From blowing the lid off of a casual gaming market, and pretty much putting up their flag and conquering it, Nintendo seems to have a pretty good handle on that demographic. But can we attribute their success as being the early bird who got the worm, or do they just know how to give people what they want?

Case and point, in a recent “State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2008 report” conducted by SmartBrains it shows that Nintendo’s Brain Age games are the key driver in growing the brain fitness software market to a whopping $225 million.

But Brain Age only constitutes for 80 million of the consumer segment of the market, and sets the tone for other companies to also help expand the market. Let’s face it, almost every major publisher has some sort of Train something title out or in the works. But what’s amazing is these “games” are being used to actually help people, implemented in over 400 elder care facilities and five randomized clinical trials. One product was even approved by the FDA for use in stroke rehabilitation.

There may be different opinions on Nintendo and their direction in gaming, but one has to tip their hats off to them for this.