Ready to slow things down a bit? Sure, sitting down with a good ol' crossword puzzle might not get the blood pounding, but there's something simple and serene about filling in the grids at a leisurely pace. It's a game of patience and dedication, not to mention smarts -- not the typical fare for today's high-adrenaline gaming, but definitely a worthy alternative when you want a pleasant distraction next time you're on the go.

Crosswords DS, yet another Nintendo entry in the Touch! Generations lineup, provides such a distraction. It's simple, fun, and caters to crossword puzzlers of all skill levels. Add to that numerous word searches and anagrams and you have a pretty well-rounded package, one that even a staunch anti-puzzler could find something to like in. Want to hear more? Check out this week's edition of Gaming to Go and see for yourself if it's time to switch out the Sunday paper for your trusty DS.

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Math is fun! Or something. Normal people likely don't put much stock in the words, but every now and then a complex equation or three can be a great way to get the mathy part of your brain up and going. You could also just play Picross DS, an interesting take on the puzzle genre that emphasizes numbers and clever calculations over explosions and unbridled quirkiness. That probably paints Picross in one of the least interesting ways possible, but, uh, just run with it, okay?

Picross is fun. I didn't fully expect it to be the first time I fired it up, but wonders never cease when a refreshingly different kind of puzzle and the charm of Nintendo's Touch Generation series unite in nerdy, digital glory. With a ton of puzzles to conquer and numerous different modes of play, Picross certainly has a bevy of content to work with, transforming it into a title definitely worth snagging for your daily commute. Sure, some of those later puzzles might take longer than your lunch break, but Picross DS is still a supremely portable title, and one definitely suited for this week's edition of Gaming to Go. Want to hear more? Click that big button there and start believing in the power of numbers.

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Remember checkers? How about chess? And blackjack? What about dominoes? And Shogi and Ludo and Hasami Shogi and Koi-Koi and -- ahem. Don't recognize those last few names? No worries! I didn't know them either. There's still time to learn, however, and this is where Nintendo's Clubhouse Games comes to party.

It contains 42 -- yes, 42 -- classic games for your enjoyment, running the gamut from bowling and billiards to Mahjong solitaire and Pig. An incredible amount of variety exists in this tiny DS cart, making Clubhouse Games one of the most involving titles the DS has seen in recent years. The mind-boggling amount of games also makes it ideal for this week's edition of Gaming to Go. Sure, I might not recommend starting up a game of chess on your next lunch break, but why not go for a quick game of Connect Five? Whatever your mood fancies, Clubhouse Games has you covered. Want to hear more? Click that big grey button there to see what you've been missing.

Gallery: Clubhouse Games

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Tick tock of the clock ringing in your ears? Tell your timepiece to shove it! We live busy lives, but remember this: there's always time to game. Check back with Gaming to Go every week for the latest and greatest titles you should spend your precious few minutes with.

There's a couple of things to note about the above video, however. One: that elevator music is freakin' hideous (and on that note, we'd really like MP3 support in this please, Nintendo). And two: where are the optional Nintendo-themed pieces?! To have Mario and Peach playing the king and queen would have been an excellent little touch. Other Nintendo games get outstanding fan service, so why not this? Two words: Missed. Opportunity.

[Thanks, Troy!]

Considering it's a Nintendo game, there's been astoundingly little fanfare for Wii Chess. The game's Wikipedia page is absolutely barren, while a release date has only just appeared (January 18th), and then only for Europe. Despite the lack of information, Nintendo obviously reckons this could have broad appeal, as it's slapped the "Touch! Generations" logo on the corner of the box, which roughly translates as: "Your Gran and her friends will like this."

Anyway, further details finally emerged on the title today, with CVG reporting that Wii Chess is to retail for a budget price of £20 / €30 (we'd presume the game's budget status will be preserved if and when it reaches other markets -- our educated guess would be $30 for the U.S.), and that it will support both local multiplayer and games played over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. We're also promised a number of graphical styles, which hopefully means Nintendo-themed boards and pieces, including Goomba pawns and knights that look like Yoshi.

And yes, that is the German boxart. We travelled the seven seas of the internet searching for an English version, but returned empty-handed. Still, at least you now know the German word for "chess." Never know when that might come in handy.

Ever since we heard about it, we've been waiting to see Face Training in action. The DS muscle control game program just launched in Japan, and three commercials show it off. We're amazed.

A camera connects to the GBA slot, and the DS perches on a stand, pointing the lens at the player user. Face Training then seems to monitor and rate your ability to smile. Aside from physical therapy, we're not sure where the market is for this game application. Maybe Japan has more of a need to practice eyebrow movements than we ever realized.

See the trailers after the break. (Or for an even longer look, visit the game's Japanese site.)

Picross DS is very much a puzzle game, despite its attempt to lure you in to its grids with a slow, comforting pace of gameplay. It can instill those emotions of tension as the clock ticks away or those almost-insurmountable mental hurdles we stumble upon so frequently in the genre arise, however. So, in a lot of ways, Picross DS is a genre-breaking title, taking things here and there, patching them together into a brand new game. A fun game.

Need to figure out your brain's weight, but not prepared to saw your skull open to pull out its spongy mass just yet? Amazon has come up with a cheap way for you to calculate its heftiness, saving you a few bucks and several quarts of blood.

For just $12.99, you can purchase a copy of Nintendo's Big Brain Academy from the online shop. The Touch Generations title has a robust Test mode that determines the weight of your brain, as well as Practice and Multiplayer options. This deal ends today, so don't sit around thinking about it for too long!

[Via CAG]

Although Picross has been available for a while in Japan, the North American release is coming out on July 30th, and Nintendo had it on display at last week's Nintendo Media Summit.

The premise behind Picross is kind of hard to explain, but I'll try anyway: It's a type of mathematical crossword puzzle with an image-based theme. It kind of feels like Minesweeper at times but kind of feels like Suduko at other times. As you can see from the screenshots below, you are given a grid with numbers on the outside edge. You have to figure out from the numbers what pattern of squares should be filled in on the grid, with mistakes costing you big penalties on your overall time score. Once you've completed the puzzle, you reveal a picture in the pattern on the grid. The larger the grid, the more complex the picture.

You can also make your own puzzles easily; all you have to do is draw an image and the game will turn it into a puzzle for you. If you want more control, you can also create a puzzle by hand. You can even trade puzzles with friends over the wireless connection and Nintendo promises additional puzzles will be made available for download for free, which is always a nice plus.

The game was a lot of fun and the ability to draw your own puzzles was a nice touch. Puzzle fans, look for this game when it comes out on July 30th.

We didn't think the awesome Picross DS would ever find its way out of Japan. But Nintendo surprised us, as they tend to do now and then, by announcing that the puzzler will get a European release on May 11th.

They're branding this as part of the Touch Generations series, and mention that it will include 300 puzzles, and features like a "Daily Picross" mode, puzzle creation (with Wi-Fi sharing),and unlockable minigames. For the Americans out there who feel left out-- don't worry! Even if Nintendo doesn't release Picross DS, this European version will have English text, so it's still good news for you, if you don't mind importing!

Included in their package of Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn, Siliconera came upon the above Touch! Generations brochure. Guess Nintendo is extending their brand to the Wii, which makes sense. The brand has been responsible for getting many non-gamers into the DS, so why wouldn't it work on the Wii? The nature of how we play on that system has been very appealing to non-gamers, so is this brand even needed?

Oh, and the only two games they list as being part of the brand are Wii Sports and Wii Play.

The Japanese Touch Generations site has been updated with all sorts of new Picross content, including several videos that not only showcase the game, but show off a little tag team multiplayer action. Oh, we don't mean with multiple DS units running the game ... rather, having more than one person working on the same puzzle. Dual brains for your dual screens? Sure can make puzzlin' a little easier.

[Via DS-x2]

It's hardly news that the DS appeals to many people who aren't exactly traditional gamers. Expanding the market is part of Nintendo's entire strategy for the handheld. That doesn't make it any less (delightfully) surprising when you get to see a new adopter in action. Every day, people who've never really gamed before pick up a DS, which isn't as immediately appealing as its new cousin, and yet something pull them in. We're betting it's all the incredibly awesome games, but that's beside the point. We want to hear your stories, stories of friends or family members now hooked on the DS despite little or no love for gaming in general.

The amount of greatness Nintendo's Touch Generations line of games has touched in the US can only be conveyed through numbers. Around 3.5 million numbers, to be exact.

Yes, you read that correctly, Nintendo's Touch Generations brand, which is shared by numerous titles such as Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!, Magnetica and True Swing Golf, has sold close to 3.5 million copies in the US. Clearly, Nintendo's philosophy of making games "meant for anyone to pick up and play, regardless of their prior gaming experience" is working out for them.

[Via Joystiq]

The good news: the website for Nintendo's retro, budget bit Generations (née Digistylish) series has gone live, featuring mini-pages for each of the three games contained in the series 1 package, Dotstream, Boundish, and Dialhex. The bad news: it's in Japanese. What we can extract from the site: the series 1 package, which includes the aforementioned three titles, will launch on July 13th in Japan for 2000 ¥ (about $17); the series 2 package, which includes Coloris, Digidrive, Orbital, and Soundvoyager, launches two weeks later for the same price.

More good news: we've embeddded a trailer after the break, so if you're unable (or unwilling) to navigate the Japanese page, keep reading to get a glimpse of some GBA-goodness.

[Via 4cr]