February 13th. The games are £17.99 and available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk now.

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