A POKé FIRST - NEW GAMES ALLOW CORDLESS GAMEPLAY BETWEEN FRIENDS

Nintendo |

The hugely successful and magical world of Pokémon returns with the launch of Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen and as a first for Pokémon, in these games you can battle your Pokémon with friends without the use of any cables but by using the innovative Wireless Adapter function! Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen is bigger than ever before, featuring over 150 Pokémon and new content for you to discover and explore. The games launch for the Game Boy Advance across Europe on 1st October 2004 and each copy of the game is bundled with its own Wireless Adaptor.

Embark on a mystical journey, starting with one of three Pokémon favourites, Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle, and choose your moves wisely as you battle your way through Kanto. There are many new features in this game, including new islands for you to discover and explore! Here you'll find Pokémon not available on the mainland, as well as new towns to explore and people to talk to round every corner!

For the first time ever in a Pokémon game, Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen allows wireless gameplay through the use of a Wireless Adaptor. This fits into the back of your Game Boy Advance SP and allows you to chat with other players, battle with up to 4 players and play mini games with up to 5 players, all without the use of any cables! 2 on 2 battling returns in these games and you can now do this wireless too. This is great fun for you and your friends. Another new feature in the game is a Union Room. This is a communal area where players can chat in groups of up to 5 people, send instant messages and trade Pokémon. And all this, using the Wireless Adapter! This Poké-adventure has so many great functions you'll never be able to put it down.

After completing certain tasks 'in-game', both games can be linked up with Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire, also on the Game Boy Advance and Pokémon Colosseum on the Nintendo GameCube. You can then collect more Pokémon to create the biggest Pokédex ever, and use for battling. This astounding feature makes it possible to battle and play mini-games with Pokémon available from all three games.

All these new features are, of course, accompanied by many of the great features characteristic of the Pokémon series, loved by so many. Each Pokémon must be caught, trained and nurtured, allowing them to develop into individual Pokémon, each with their own unique looks, personality and ability. The Pokémon also have their own emotions, for example whilst some are very brave, others are relaxed and others serious!

Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, with all these features, are exciting new editions to the hugely successful game franchise and will not fail to please.

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen will be available in Europe from 1st October 2004 for the estimated retail price of around 40 Euros.

Click onto www.nintendo-europe.com for all of the most up to date official information on Nintendo.

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For further information please visit the Nintendo Extranet at www.Nintendo-Europe-Media.com or contact Becki Strickland or Simon Watts at the Nintendo Press Office on 020 7307 3103.

Nintendo Co., Ltd of Kyoto, Japan, is the acknowledged worldwide leader in the creation of interactive entertainment. To date, Nintendo has sold more than 1.9 billion video games worldwide, created such industry icons as Mario^® and Donkey Kong and launched franchises like The Legend of Zelda^® and Pokémon. Nintendo manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home video game systems, including the Nintendo 64, NINTENDO GAMECUBE, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy - the world's best-selling video game system which has sold over 170 million units. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Grossostheim, Germany, was established in 1990 and serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in Europe.

The Pokémon Company UK Representative Office, based in London, UK, manages and oversees the Pokémon franchise in UK, Europe and Africa, which includes licensing, merchandising, TV animation, theatrical releases, home video entertainment and publication. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 for the Game Boy^®, the world's best-selling video game system. The Pokémon franchise is now a worldwide phenomenon. Since Pokémon was first introduced into Europe in October 1999, approximately 25 million Pokémon video games have been sold across Europe making it the fastest selling video games ever. Pokémon merchandise has generated over $15 billion in worldwide retail sales to date. The Animated series is broadcast in more than 68 countries. The trading card game, fuelled by organized play programs in 47 countries, has spurred global sales of 13 billion cards to date.