If it Weren't for This Book, Professor Layton Wouldn't Exist
By Alex Chen | January 01, 0001
The Professor Layton series is one of the staples of the Nintendo DS and its successor, the 3DS. The series has sold over 13 million copies across the world and has spawned spinoff games, novels, a manga, and a feature film. And what is the inspiration for all this? A book series that series creator Akihiro Hino read as a child.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); This book series is called Head Gymnastics (Atama no Taiso) and each volume is filled with nothing but various brain teasers like those you find in the Layton games. This series of books is so popular in Japan that it has generated 23 volumes since the first one was released in 1966; and the series has sold over 12 million copies in Japan total. There have also been four Nintendo DS games based on the series which contain more than 1500 brain teasers from the books. When it comes to the Layton series, Akihiro Hino actually hired the writer of Head Gymnastics, Akira Tago, to design the