LOS ANGELES – Nintendo of America will increase U.S. shipments of its innovative NINTENDO GAMECUBE home video game console to 700,000 systems, and deliver them to store shelves on Sunday, November 18th, directly in advance of the key Thanksgiving shopping week. In addition, continuing flow of NINTENDO GAMECUBE hardware will push total North American shipments to 1.1 million units by December 31.
Nintendo also announced that five exclusive first- and second-party games and 12 independent third-party games are scheduled for U.S. launch this year to meet the game play appetites of all video gamers. The scheduled exclusive title releases, each with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $49.95, are:
- Luigi’s Mansion November 18 (street date)
- Wave Race: Blue Storm November 18 (street date)
- Pikmin November 19 (ship date)
- Super Smash Bros.Melee December 3 (ship date)
- Eternal Darkness December 3 (ship date)
These Nintendo-developed hits will be joined by proven franchises and groundbreaking new games from among the world’s best third party publishers.
Those scheduled for release in North America this year include:
- All Star Baseball 2002 (Acclaim)
- Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 (Acclaim)
- Extreme G3 (Acclaim)
- NFL Quarterback Club 2002 (Acclaim)
- Crazy Taxi (Acclaim)
- FIFA Soccer 2002 (Electronic Arts)
- Madden NFL 2002 (Electronic Arts)
- SSX Tricky (Electronics Arts)
- Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader(LucasArts)
- NFL Blitz (Midway)
- NHL Hitz (Midway)
- Super Monkey Ball (Sega)
Nintendo also announced that eagerly anticipated titles NBA Courtside 2002 will debut in January 2002, followed by Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet, from Rare Ltd. in the first quarter 2002. They will be joined by other blockbuster 2002 NINTENDO GAMECUBE titles The Legend of Zeldaand Mario Sunshine later next year.
In addition, Nintendo unveiled new forms of connectivity between NINTENDO GAMECUBE and Game Boy Advance. By linking the two systems, the Game Boy Advance can be used as more than a controller. For instance, players can transfer a character trained on NINTENDO GAMECUBE to Game Boy Advance to continue game play while away from home. Or, transport characters or items via Game Boy Advance to trade with friends. And, with innovative technology such as “tilt control,” players can maneuver a character just by tilting a Game Boy Advance controller. Nintendo expects to introduce the first NINTENDO GAMECUBE title to take advantage of the Game Boy Advance connectivity later this year in Japan and in 2002 for North America.
“Our industry has learned the dangers of arriving at a launch party without enough gifts,” explains Peter Main, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America Inc. “By increasing our day one shipments to almost three-quarters of a million, we not only should come close to meeting total demand at launch, but also assure a virtually uninterrupted restocking through the holiday season.”
“We strongly applaud Nintendo’s move to reduce the anxiety of customers who can’t find the video game products they want,” says Wayne Yodzio, vice president, Divisional Merchandise Manager, Toys R Us, Inc. “While there is still no guarantee supplies will fully meet demand, at least we can promise them we’ll effectively be restocking Nintendo’s new console on a constant basis through the holiday and beyond.”
NINTENDO GAMECUBE remains on track to launch in Japan on September 14, 2001, and in Europe in early 2002.
NINTENDO GAMECUBE, the most efficiently designed home video game system in history, will initially be available in two console colors, Indigo and Jet Black. In addition, at launch consumers will be able to separately purchase: additional controllers in four colors, Indigo, Indigo/transparent configuration, Jet Black, and Spice (orange); memory cards; Nintendo Power Player Guides, and other accessories.
The integrated architecture of NINTENDO GAMECUBE’s processing and graphical chips, memory and controller offers the easiest development environment to date for game creators. Coupled with the exclusive game creations of the world’s most successful first and second party design teams, and connected in unprecedented ways with Nintendo’s handheld Game Boy Advance, NINTENDO GAMECUBE delivers all-new forms of interactive fun.
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 the upcoming NINTENDO GAMECUBE. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1985, Nintendo has sold more than 1.4 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.
