TRADING
CARDS GO INTERACTIVE: POKéMON®-e CARDS LEAD THE NEXT
EVOLUTION IN MUST-HAVE TRADING CARD GAMES
Innovative
Technology Allows Players to “Swipe” Cards and Enter a New World of Pokémon
(Renton,
Wash. Sept, 2002)—There was a time when opening up your trading cards to find gum was
exciting. Then, along came Wizards of
the Coast (a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., NYSE: HAS) to make trading cards really fun by creating the trading card
game (TCG) genre – and the Pokémon®
TCG frenzy. Now, in another act of
sheer wizardry, Wizards of the Coast is leading the next evolution in trading card games with the launch of Pokémon-e cards.
Scheduled to hit store shelves
in mid-September 2002, the first Pokémon-e
card collection, Pokémon-e: Expedition™, will introduce a new
generation o
f cards to the more than 30 million fans and players of the Pokémon TCG worldwide. Experienced and beginning players alike will
enjoy Pokémon-e cards, which combine
the fun of traditional trading card game play with the handheld technology of
Nintendo’s Game Boy® Advance and “Dot
Code Technology” licensed by Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
Paper or Plastic?
While you still have to make
that always-confusing decision at supermarket checkout, with Pokémon-e cards, you get the best of
both worlds! The Pokémon-e TCG maintains playability with the popular paper trading card game format and will
thrill players with exciting new art and new trainer cards, as well as all-time
favorite Pokémon characters with new
attacks and a new mechanic called Supporters designed to aid Pokémon and increase their health. As if that wasn’t enough, players will find
one of the coveted foil cards they love in every booster pack and a random foil
card in each theme deck.
Now for
the plastic: Pokémon-e cards are encoded with
revolutionary Dot Code strips that are “swiped” (think credit card) into the
new e-Reader™ attachment for Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance. With a flick of the wrist and a slide of the
card, Pokémon-e card players will
enter a new world of Pokémon, as TCG
tips and strategies, sound effects, graphics and mini videogames are revealed
on the Game Boy Advance screen.
“The global Pokémon phenomenon is continuing, with
strong sales for Pokémon TCG products
and a new generation of players and collectors joining the millions of
enfranchised fans,” said Loren Greenwood, chief operating officer for Wizards of
the Coast. “Pokémon-e cards answer the consumer clamor for new ways to enjoy
the Pokémon TCG and enhance the
collectibility of Pokémon cards,
making Pokémon game play more varied
and fun than ever.”
Beginning mid-September 2002, Pokémon-e: Expedition theme decks (MSRP $9.99) and booster packs (MSRP $3.29)
will be available at retail outlets nationwide. In addition, Pokémon
fans can look for three Pokémon-e
cards in a sample set packed with Nintendo’s e-Reader (e-Reader MSRP $39.95)
and also can obtain a special, limited edition Celebi promotional card when
they attend the opening of Pokémon
Movie 4, “Pokémon 4Ever,”on October 11, 2002 (at participating theaters
only). Additional Pokémon-e TCG releases are slated for late 2002 and early 2003.
Since its U.S. launch in late
1998, Wizards of the Coast’s Pokémon
Trading Card Game (TCG) has taken the country – and the world – by storm. The Pokémon
TCG continues to be a bestseller, becoming one of the newest game “classics”
for kids of all ages. Much more than a
game, the Pokémon TCG has created a
community of dedicated fans and players, more than 100,000 of whom enjoy
competing in organized leagues and tournaments in more than 40 countries around
the globe each year. In addition to the
trading card game, the Pokémon
phenomenon includes Nintendo’s Game Boy® and N64® video cartridge games, the
number-one–rated animated children’s television program on the WB network, Pokémon Center retail store in New York City's
Rockefeller Center, comic books and a vast assortment of toys.
Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of
Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS), is the worldwide market share leader in the trading
card game and tabletop role-playing game categories. A leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment
products, the company holds an exclusive patent on the method of playing
trading card games (TCGs) and produces the world’s best-selling Pokémon® and Magic: The Gathering® TCGs.
Publisher of adventure games, family card and board games and electronic
media products. Wizards of the Coast is
also one of the world’s premier book publishers of fantasy series fiction whose
novels have made numerous appearances on The
New York Times best-seller list and
have sold millions of copies worldwide.
For more information, visit the Wizards
of the Coast® website at wizards.com.
Pokémon USA, Inc., the New York-based subsidiary of The
Pokémon Company in Japan, manages and oversees the Pokémon franchise, including
licensing, movies, T.V. animation and the Pokémon Center, a multi-sensory retail destination in Rockefeller Center
in New York City.