Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament Event at Madison Square Garden Sponsored by Konami and Upper Deck Entertainment

Business Wire, June 20, 2003

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CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 20, 2003

The World's First International Trading Card Game and Consumer

Videogame Competition Set To Crown "Yu-Gi-Oh! King of Trading Card

Games & Videogames" August 10

Imagine attending an event where all of the world's best Yu-Gi-Oh!(TM) TRADING CARD GAME and video game players were gathered. What was once thought unattainable is now a reality!

Trading card game publisher and distributor Upper Deck Entertainment, a division of The Upper Deck Company LLC, Konami Corp., the game's manufacturer and Konami of America Inc., the publisher of the widely-popular video game series, today revealed details of the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament -- the first-ever trading card game (TCG) and handheld videogame competition to span the globe including North America, Europe and Japan.

Never before have trading card and videogame competitions been executed on this scale on the same day, making the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament the world's largest competition of its kind. In addition to the World Championships on Sunday, August 10, there will be open tournaments and activities that will provide the ultimate environment for fans to experience for all aspects of the TCG and video game.

Registration for tickets to attend the event will be only available by registering beginning on July 12 at www.yugioh-cards.com. Tickets are $2 per person.

Upper Deck Entertainment and Konami of America will invite the top-five Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME and four Yu-Gi-Oh! videogame duelists from North America to compete in the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament. In addition, a total of 18 TCG duelists from around the world will go head-to-head vying for the highly coveted title of "Yu-Gi-Oh! King of TRADING CARD GAMES." Each of the participating duelists will win a trip to New York City and a chance to win the titles and other highly-sought after prizes.

The North American participants in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME World Championship Tournament will be picked from the Duelist King Tournament system based on regional rankings. Over 300,000 duelists in the United States have been competing every weekend at the more than 1,300 participating hobby shops since August 2000 to gain a spot at the World Championship.

The object of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME is to win a Match (which consists of three duels) by reducing an opponent's "life points" from 8,000 to zero. This is accomplished through a series of turns using a deck with a minimum of 40 cards and a combination of strategy, skill and luck. Three main types of cards are used in Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Monster Cards, Magic Cards and Trap Cards, with each category being further divided into sub-categories. For more information on the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME or Upper Deck Entertainment, please visit www.yugioh-card.com or www.ude.com.

Additionally, those competing in the videogame competition will be vying for the title of "Yu-Gi-Oh!(TM) King of Videogames" as well as other highly coveted prizes, using the mega-popular title, Yu-Gi-Oh!(TM) Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel for GameBoy(R) Advance.

Beginning on June 3, 2003 Yu-Gi-Oh!(TM) videogame duelists from around the globe were invited to enter the "Yu-Gi-Oh!(TM) King of Videogames" tournament by logging in a special "Yugi Passport Code" at http://www.konami.com/yugiohtournament. The "Yugi Passport Code" is available in the July issue (on sale June 3rd) of the popular monthly manga (Japanese comic) magazine, SHONEN JUMP or upon request at the official tournament Web site.

Players will be able to practice dueling using Yu-Gi-Oh!(TM) Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel to hone their skills. The game brings to life the best-selling Yu-Gi-Oh!(TM) TRADING CARD GAME with a stunning level of detail. Featuring more than 1,000 game cards and updated TRADING CARD GAME rules, Worldwide Edition is the first handheld Yu-Gi-Oh!(TM) video game to also feature a single-player adventure mode. Set in Battle City, an exciting metropolis that hosts the ultimate Yu-Gi-Oh!(TM) tournament, players progress through the game by visiting various neighborhoods as well as by interacting with city dwellers and challenging characters from the popular TV series in order to win the championship (in the game). By supporting English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese and Italian, players from around the globe can link up and compete against one another.

About Yu-Gi-Oh!(TM)

The object of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME is to win a Match (which consists of three duels) by reducing an opponent's "life points" from 8,000 to zero. This is accomplished through a series of turns using a deck with a minimum of 40 cards and a combination of strategy, skill and luck. Three main types of cards are used in Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Monster Cards, Magic Cards and Trap Cards, with each category being further divided into sub-categories. For more information on the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME or Upper Deck Entertainment, please visit www.yugioh-card.com or www.ude.com.