Top Pokemon Trainers Take over Seattle's Space Needle: the Emerald City Battle Tower; 14 Competitors Battle to Win Trip to Japan

Business Wire, April 26, 2005

REDMOND, Wash. -- Fourteen finalist Pokemon(R) masters will meet on April 30 at Seattle's famous Space Needle to determine who will be crowned the "Pokemon(R) Emerald" Ultimate Frontier Battle Brain. E[acute accent]The United States and Canada have been divided into seven competitive Battle Frontiers for a monthlong series of knowledge tests of Pokemon characters and their abilities. Two finalists from each Battle Frontier bested more than 36,000 contest registrants during the "Pokemon Emerald" Frontier Battle Brain competition online. Entertainment industry veteran and Emerald City ambassador Grant Goodeve will host the final battle as the finalists compete to win a trip for two to the new Pokemon Park in Nagoya, Japan. E[acute accent]"These competitors represent the best of the millions of Pokemon fans," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "The Battle in Seattle will put their skills and brains to the test and crown the 'Pokemon Emerald' Ultimate Frontier Battle Brain." E[acute accent]The "Pokemon Emerald" Frontier Battle Brain competition is being held in anticipation of the May 1 release of the Pokemon Emerald video game for Game Boy(R) Advance SP. More than 146,000 Pokemon fans already have placed a deposit to pre-register to buy the game. Pokemon games remain extremely popular and typically sell more than 1 million copies each. "Pokemon(R) FireRed" and "Pokemon(R) LeafGreen" were the top two selling games (respectively) for hand-helds in 2004, selling more than 2.4 million combined. "Pokemon Emerald" is rated E for Everyone. To date, more than 136 million Pokemon video games have been sold worldwide. E[acute accent]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 SP, Nintendo DS(TM) 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 1.9 billion video games and more than 336 million hardware units globally, creating enduring industry icons such as Mario(TM) and Donkey Kong(R) and launching popular culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid(R), 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. E[acute accent]For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com. E[acute accent]Pokemon USA, Inc., a subsidiary of The Pokemon Company in Japan, manages and oversees the property outside of Asia, which includes licensing activities, brand promotions, publication of the Pokemon Trading Card Game, TV animation, home video entertainment, the official Pokemon.com Web site and pokemoncenter.com, an e-commerce site. Nintendo of America manages marketing and distribution of Pokemon video games and the Pokemon Trading Card Game in North America. E[acute accent]Pokemon was launched in Japan in 1996 for play on Nintendo's Game Boy(R) and has evolved into a global cultural phenomenon. Pokemon was introduced in North America in September 1998 and has since generated more than $15 billion in worldwide retail sales. More than 40 million Pokemon video games have been sold in the United States, including Pokemon(R) Ruby and Pokemon(R) Sapphire, which were the No. 2 and No. 3 best-selling video games of 2003, according to the NPD Group. The Pokemon Trading Card Game, fueled by organized play programs around the world, has spurred global sales of more than 13 billion cards to date, while the Pokemon animated series on Kids' WB!, now in its seventh season, consistently ranks within the top three shows for boys ages 6 to 11. For more information, visit www.pokemon.com.

E[acute accent]Note to Editors: Nintendo press materials are available at press.nintendo.com. Note that press.nintendo.com is a password-protected site; to receive a password, please contact Paula Adams at (213) 438-8837 or padams@golinharris.com.