Survey Finds Pokémon Players Make the Grade
September 7, 2004
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press]
Nintendo |
REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 7, 2004 - A survey of nearly 2,100 parents confirms what Nintendo has known all along: Pokémon® video games help kids learn important core values and skills. Nintendo commissioned Impulse Research Corp. to conduct the survey to coincide with today's launch of two new highly anticipated video games, Pokémon® FireRed and Pokémon® LeafGreen for Game Boy® Advance.
Key responses from responding parents include:
More than 75 percent think that Pokémon does a good job of promoting positive values and enhances strategic thinking.
Almost 70 percent say that Pokémon improves memory skills and promotes teamwork.
More than 60 percent believe that Pokémon increases mental agility and awareness as well as promotes cooperation with friends.
"We're proud to be a part of a video game franchise that parents believe helps boost important skills, like teamwork and memory, that can translate to kids excelling in school," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "And, with the new Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter bundled with Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, players now can expand their abilities even further by testing their brain power against many other players simultaneously."
Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen contain expanded lands for players to explore. Players can choose to play as either a boy or girl Trainer as they encounter characters from, and transfer information between, previous games like Pokémon ColosseumTM, Pokémon® Ruby and Pokémon® Sapphire. A new-and-improved Pokédex is more colorful and easier to use than ever.
Today's launch of two new Pokémon games, Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, also marks the debut of the new Game Boy® Advance Wireless Adapter with wireless communication technology from Freescale Semiconductor, which comes packaged with the games. The adapters allow up to 40 players to come together in a Union Room within the games to chat, trade or battle Pokémon without being connected by cables.
Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, Rated E for Everyone, each sell for an MSRP of $39.99, a price that includes the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter.
Impulse Research Corp. of Los Angeles conducted the online survey in August among a random sample of 2,098 parents across the country who are members of the CyberPulse Advisory Panel. The overall sampling error for the survey is +/- 2.5 percent.
Pokémon USA, Inc., a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages and oversees the property outside of Asia, which includes licensing activities, brand promotions, publication of the trading card game, TV animation, home video entertainment, the official Pokémon Web site, the Pokémon Center NY in Rockefeller Center and pokemoncenter.com, an e-commerce site. Nintendo of America manages marketing and distribution of Pokémon Video Games and the Pokémon Trading Card Game in North America.
Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 for play on Nintendo's Game Boy® and has evolved into a global cultural phenomenon. Pokémon was introduced in North America in September 1998 and has since generated more than $15 billion in worldwide retail sales. More than 38 million Pokémon video games have been sold in the United States, including Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire, which were the No. 2 and No. 3 best-selling video games of 2003, according to the NPD Group. The trading card game, fueled by organized play programs around the world, has spurred global sales of more than 13 billion cards to date, while the Pokémon animated series on Kids' WB!, now in its sixth season, consistently ranks within the top three shows for boys ages six to 11. For more information, visit www.pokemon.com.
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 and portable video game systems. Each year, hundreds of all-new titles for the best-selling Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCubeTM systems extend Nintendo's vast game library and continue the tradition of delivering a rich, diverse mix of quality video games for players of all ages. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 1.9 billion video games and more than 170 million hardware units globally, creating enduring industry icons such as MarioTM and Donkey Kong® and launching popular culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid®, ZeldaTM and Pokémon®. 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 at www.nintendo.com.
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