Happy Birthday 20Q!

OTTAWA, CANADA, June 26, 2008—After twenty years of learning, 20Q is showing no signs of aging. This summer, 20Q is proudly celebrating its 20th anniversary as the artificial intelligence behind the world’s smartest guessing game. This spooky A.I. entertains everyone, from the inventor’s friends and family (its first guinea pigs who played it on a floppy disk) to word game enthusiasts worldwide.

20Q’s momentum is greater than ever. The deceptively addictive A.I. boasts a burgeoning lineup of specialty and licensed games, has earned an armload of awards and plays in more than twenty languages. What other artificial intelligence can brag that it crossed lightsabers with Darth Vader, played Quidditch with Harry Potter, and ate a donut with Homer Simpson?

20Q is an artificial intelligence, a website, a company and a phenomenon that speaks for itself at http://20q.net. Players think of something, and 20Q guesses what is on their mind, in twenty questions or less.

Inventor Robin Burgener has nurtured this A.I. technology since he created it in 1988. In its first ten years it played 2,000 games. It’s popularity increased by leaps and bounds over the next ten years and by its twentieth birthday it had played more than 63 million games and asked more than half a billion questions.

Each time the online game is played it learns a little more. With its ability to learn and discern, 20Q has evolved from an experiment in artificial intelligence into marketable software, built on the capabilities of the A.I.

Mattel, Inc. makes the handheld versions of the original 20Q Classic game, 20Q Harry Potter, 20Q People, 20Q TV, 20Q Rock & Pop, and more specialty versions yet to come. Millions of the popular and addictive handheld versions have been sold worldwide. Translated into more than 20 languages, players from around the world have the chance to train it and test its knowledge.

You can take the game with you wherever you go by downloading the mobile version distributed by Digital Chocolate, the mobile gaming company founded by Trip Hawkins.

Some of the accolades and awards that 20Q has received include the Toy Industry Association’s Electronic Toy of the Year, the Canadian Toy Testing Council’s Toy of the Year, the Oppenheim Platinum Toy award, and the U.K. Toy Retailers’ Association Special Recognition Award.