REDMOND, Wash., Mar. 20, 2003 – Today, Nintendo of
America Inc. announces new plans for marketing, sales and distribution
of future editions of the Pokémon-e Trading Card Game (TCG) in North
America. Nintendo is establishing a new division housed at Nintendo’s
Redmond, Washington, headquarters to manage the trading card business.
Pokémon USA, Inc. based in New York City, will work closely with
Creatures, the Pokémon TCG designers, and Nintendo of America in support
of the TCG in North America.
The first expansion of the Pokémon-e TCG from
Nintendo will showcase all-new characters from the highly anticipated
Pokémon® Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire video games which
launched for Game Boy® Advance on March 19 in North America. Nintendo
adds the Pokémon-e TCG to existing e-Reader card products like Mario
Party-e, Animal Crossing-e and the NES-e series.
The release date for the first Pokémon-e TCG
expansion based on Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire to be published, marketed
and distributed by Nintendo of America, is set for June, 2003. These
cards will be compatible with Nintendo’s popular e-Reader accessory,
allowing consumers to access additional game information on their Game
Boy Advance systems. In Japan, the new Pokémon-e Ruby and Sapphire TCG
series, known as Pokémon ADVenture, launched on January 31, 2003 and
received strong response from Pokémon fans.
“Pokémon video games and the Pokémon TCG are so
closely integrated in North America that it makes sense for Nintendo to
manage both key components,” says Tatsumi Kimishima, president, Nintendo
of America Inc. “Through innovations such as e-Reader, Nintendo is able
to consistently enhance the synergy between trading cards and video
games.”
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire are the first
Pokémon video game titles available for Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance
system and will be available for an MSRP of $39.95 each. Game Boy
Advance is available for a MSRP of $79.95, while the newest edition to
the Game Boy family, the Game Boy® Advance SP will be available March 23
for an MSRP of $99.95.
"Since Nintendo already produces the Pokémon video
games, it's a natural extension for them to distribute and market the
trading card games," says Akira Chiba, president, Pokémon USA, Inc.
The creators of Pokémon, along with Nintendo, first
launched Pokémon in Japan in 1996 for play on Game Boy, the world's
best-selling video game system. Since then they've watched the original
150 creatures explode into a global cultural phenomenon, selling more
than 110 million Pokémon video games worldwide. The franchise arrived in
North America in September 1998.
Pokémon USA, Inc., the New York-based subsidiary of
The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages and oversees the Pokémon franchise
in North and Latin America, which includes licensing, merchandising, TV
animation, theatrical releases, home video entertainment, the official
Pokémon website, the Pokémon Center NY in Rockefeller Center and
www.PokemonCenter.com, an e-commerce site. Pokémon merchandise has
generated over $15 billion in worldwide retail sales since 1998. The
trading card game has global sales of 9.8 billion cards to date. For
more information about Pokémon, visit the company's website at
www.pokemon.com.
As 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
video game systems. The systems include Game Boy®,
Nintendo® 64, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube™. Since the release
of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than
1.6 billion video games worldwide, creating enduring industry icons such
as Mario™ and Donkey Kong® and launching such franchises as Zelda™ and
Pokémon®. As 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 site,
www.nintendo.com.