Nintendo
Announces Global Price Drop for Game Boy Advance; The
World's Best Video Game System Just Got Better
Nintendo
today announced a global price drop for its best-selling,
hand-held video game wonder Game Boy(R) Advance,
effective February 1, 2002.
In the U.S., the new suggested
retail price is $79.95, representing a 20-percent
decrease. This simultaneous global price drop is the
result of production efficiencies and decreased component
costs.
The U.S. video game industry
generated a record-breaking $9.4 billion in 2001, and
Game Boy Advance was responsible for more than 20 percent
of total hardware units sold. Since its release in June
2001, Game Boy Advance has sold nearly 5 million hardware
units in North America. To stay ahead of the game,
Nintendo remains on track to ship 23.5 million Game Boy
Advance and Game Boy Color units to retail outlets
worldwide during its current fiscal year, ending March
2002.
"The new price point truly
positions Game Boy Advance as a video game system for the
mass market," says Peter Main, executive vice
president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America Inc.
"Coupled with an explosive amount of incredible
software scheduled for the year, Game Boy Advance is
positioned to become the best-selling video game hardware
system of all time."
This year will see the release of
more than 200 games for Game Boy Advance, including Super
Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2(TM), launching on
February 11th. Nintendo will also introduce innovative
new game play formats to take advantage of the new
Nintendo GameCube(TM)Game Boy Advance cable. The first
games to feature this game play synergy are Sonic
Advance(TM)from THQ for Game Boy Advance and Sonic(TM)
Adventure 2: Battle from Sega for NINTENDO GAMECUBE, both
launching in February. Using this new device, players can
transfer data between the two systems, giving gamers a
brand new level of game play never before experienced.
"The enormous success of
Game Boy Advance has made publishing games for the system
a clear triumph for us," says Brian Farrell,
President and CEO, THQ Inc. "With this price drop
our products will now reach even more consumers."
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(R)
64, Game Boy Advance and NINTENDO GAMECUBE(TM). Since the
release of its first home video game system in 1983,
Nintendo has sold more than 1.4 billion video games
worldwide, creating enduring industry icons such as
Mario(TM) and Donkey Kong(R) and launching such
franchises as Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). As a wholly owned
subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond,
Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations
in the Western Hemisphere
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