Nintendo's Early Holiday Spirit Keeps Giving; Pre-sell Offer and Mall Tour Promote Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Business Wire, Oct 7, 2003

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REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 7, 2003

Nintendo of America Inc.'s aggressive holiday efforts for its Nintendo GameCube(TM) video game system began with a price decrease to $99.99 and a $100 million marketing campaign. Nintendo now continues with an exciting consumer pre-sell offer and a nationwide mall tour featuring the most anticipated title this holiday season, Mario Kart (R): Double Dash!! (TM), available Nov. 17.

The $10 million marketing campaign for Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is led by a limited pre-sell offer, giving consumers who reserve a copy of the game at select retailers a free bonus disc at the time of purchase. The extra disc is loaded with playable game samples and sneak-peek movies of upcoming software. Consumers also can test drive the game more than a month before its launch. The Nintendo "Who Are You?" Tour takes Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and a variety of games to 12 cities across the United States, starting on Oct. 31 in both San Francisco and Boston. Playable demos of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! also will be available at retailers nationwide starting in early November.

"Mario Kart has been one of best-selling franchises in Nintendo's history, selling more than 20 million units worldwide during the last 11 years," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president for marketing and corporate communications. "The latest version, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, arrives just in time for the holiday season and is anticipated to be one of the hottest titles of the year."

The bonus disc includes playable Nintendo GameCube previews of Mario Party(R) 5, F-Zero(R) GX, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(TM) by Konami, Star Wars(R): Rogue Squadron(R) III: Rebel Strike(TM) from LucasArts and Sonic Heroes(TM) by Sega. The disc also includes movies of 1080(degree)(R): Avalanche, Kirby(TM) Air Ride, Pokemon Colosseum(TM), Final Fantasy(R): Crystal Chronicles(TM), SpongeBob SquarePants(TM): The Search for Bikini

Bottom from THQ, and Harry Potter(TM): Quiddtich(TM) World Cup and NBA Live 2004 from Electronic Arts. In addition, exclusive content for the Game Boy(R) Advance game Fire Emblem(TM) will be included.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, at an MSRP of $49.99, sets the benchmark for competitive gameplay with double the arsenal, faster action, gorgeous graphics, bigger battles and frantic competition. Players now can choose two characters per kart and use their special abilities and a slew of items to their strategic advantage. The wide range of options allows players to decide if they prefer the size, robust kart and giant banana peels of Donkey Kong(R) or the classic fireballs and steady handling of Mario(TM). No matter the choice, the outcome is pure chaos as eight characters dole out damage in a mad dash to the finish line.

The worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home and portable video game systems. Each year, hundreds of all-new titles for the best-selling Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo GameCube(TM) systems extend Nintendo's vast game library and continue the tradition of delivering a rich, diverse mix of quality video games for players of all ages. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 1.8 billion video games globally, creating enduring industry icons such as Mario(TM) and Donkey Kong(R) and launching popular culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid(TM), Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.

For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web sites at either www.nintendo.com or press.nintendo.com. Please note that press.nintendo.com is a password-protected site; to receive a password, contact Tom Stratton at 206-505-8308.

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