Redmond, WA (02/08/99) - From its September launch through the end of 1998, games featuring the lovable PokΘmon characters for NintendoÆs Game Boy portable system outsold any game for the Sony Playstation console.

According to independent sales data, in the final four months of the year the nearly identical blue and red versions of PokΘmon combined to sell through an estimated 1.3 million cartridges at retailers across America, compared with approximately one million for SonyÆs Crash Bandicoot Warp, just under 1 million for Metal Gear Solid, and less than three-quarters of a million for Tomb Raider 3Æs Lara Croft. In fact, the two PokΘmon titles constituted one of the top five sellers for all of 1998 for any platform.

"Simply stated, there has never been a portable game phenomenon like PokΘmon," says Peter Main, Nintendo of America executive vice president, sales and marketing. "During its time on the market last year, PokΘmon sales represented one of every five games sold for all portable systems. And its popularity continues unabated into 1999."

PokΘmon has excited the worldÆs portable game players by combining compelling and challenging game play elements with the dynamics of collecting, training and trading up to 150 PokΘmon characters. A TV cartoon series based on the franchise is a kidÆs number one choice in virtually every market, and Hasbro has launched a line of best-selling toys also based on PokΘmon. Later this year, two more Game Boy games based on the PokΘmon phenomenon will debut in America.

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 billion video games worldwide, and has created such industry icons as Mario, Yoshi, Zelda and Donkey Kong. Nintendo manufactures and markets hardware and software for its best-selling home video game systems, including the 64-bit Nintendo 64, the hand-held Game Boy, and the 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for NintendoÆs operations in North America, where more than 40 percent of American households own a Nintendo game system.