The verbal component of the ‘Brain Age’ game for the DS has run into a few snags when it comes to the UK. A portion of the game requires you to name colors as they flash onto the screen as quickly as possible. The game recognizes your words and awards points for correct answers. That is, assuming you speak clearly enough for the software. While many Americans are unaware, within England itself there are a wide variety of accents. Although the ‘cockney’ accent many are familiar with is somewhat rare these days, some accents are just as heavy and different. While our brains have all sorts of mechanisms in place to allow us to understand speech that isn’t quite the sounds we’re used to, computer programming can only do what it’s meant to do. Many residents of England are finding that the programming can’t recognize their pronunciation of color names, and a radio DJ was attempting it and everyone told her she needed to be “More Posh”. Unfortunately there’s no real fix to this problem without a major leap forward in computer technology short of programming for every single accent in English into the game. The manual for the game does include this line regarding use of the microphone: “4. Pronounce each word as clearly as possible, and try to avoid using strong dialects or accents.”