Hot Brain to sizzle on PSP

LAS VEGAS--One of the big reasons for the DS's banner year in 2006 was the brain-training game craze. Released in April and in June, respectively, Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day and Big Brain Academy were solid sellers all year. As of December, the former had sold some 1.1 million copies in the US, while the latter moved 730,645 units. The two games helped spawn a brain-training phenomenon in Japan, where DS games in the genre remain in the top-selling game charts.

Last night at the 2007 Midway Gamers' Day, the publisher announced it wants a piece of the brain-training pie--but on a different handheld platform. The publisher is prepping Hot Brain, an all-new game that will feature logic, memory, math, language, and concentration challenges for players' noggins to overcome. The game will be released exclusively for the PlayStation Portable this summer, although no rating or price was announced.

Besides offering a range of noodle-bending mind games for the single player, Hot Brain will support up to three people in multiplayer action via the PSP's ad hoc wireless connection. It will also feature some celebrity voice talent in the form of Fred Willard, who was the clueless-yet-loquacious dog-show emcee in Best in Show. Willard will voice the entire game, asking all the questions posed to players.