iToys launches the
hottest brain game of the year:
KENKEN™ Handheld Electronic Game
Toronto, Canada, February 6, 2009 – Like food for the mind, KENKEN™, the
brain-teasing game, has been proclaimed “the most addictive puzzle
since sudoku” by New York Times Crossword Puzzle Editor Will
Shortz. KENKEN is the exciting, new Japanese “brain game”
sweeping North America and soon will be the latest electronic game from
iToys Inc., the leading developer of electronic handheld
games. With such critically acclaimed hits as Deal or No Deal
as well as NBC Sports, Family Feud, Price Is Right
and more, iToys has secured the exclusive worldwide licensing rights
for KENKEN handheld electronic games.
iToys rolls out its first KENKEN
handheld electronic game to mass retailers
in January 2009.
“KENKEN
is a wildly entertaining and thoroughly mind-absorbing puzzle game that
already is well on its way to becoming bigger than sudoku,” said iToys
Toycoon George Irwin. “With ten levels of difficulty, everyone can
play and, no matter what their age, once they pick it up they won’t
be able to put it down.”
"We're delighted iToys is a new
partner in the KENKEN family," said Robert Fuhrer, the New
York businessman whose company, Nextoy™, licenses and markets
the puzzle worldwide.
iToys’ all-new KENKEN game offers thousands of puzzles on 3x3 to 6x6 grids. Features include:
Designed for ages eight and up,
KENKEN will be offered for a suggested retail price of $19.99.
KENKEN was launched in 2004
by puzzle master and teacher extraordinaire Tetsuya Miyamoto,
quickly becoming Japan’s hottest brain game. Mr. Miyamoto was
looking for an engaging – and fun – tool to help teach his students,
and devised KENKEN, which translates as “wisdom squared”
or “cleverness squared.” He believes that conventional teaching
has failed and that by concentrating on this novel way of problem-solving,
the mind becomes a more potent tool for the rest of one’s life.
Newspapers from around the world have added KENKEN
puzzles, including such leading dailies as The Times of London, Boston
Globe and NYTimes.com.
KENKEN is an arithmetic-based
puzzle game that, like sudoku, is played on a grid using numbers.
It is “beyond sudoku,” however, by taking the puzzle one step further
and incorporating math skills, including addition, subtraction, multiplication
and division. Game play ranges from very easy to extremely difficult.
“The hardest ones,“ added Fuhrer, “could challenge even Einstein.”
iToys joins a growing roster of
KENKEN licensees, including Harper Collins, St. Martin’s
Press, United Features Syndicate, Nintendo, Reader’s Digest, CapCom
and Dell Penny Press.
About iToys, Inc.
Formed in 2003, iToys, Inc. recaptures
the spirit of the highly respected Irwin Toy moniker with original toys
as well as beloved classics with a 21st century spin, including
the critically-acclaimed Deal or No Deal electronic games.
Led by brothers George and Peter Irwin, toy industry veterans from the
venerable Irwin Toy family, iToys is dedicated to recapturing the glory
days of Irwin Toy – the Canadian toy company founded by their grandfather
– and expanding on the legacy to touch families everywhere.
iToys’ all-new generation of cutting-edge toys are designed to dazzle
and delight children of all ages.
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Press contacts:
Grand Communications, Inc.
Alison Grand
(212) 584-1133; alison@grandcommunications.com
Laura Liebeck
(845) 440-7974; laura@grandcommunications.com