Times Online has commissioned I-D Media London to build a series of monthly interactive brain training puzzles as part of a cross-media partnership with Nintendo DS Lite and their Touch! Generations range of software titles for the DS console. 

This is the first time that Nintendo has marketed its brand through a tie-in with TimesOnline and the 9-month long campaign includes an interactive microsite and advertising in both the online and print editions of The Times and The Sunday Times.

The goal is to promote awareness of the benefits and fun of puzzle games to an adult demographic and the campaign microsite, developed by I-D Media, sits in the Surprise Yourself page of the Life&Style section of TimesOnline.co.uk, that promotes the health benefits of a number of different types of brain training games. 

Each of the 9 games in the campaign will test a different aspect of brain training from numeracy and information processing to short-term memory and all games are based on Nintendo’s Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training™ series. The success of the first two games ‘Simple Sums’ and ‘Stroop Test’, which included DS Light console prize draws, has create high expectations of the campaign and I-D Media is launching ‘Memory Test’, the first of the new batch of games, on 30^th April. ‘Memory Test’ is also supported by a prize draw in which registered users who play the game will have a chance to win a trip for two to Tokyo.

Says Dave McDougall, Creative Director at I-D Media, “the design and development challenge for us is to create highly playable games that draw on the principles of Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training™ series for the DS platform and that are deliverable in a browser”.

The game site includes a choice of games that increases with each month, instructions and a league table to create an air of competitiveness. An optional invitation to register is given after gameplay and gives the user a place on the league table and automatically enters them into a prize draw that runs in conjunction with each new game.

Dan Harris, Deputy Editor, Special Projects at TimesOnline says “We are absolutely delighted with I-D Media’s commitment and professionalism on this project, which so far has been second to none, and we are very much looking forward to working on the forthcoming interactive puzzles with them”.

This work builds on a long-standing relationship between I-D Media and TimesOnline, in which I-D Media has developed a number of online applications that promote various initiatives, including The Virtual Sommelier for The Sunday Times Wine Club, an interactive timeline for Wimbledon, a commercial partnership with IBM, and “The Blair Years” commemorating ten years in office.

www.timesonline.co.uk/surpriseyourself