Nintendo recently posted updated fact sheets and new screens to their press room, so the next few posts will be for each game. The fact sheet and about 10 or so new screens for Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree are below, with most of the juice after the break:

KEY INFORMATION

• The Wii sequel to Big Brain Academyâ„¢ for Nintendo DSâ„¢ includes three multiplayer modes for up to eight players. Players also can exchange student-record books with other players over WiiConnect24â„¢ and compete against their save data.
• With 15 new activities that challenge the brain in single-player Test and Practice modes, Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree sees how players measure up in five categories: Identify, Memorize, Analyze, Compute and Visualize.
• All activities are designed around the Wii Remote’s pointer. Players can play solo with one Wii Remoteâ„¢, or pass it around like a relay baton in group competitions.

Sample activities: The activities in Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree are fun minigames with a ton of variety, and they’re meant to be played rapid-fire for a short time as players push their brains to do more than they did the day before. Here are three of the activities included in the game:

• Art Parts: In this Visualize activity, players must complete the sample painting by stamping the missing pieces onto an unfinished scene. When it becomes more difficult, Art Parts flips the unfinished scene sideways or flips it upside-down.
• Balloon Burst: In this Compute activity, players must pop balloons in rising numerical order. At its easiest, there are few balloons shown at once. On a higher difficulty level, Balloon Burst sends in more balloons, including some with negative numbers.
• Fast Focus: In this Identify activity, players see a distorted image that slowly returns to normal. Players must select what it is as soon as they figure it out. As it grows more difficult, Fast Focus starts with a more heavily distorted image, so it takes longer to identify what it is.

How to progress through the game: When players start a new game, they’ll meet the whimsical Dr. Lobe, who will suggest that they take on the Test mode challenge: playing all 15 activities that span the five brainy categories. He’ll tell players how big their brain is based on how well they did and how fast they did it. He’ll encourage players to take the Test often and to use Practice mode to beef up their skills in all 15 of the activities. Practice mode also offers three difficulty levels for each activity, and Dr. Lobe will award several medals for high achievement in each one.

Special powers/weapons/moves/features:
Multiplayer: Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree offers three ways for groups to play:

• Mental Marathon: Speed through activities to buy more time to stay in the game. Go it solo or as a team, but if anyone botches an activity, the game is done (1-8 players, one Wii Remote).
• Mind Sprint: Form a team to compete against a system-controlled competitor that “thinks” like a selected student record (1-4 players with one Wii Remote). Or separate into two teams (2-8 players with two Wii Remotes). The first side to complete a set number of problems wins.
• Brain Quiz: Play game-show style with up to four teams that compete in a total of 20 activities, since five extra activities are available in this mode. (1-8 players, one Wii Remote)

Mii compatibility: Everyone who enrolls in the academy will choose a Miiâ„¢, which will walk down the school’s hallway and pop up during Wii Remote handoffs to help explain which teammate goes next in multiplayer matches.

Wii Remote audio: Players will get encouragement and hear color commentary from a “Wii Remote Coach” who speaks to the player through the Wii Remote speakers.

WiiConnect24: In Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree, players can send and receive student-record books full of brainy data. By establishing WiiConnect24 ties with Wii Friends who own the game, players can all see their academies affected in several fun ways:

• Compare distant students’ test scores with those of the local student body on the Student Scores board. Distant students’ records are shown as books.
• Compete against distant students’ brains in Mind Sprint. Players actually play against game-controlled competitors that “think” based on brainy strengths and weaknesses in their student records.
• The distant player’s “Mii student” will walk the hallways with the player’s own student body. Players can make WiiConnect24 connections with many students, adding many Miis to their crowd.

Players are encouraged to send and receive each others’ records frequently, so that their academies have up-to-date results for competition and comparison. In this way, individual academies can join a personal network of schools and push each other to develop their brains further.

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