In the March 2011 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Executive Editor Brady Fiechter writes that “we’re starting to see more games that are stripped-down, basic fun, and this is good. They’re becoming more like classical games again, thanks in no small part to the Apple generation.”

He might as well have been talking about Body and Brain Connection for the Xbox Kinect (available now).

With this title, I get the feeling that Namco and Dr. Ryuta Kawashima (of Brain Age fame) realized that they could make a more interesting learning game if they took out a lot of the theory and just focused on simplified play. Body and Brain Connection talks about the mind at times, but it never really felt like a lecture or like a piece of software was telling me how I should be living my life.

Instead, we end up with an easy to pick up minigame collection intended for people who enjoy the simple joys of gaming on, say, an Apple iPad.

Popular iOS games, such as Angry Birds and Cut the Rope, tap into some rudimentary part of the brain that rewards us for using logic and other critical-thinking skills to solve puzzles. You can do the minimum to progress, or you can really use your ticker to go for the high score. Wrap it all up with cutesy graphics, and a light-hearted soundtrack, and we’ve got a hit. 

Body and Brain Connection for the most part follows this example. The experience is more robust since it’s a retail game for a home console, but the basic formula is in place. Intuitive controls, short exercises that require some thinking, a grading system, family-friendly graphics, and a bouncy soundtrack -- it’s all there. 

A while back, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was gloating about how the iPhone/iPod Touch was competing in the games department with Nintendo’s and Sony’s handhelds. Sure, we all had a good laugh since core gamers typically don’t look at the iOS platform first when looking for some fun, but it’s interesting now that we’re seeing Apple’s impact on console experiences.  

This is a welcome shift. Anyone who has tried to play a complex console title with a non-gaming friend or loved one knows how big of a headache that can be.

So kudos to Body and Brain Connection, which supposedly can even help the old cerebellum work better. In a sense, I feel like the game might have tricked me into learning with its fun collection thinking-man’s minigames. And you know what? I’m fine with that.

I guess this means I’m part of that "Apple generation.”