Facebook users able to upload their score and represent their country in the Facebook Brain Olympiad.

London, UK – Leading mobile game publisher, Namco Bandai Networks Europe, has today offered mobile users both young and old a new, fun and competitive way of improving their mental agility. More Brain Exercise™ with Dr. Kawashima, introduces a whole new range of challenging games officially tested by Dr. Kawashima, and proven to stimulate different parts of the brain (temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and frontal lobe) to keep the mind awake and active. In a move which promises to inject the genre with a new competitive streak, users of the game can also upload their More Brain Exercise™ scores to an online ranking system and compare their results with other brain training addicts around the world. Facebook users can also track their ranking and represent their country in the Facebook Brain Olympiad, also announced today.

More Brain Exercise™ with Dr. Kawashima features fifteen new brain training games, five of which are used to measure brain age, as well as bonus games and additional functionality. Users can choose to evaluate their brain age, follow the daily brain training programme, or play additional games from the brain training selection. Up to three different profiles can be stored in the game so users can challenge their friends to compete using the same handset.

As a bonus feature, More Brain Exercise™ with Dr. Kawashima features a selection of Sudoku puzzles for players to enjoy on the move.

Users of the game can track their progress by regularly re-testing their brain age and the game will also rank them as anything from a cell to the universe (the larger the object, the better), passing by dog, human, giraffe and dinosaur to name just a few in between. Full profile information is recorded on the handset, including the user’s highest rank and statistics showing frontal, temporal and parietal lobe performance over days and weeks of training.

To celebrate the launch of More Brain Exercise™ with Dr. Kawashima for the mobile platform, Namco Bandai has also developed a More Brain Exercise™ web site, viral game and Facebook application. The online More Brain Exercise™ brings a selection of four brain training games to internet users, allowing them to compare their scores with others and undertake a limited brain training programme. For those who are bitten by the training bug, links from the online game will allow users to purchase and download the full mobile version of the game* direct to their handset. More details can be found at www.morebrainexercise.com.

“It’s around this time of year that many of us start to make resolutions to improve our health and wellbeing,” commented Barry O’Neill, President of Namco Bandai Networks Europe. “Many people will sign up for a gym membership but neglect their brains. This game will allow users to raise a mental sweat to truly get in shape for 2009.”

The global rankings and Facebook application will also add a new dimension to the brain training genre. “We are calling on gamers’ competitive spirits and aim to make brain training a community and social activity,” added O’Neill. Users of the game can invite friends to try the online or full mobile game and sign up to compete in the Facebook Brain Olympiad. “Brain training has captured the public’s imagination, bringing mobile gaming to a much wider audience than hardcore games could ever reach,” concluded O’Neill. “With the Olympiad, we are simply taking this training one step further and recognising those mental ‘athletes’ who have gone for gold.”

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NOTES TO EDITORS

*Game availability and network functions dependent upon region.

Please contact nbne@nelsonbostock.com for more information and images or to review the game.

About Namco Bandai Networks Europe

Namco Bandai Networks Europe is a leading publisher of wireless games and content for mobile, offering a wide selection of titles to consumers which includes all-time classic games such as PAC-MAN™, Galaga™ and Galaxians™, as well as contemporary titles such as Ridge Racer™, Time Crisis™, and the best-selling Brain Coach™ with Dr. Kawashima. Namco Bandai Networks Europe provides mobile phone content to all major carriers in Europe, including Vodafone, Orange, O2, T-Mobile, Telefónica Móviles, Bouygues Telecom, KPN Mobile, ePlus, Cosmote and Wind.

More information about Namco Bandai Networks Europe, its products and services can be found online at www.namcomobile.com.

Press contacts

Jenna Keighley

Nelson Bostock Communications

Tel: +44 (0) 207 229 4400

Email: nbne@nelsonbostock.com