Top 5 Christmas Games All From Nintendo; Nintendo 64, Super NES Titles

Business Wire, Feb 3, 1997

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 1997--What did video gamers get for Christmas? In a word -- Nintendo.

According to independent sales data, Nintendo claimed all five top-selling video games in December for any console or computer system. Three of the games play on the new Nintendo 64 video game system -- the fastest selling new game machine of all time -- and two are for the 16-bit Super NES, which has sold more than 20 million systems in America over the past six years.

The independent sales figures, gathered by NPD Research, listed the holiday season's top five selling games as follows: (1) Super Mario 64 (Nintendo of America for the Nintendo 64); (2) Donkey Kong Country 3 (NOA for the Super NES); (3) Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (NOA for N64); (4) Donkey Kong Country 2 (NOA for SNES); and (5) Killer Instinct Gold (NOA for N64).

In addition, three other Nintendo 64 titles finished in the top 10: Cruis'n USA (NOA) (6), Wave Race 64 (NOA) (8), and Mortal Kombat Trilogy (Midway Games, Inc.) (9).

"As with any entertainment, what matters to consumers is the quality of the experience," said Peter Main, executive vice president, sales and marketing for Nintendo of America. "And with the top six selling games -- and 8 of the top 10 -- there's no question that people voted for Nintendo quality this past Christmas."

December sales are vital to the video game industry, representing more than a third of total annual revenues.

The fully three-dimensional Super Mario 64 has already been hailed by numerous game enthusiast magazines as "game of the year," and Next Generation labeled it the best video game of all time. And the Donkey Kong Country series is widely considered to represent the best 16-bit video games ever created.

Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan is the leader in the $15 billion retail video game industry. Nintendo and its international subsidiaries have sold more than one billion video games worldwide. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Washington, serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operation in the Western Hemisphere, where more than 40 percent of American homes own a Nintendo System.

CONTACT: GOLIN/HARRIS

Eileen Tanner, 509/628-1993