DS Lite and Brain Age not playing well together
by David Hinkle 
{ Apr 19th 2006 at 10:00PM }
No doubt you're too occupied with charting your brain's age and calculating simple arithmetic with the quickness of a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to read this post. That's OK, we'll forgive you and just post this blog here for when you encounter this most horrible issue while playing on your newly-acquired DS Lite. Seems the device doesn't recognize the word blue, a word that is so critical to success in the "game." Reader Sean even went so far as to knock upon the doors of Nintendo, demanding an answer to this most heinous issue. The response he received was:
Hi Sean,
Thanks for your e-mail. We appreciate your comments. The problem that you are describing is very likely because the Nintendo DS Lite is not designed for use in North America. That means that we have not tested it for use here. I will be sure to forward your e-mail along for further review, just in case.
So far, the redesigned Nintendo DS has only been released in Japan. Look for any further announcements on this product by checking the news section of our website at the following address:
www.nintendo.com/newsmain
Keep checking our website at www.nintendo.com for the latest on Nintendo games, systems, and promotions. And, while on our site, also check out the My Nintendo program. With this program, not only can you check on the status of a
subscription, part order or repair order, but you can also register your games and systems, and participate in the Nintendo Forums.
Nintendo of America Inc.
Lauren Taylor
The funny thing is, the "game" can hardly recognize when I say blue either, and that's on an original phat DS. Maybe it's my rough Philly accent, which makes me say "wooter" instead of "water."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
rocket @ Feb 24th 2008 10:33AM
I have just got a ds lite but it does not recognise when i say scissors!!! does anyone else have this prob!!
Adam @ Apr 19th 2006 10:11PM
Why wouldn't they test the DS in english? What if I live in Japan and I speak English... isn't the DS supposed to have multilanguages (like you can convert it to English text)... I think Nintendo is just covering for a major F*** up
Jimmy @ Apr 19th 2006 10:11PM
Oh man..."blue"...i've been to the many times have I downloaded the brain age demo and "blue" has always been a serious difficulty for my DS (phat) to recognize.
Thomas @ Apr 19th 2006 10:14PM
On my DSlite, with the japanese version of Brain Age, even for japanese people, some words used for this game are hardly recognize. Is it because my friends speak with Kansai accent and the DS lite is for "Tokyo ben" ??!
Speak slowly and "quietly", it's the best way to be recognize.
Leo @ Apr 19th 2006 10:26PM
I downloaded the demo at a DS Download Station and I think the game itself just sucks at recognizing the word "blue." If I still had the demo, I'd try saying "blue" in different ways to see what works best, but it definitely effed up my brain age.
willdaddy @ Apr 19th 2006 10:54PM
I tried it on a download station on my fat DS and I thought my mic was broken, in the first test I was supposed to say 'blue' I sat there saying 'blue' into' my DS for a few minutes looking like a huge moron in Best Buy. How can something this simple nort work on pretty much any DS?
Shinn @ Apr 19th 2006 10:54PM
I don't know about you but my DS Phat has recognized the word "blue" just fine. Well 95% of the time anyways
Rivithed @ Apr 19th 2006 11:08PM
I had the same problem and thought it was me. Then my girlfriend tried it and had problems with it too. Yeah, we're all BLUE about it!
Rivithed @ Apr 19th 2006 11:10PM
PS: Its not on a DS lite, but on a regular Nintendo DS
Oro @ Apr 19th 2006 11:46PM
I have a DS Lite and Brain Age, and I've never had any trouble with the word "Blue". The only time that it doesn't get what I'm saying is when I stutter and say something like "Yell-BLACK!!" or "Re-BLUE!" when I realize I'm saying the word and not the color :p But otherwise, I haven't noticed anything with it not hearing the words. It seems like there's a significant number of people having trouble with the word "Blue", so maybe I'm in the minority.
Moogle @ Apr 19th 2006 11:46PM
Try saying Broo, with a short rolled r. If it works, I will laugh and laugh and laugh.
nova @ Apr 19th 2006 11:47PM
My DS Lite recognizes blue no problem. You just need to enunciate the "b" more than you would in normal conversation. Like "buhlue."
Nushio @ Apr 20th 2006 12:14AM
Actually, I can pronounce "Blue" perfectly, my mom has trouble with "Yellow". I have trouble with "Black", and my dad has trouble with "Blue".
I guess its just a matter of speech? ;)
Probot @ Apr 20th 2006 12:16AM
I want to see a video of this. I think it probably has more to do with how people pronounce the word "blue." I haven't played the game, but I don't think I'd have a problem if nova is correct, since that's the way I normally pronounce the word.
My only problem is the word "blue" sounds weird when I say it now. Everytime I read a Brain Age article, someone mentions the problem with blue and for the next 10 minutes, I repeat the word blue to hear how I pronounce it.
Ethan @ Apr 20th 2006 12:25AM
I saw this problem immediately when my boss who has a Mexican accent could not get the word "blue" recognized. It only worked when I said it. They "Looo" sound it seems to get but if you kind of say "bluoo" or use soft vowels it will miss it.
designerwhite @ Apr 20th 2006 12:34AM
(Try pronouncing it with a silent E.)
works fine on my phat - I'll still be getting a lite - perhaps the mic is calibrated to japanese voices. Hopefully ours will work dandy.
and yeah, this game is rad. worth it just for the sodoku.
cooper @ Apr 20th 2006 12:34AM
I had to adjust the volume of the word "blue" to get it recognized. My friend and girlfriend also had trouble.
reef @ Apr 20th 2006 1:08AM
I've never had this problem. Either there are a bunch of faulty Brain Age copies or people are not performing the excercises correctly (i.e. holding the DS far enough away, etc).
Tarek @ Apr 20th 2006 1:36AM
Agreed. On my regular old DS, it doesn't recognize "blue" about 30% of the time.
G3K @ Apr 20th 2006 1:45AM
It works fine with me on my Phat DS, but my girlfriend (who's from the Philly area!) always has to scream "BLUE" fifteen times for it to take. I smell a conspiracy.
ghosttoaster @ Apr 20th 2006 3:46AM
I got the demo station verstion of brain training, and couldn't get it to recognized any color I shouted into the mic.
There's nothing more humiliating than shouting "Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue!" into your DS at the top of your lungs in the middle of a ebgames, filled with people buying 360 and PS2 games.
NR @ Apr 20th 2006 7:10AM
I just got Brain Age yesterday, and I too had lots of trouble with the word "Blue". I gave it to my wife, and she did not have any problems.
Nintendo needs to fix this!
ntrpy @ Apr 20th 2006 8:40AM
I had this same problem at first. Simply turn the volume down on the DS unit itself to very low or off, and it seems it has a much easier time recognizing the word blue.
Phil @ Apr 20th 2006 9:05AM
I've not had any problems at all getting mine to recognize any words on my DS Fat (I refuse to call it Phat - it's Fat, let's be honest). I didn't have to do any volume adjustments. 9 times out of 10 I'd wager this is due to little differences in accents that people don't even realize they have.
Melanie @ Apr 20th 2006 9:18AM
My friend and I both had trouble getting it to recognize "blue". We are in Canada, so we thought maybe we say blue with a Canadian accent. US people, do we say "blue" funny? I still don't hear that about/aboot thing.
Lee @ Apr 20th 2006 9:22AM
I haven't tried the speaking aloud sections yet - but I have a terrible time getting it to recognise my numbers. It just does not like the way I write the number 9 - and will never accept it. It will only take it if you write a number in a single stroke, which I do not. It really sucks for the math sections where you are timed.
PhoenixGeek @ Apr 20th 2006 9:25AM
On my normal DS it understands the word Blue every time I say it, but my fiancee has to put an emphasis on the first part of the word and raise her pitch on the ooo for it to understand her. We are both in the Midwest so we can't blame an accent on the issue, but I will have to make her try saying it softly instead of yelling at the DS when she plays.
It would have been nice if when you created a new profile the game had you say a few words so it could train itself to your voice.
Jarrod Turner @ Apr 20th 2006 9:32AM
I'm having no problems with blue, although people that have tried the game have had problems.
My problem with the game is that it randomly crashes sometimes when I'm in the middle of something.
Sense @ Apr 20th 2006 9:44AM
My friend's fiance is from Beliz. The game never recognizes blue when she says it. I think it's an accent thing.
jojonyc @ Apr 20th 2006 10:08AM
i haven't had any trouble with voice recognition at all... not even once. just a little handwriting recognition between 2's and 7's, but that's my bad script and not the ds.
Ian Zabel @ Apr 20th 2006 10:30AM
I have an original DS, and the game's accuracy on the word 'blue' is only about 50%. This is the case with me, my wife, and my buddy and his wife. That's four people that all have the same issue with the word blue.
It sucks!
Squints @ Apr 20th 2006 10:46AM
Anyone else notice it's impossible to write "k" in the game?
I just ordered my Lite (Lik-Sang just got their stock back up... cocaine white, baby.) I'm not to worried about this. Mostly because I alreayd had to say "Red-duhhhh" to get it to figure out I was saying red.
And the game thinks my 8's are 2's.
BobbyHollywood @ Apr 20th 2006 10:50AM
Same as above... "I thought it was just me, but now..."
Turning the volume off or lowering it didn't help me say "blue." Making sure I was in a quiet room did.
Regardless, the voice recognition bug sure didn't help me sell my wife on picking this one up.
.ed @ Apr 20th 2006 11:06AM
======================
======================
THIS IS NOT A DS LITE PROBLEM
======================
======================
try speaking clearly, I say "BHLU" very clear and it works fine 100%, my girlfriend says "blOO" (light "bl" sound) and it has trouble.
It's all in how you say it, and has nothing to do with the software or hardware.
Shenzou @ Apr 20th 2006 11:07AM
I call BS.
I'm playing the Canadian/French version of Brain Age on a Japanese DS Lite and I'm Swedish with a slight Finnish accent and it picks upp my words perfectly.
Sean @ Apr 20th 2006 11:23AM
Hey guys, my DS fat got the word Blue 90% of the time for me and my g/f. The Lite got it 10% of the time. If I get some time ill make a comparison movie.
Jay @ Apr 20th 2006 11:41AM
"Blue" Doesn't even work on ds phat. I don't get it but it frustrating. I think Brain age is a great game but with the "Blue" problem I will never get a valid Brain Age. I think nintendo needs to fix the problem and recall the game.
Has anyone who has the game figured out a way around the "blue" word.
symmet @ Apr 20th 2006 12:03PM
It would be quite a sight to walk into best buy and see a group of people huddled over their DS's yelling, "BLUE! BLUE! BLUE!".
t4m @ Apr 20th 2006 12:41PM
10> that's the first thing i tried! and it worked... no better than just blue, but it does work. ;)
i let a laid back friend of mine give the demo a go, and when he repeated all the colors in a relaxed fashion there was no problem with the recognition. seems if you shout the words real fast the issue arises.
so everybody: chill the bleep out! :p
crono141 @ Apr 20th 2006 1:06PM
Yes, just hold the game 6 inch to a foot from your face and talk in a normal volume, don't speak up AT ALL. Fixes the problem.
clay @ Apr 20th 2006 1:42PM
"Blue" works fine for me on my DS (phat), but it almost never works for my roommate. To me it sounds like he is saying it exactly the same as me (no different accent involved), but I guess the voice recognition software a lot more sensitive than I am.
Kev50027 @ Apr 20th 2006 1:48PM
I dont see how the hardware is at fault for this, it sounds like a software problem. Maybe the creator of the game should release a free update to fix the problem.
Dan @ Apr 20th 2006 2:19PM
Blue problems, and I can't get it to recognize an "8" to save my life. This is with the original phat DS.
Argenys @ Apr 20th 2006 2:28PM
Yeah, I just got brain age and I have the same problem. And im telling you I have no accent im pronouncing it perfectly and still only 50% of the time does it understand me. I was about to return the game because it was booty but I see pretty much everyone has the same problem. Damn You NINTENDO!!!
Moses @ Apr 20th 2006 2:39PM
my red phat ds does not recognize blue either
Ryan Heath @ Apr 20th 2006 3:08PM
The reason it doesn't work on the Japanese DS Lite is because you're pronouncing "blue" like a westerner.
In Japan, it's pronouned "brue".
Duh.
ArcadeFire @ Apr 20th 2006 3:44PM
OMG that happened to me. I was yelling 'BLUE DAMMIT!!!1!!1'. I was furious. Apparently you're supposed to speak gently into the DS. Lite or not, I think this dude's issue was the fact that he was yelling. He does have a point though, 'cause I tried yelling all the other colours and that worked... hmm.
word. @ Apr 20th 2006 4:12PM
There are probably a few people out there who skipped over the instructions too quickly and are trying to speak a reading of the word, rather than speaking it's actual "colour."
I am actually impressed with how well the voice/stroke recognition works. I've been playing for days on my phat and I never have a problem with the voice recognition. I had a few problems with letters/numbers, but that was because I write them improperly. i.e. I write my 4's backwards [says my girlfriend]. I tried it the "proper" way and have had no problems since.
Shogan @ Apr 20th 2006 5:02PM
I had the same problem on my DS Phat. But, holding the DS farther away from your face helps a lot. Holding it close, BLUE was almost always not recognized, but holding it farther away, every word was recognized. That's the problem, not the DS Lite.
Brian Arnold @ Apr 20th 2006 5:13PM
As a few people have said, you need to speak more quietly. The mic is surprisingly sensitive, and shouting "BLUE BLUE BLUE OMG BLUE" into the mic won't work. Softly saying it worked really well for me. It's amazing how sensitive the microphone seems to be.