Nintendo Unveils Pokemon Gold and Silver At Nation's Largest Gold Reserve

The nation's largest depository for precious metals is getting a bit richer. At an official national launch event at Fort Knox, Nintendo of America Inc. just celebrated the release of two of the most highly-anticipated Game Boy Color games ever: Pokemon Gold and Silver.

Hundreds of kids will be among the first in America to play the new games, which have already pre-sold an astounding 700,000 copies. Both games are on track to become the best-selling video games in U.S. history, expecting to sell a record of 10 million units by spring 2001. Pokemon Gold and Silver will be available October 15 for a suggested retail price of $34.95 each.

"Fort Knox is the nation's center for gold and silver and the ideal location to introduce America to the richness of Pokemon Gold and Silver," explains Gail Tilden, Nintendo's vice president, product acquisition and development. "Gold and Silver are truly the next level for the Pokemon franchise and are poised to raise the bar for blockbuster game sales and pure interactive fun."

Kids at the event will participate in numerous game-related activities including playing Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64 games, participating in the Pokemon Adventure training boot camp, face painting activities, karaoke, and more. Also on location will be Nintendo's five Pokemon Tour Cruisers, new Chrysler PT Cruisers customized to look like the new Pokemon bird-like character Lugia. The cars have traveled across the country to more than 90 locations in 30 cities for the past seven weeks giving lucky kids a peek at the upcoming games.

The day's events will be highlighted with a Pokemon Parade with Pikachu, the most prominent Pokemon character. Pikachu will arrive accompanied by armed guards to officially deliver the first copies of Pokemon Gold and Silver to eager U.S. fans. A number of Pokemon licensees including WB, Kellogg's, Frito-Lay, and toy-maker Hasbro also will attend the launch.

With new characters, including Lugia, Ho-Oh, Togepi, Hoot-Hoot and Marill, and brand new features, such as a complete time management system and the ability to hatch pre-evolved Pokemon, Pokemon Gold and Silver mark the next stage of evolution in this amazing franchise. The games offer new territories to explore, new goals to attain, and of course, new Pokemon to capture, train and battle.

The Pokemon fun doesn't end with the release of Gold and Silver. Pokemon Puzzle League for Nintendo 64 recently launched on September 25. On October 15, Nintendo will launch Pokemon Pikachu 2 GS, an electronic pet featuring a built-in meter that tallies the amount the owner travels. The innovative voice-recognition game Hey You, Pikachu! launches on November 6 for N64, allowing Poke-fans to make friends with Pikachu on an entirely new level by talking to and playing games with everyone's favorite Pokemon.

Nintendo Co. Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, originally launched Pokemon for the world's best-selling Game Boy video game system and watched the original 150 creatures evolve into a cultural phenomenon. Nintendo of America, Inc. brought the franchise to North America in September 1998 with the release of the Pokemon Blue and Red Game Boy games, and to date has sold more than 18.7 million Pokemon-related video games in the United States alone. Pokemon launched in Europe in October 1999 and has truly become a worldwide cultural and retail phenomenon. Nintendo of America Inc. manages the Pokemon franchise it acquired from the original creators in Japan in all territories outside Asia. Nintendo retains Leisure Concepts Inc., a division of 4Kids Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:KDE), as an exclusive licensing agent for the property, as well as 4Kids Productions which handles the adaptation of the original Japanese television show and movies.

The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rates Pokemon Gold and Silver "E" for "Everyone". For more information about the ESRB, visit www.esrb.org.

For more information about Pokemon products visit the official Pokemon web site at www.pokemon.com.

Source: Nintendo