The next installment in the Brain Age series (or Brain Training as it’s known in Japan) will come with a mix of classic mentally-stimulating mini-games along with a number of new ones. The problem for Nintendo Switch Lite owners is that these new games will require players to use features of the vanilla Switch that the new portable-centric version doesn’t have.
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As today’s announcement from Nintendo revealed, the IR camera built into the Switch’s right Joy-Con will be utilized in various ways in Brain Age: Nintendo Switch Training (that’s just a rough translation; an official English title has yet to be announced). Examples shown included players using their hands to solve rapid-fire math problems and play Rock Paper Scissors, with the camera being capable of registering how many fingers they’re holding up. It appears that these games are designed to be used with the right Joy-Con detached from the Switch and pointed at the players’ hand.
Obviously, that’s something the Switch Lite, which doesn’t sport detachable Joy-Cons, can’t do even if it had an IR camera. As such, a number of mini-games won’t be available there, such as games with names that can be translated as “Victory or Defeat Test,” “Finger Counting,” “Finger Gymnastics,” “Wild Bird Multiplication,” “Flag Raising,” and “Box Multiplication.”
This is a rather strange oversight on Nintendo’s part, and most fans will probably agree that it’s a bit at odds with the spirit of the series. Brain Age has always been on Nintendo’s portable consoles, so making a new Brain Age game even partially incompatible with its latest handheld, especially one that stands among the best handhelds ever, seems like a problem the company should try to fix as soon as possible, if it can.
Brain Age: Nintendo Switch Training will be out for the Switch in Japan on December 27. Release dates for other territories have yet to be announced.
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Source: NintendoSoup
