Opinion: Boost to EA's brainbank thanks to Hasbro's new deal
Cranium likely to be a priority
In a move reminiscent of passing Go and collecting £200, US board game maker Cranium has been acquired by Hasbro in a deal worth around $78 million.
So what does that have to do with 'proper' games of the D-pad and screen variety you might wonder?
Well, it means EA, which signed a longterm licensing deal with Hasbro last summer, will be looking to add Cranium's products to a list that already includes the likes of Monopoly, Scrabble and Yahtzee.
In particular, we'd expect to see its designers heading straight for the multi-million selling Cranium (aka The Game for Your Whole Brain), which should provide ideal material for the expanding DS and mobile brain training markets.
It's based around four type of actions: the artistically-focused Creative Cat; the trivia-based Data Head; the word-oriented Word Worm; and Star Performer, a mimic/Charades-inspired activity, with your ultimate goal to be the first person to make it to Cranium Central.
Of course, board games adaptations might not exactly be big news in the world of gaming, but we'll be interested to see how Cranium's fun-for-the-family games are converted into digital form.
