Iwata Asks: Nintendo President interviews Dr. Kawashima, explains series' origin

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has conducted his latest 'Iwata Asks' interview, and this time he has sat down with Dr. Kawashima of 'Brian Training' fame - yeah, he's a real guy. The interview discusses how the immensely popular string of Nintendo DS titles came to exist, and discusses Nintendo's next release in the series, Dr Kawashima's Devilish Brain Training.

During the interview, Iwata reveals that the concept of the game came from Kawashima's own series of educational brain training books, and that Iwata approached the doctor with a prototype that would go on to be the first Brain Training title.

Kawashima also explains why and how his games stimulate the brain in some detail, and warns that while the puzzles in his new game 'Devilish Brain Training' are really quite tough, they will have a positive impact on your brain's functions.

"That’s why it’s called Devilish Brain Training. To be honest, I basically made it with myself in mind, " he admits, and added, "It can be considered that using Devilish Brain Training to study for exams can contribute to improve your results. The greater the capacity of your working memory, the more information you’ve got ‘online’, so to speak, and the more accurate and precise your decisions become. I also recommend it for people in work, therefore, since they need to be able to make split-second decisions."

It's a fascinating read. Check out the interview in full here.