'Brain Training' scoops innovation award

A 'close to unanimous' jury, chosen by Edge magazine, today awarded its annual innovation in gaming award to Nintendo. The EIEF06 Edge Award, presented by editor Margaret Robertson, was awarded to Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training at a ceremony that ended the first day of the Edinburgh gaming festival.

The game defeated a short list of titles chosen for their ability to change people's expectations of gaming, rather than the game's commercial success. The other contenders were Amped 3 (on Xbox 360), Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PlayStation 2), Electroplankton (Nintendo DS), Fahrenheit (PC, PS2, Xbox), Guitar Hero (PS2), Killer 7 (GameCube, PS2), and Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! (DS).

The Nintendo representative who picked up the prize said that Brain Training represented the different direction in which the company is headed, one which aims to expand the market and ultimately benefit gaming as a whole. Robertson, summing up the success of the grey-cell-testing game, said that "only Nintendo could make mental arithmetic this year's 'must have' title".

Alongside the main Edge award was a new award added to recognise the growing mobile sector. The EIEF 2006 Edge Mobile People's Choice Award went to Dirty Sanchez Party Games. The game, which beat mobile rivals Doom RPG, Lumines Mobile and Digital Chocolate's Tower Blocks for the inaugural award, was praised for taking the game "beyond the handset".