INFOGRAMES SET TO DELIVER LARGEST GAME BOY® ADVANCE PROPERTY IN COMPANY HISTORY
Retail Demand Pushes Initial Shipment of ‘Dragon Ball Z®: The Legacy of Goku®’ Past 300,000-Unit Mark
“Due to strong retail commitment, the support from the sales channel for our Dragon Ball Z® games has been extremely positive,” said Paul Rinde, senior vice president and general manager of Infogrames’ Minneapolis studio. “We’ve increased the awareness and excitement with several retail-specific promotions, aggressive marketing campaigns that include TV advertising, and strategic merchandising tie-ins with Nintendo of America.”
One of the most exciting properties brought to the interactive entertainment arena, Infogrames’ Dragon Ball Z® video game has been selected by Nintendo of America to participate in a variety of select retailer programs. Most notably, the inclusion of Dragon Ball Z® on Nintendo’s video compilation is running on more than 10,000 interactive stations at leading retailers nationwide, and in Nintendo’s POP/Merchandising program.
Additionally, Infogrames is supporting the launch of the game with a multimillion dollar marketing campaign highlighted by a high-energy, thirty-second TV spot airing on the Cartoon Network, World Wrestling Federation programming, Nickelodeon and WB Kids.
Increasing online awareness is a high-profile banner campaign via Nintendo.com that offers more than 10 million impressions to the core Game Boy® Advance audience, and an online outreach program with Cartoon Network that promises to generate more than 3.5 million impressions. Other elements of Infogrames’ marketing campaign include four-page Dragon Ball Z® video game posters in such targeted publications as Nintendo Power, Beckett Dragon Ball Z Collector and Pocket Games.
An exploding phenomenon, the “Dragon Ball Z®” program, produced by FUNimation Productions, LTD., has become of the top-rated anime shows on Cartoon Network’s Tooami, averaging more than 1.5 million viewers per show. Infogrames’ Dragon Ball Z®: The Legacy of Goku encapsulates the popular sagas from the show into an immersive interactive experience that puts the Dragon Ball Z® world under control of the player.
Developed by Webfoot Technologies, Inc., Dragon Ball Z®: The Legacy of Goku will be available nationwide on May 14 for a suggested retail price of $29.99. Infogrames will also be introducing Dragon Ball Z®: Collectible Card Game for the Game Boy® Advance next month.
About FUNimation
Focusing on quality entertainment properties such as Dragon Ball Z®, FUNimation Productions, Ltd, is a full service brand management company with in-house production, licensing, internet, home video distribution and toy divisions. With over 11 million videos sold and over 5 million hits per day on its web site, www.dragonballz.com, Dragon Ball Z is the top rated series on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block and the “Most Searched for Term of 2001” according to the Lycos 50 Daily Report on the internet. FUNimation also produces Dragon Ball®, the exciting prequel to Dragon Ball Z® airing IN the USA on Cartoon Network’s Toonami Block; Yu Yu Hakusho™, one of the top anime of all time, airing in the USA on Carton Network’s Adult Swim Action; Lupin the 3rd™, one of the longest running anime classics; Fruits Basket™, based on the top selling manga in Japan; and Blue Gender™, a sci-fi anime series. Look for collectibles from IF Labs™ featuring the Dragon Ball® Movie Collection, Dragon Ball®, and Yu Yu Hakusho™ as well as home video from FUNimation Productions, Ltd. and a host of other products licensed by FUNimation’s Production’s licensing division. IF Labs™ is a joint venture between FUNimation Productions, Ltd. and Irwin Toy, Ltd. For additional information on FUNimation and its properties, check out www.funimation.com. For more information regarding Dragon Ball Z®, contact Dave Moran at FUNimation at 817-788-0627 x 207 or dave.moran@funimation.com.
About Infogrames
New York-based Infogrames, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFGM) is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company develops video games for all consoles (Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft), PCs, and Macintosh systems. Infogrames’ catalogue of more than 1,000 titles includes award-winning franchises such as Civilization, Backyard Sports, Deer Hunter, Driver, RollerCoaster Tycoon, and Test Drive, and key licenses including Warner Bros. Looney Tunes, Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues, Dragon Ball Z, Mission Impossible, Terminator, Harley-Davidson, Major League Baseball, and the National Football League, among many others. The Company’s Humongous Entertainment and MacSoft labels are leaders in children’s and Macintosh entertainment software, respectively.
Infogrames, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA) (Euronext 5257), a global publisher and distributor of video games for all platforms. In 2001, IESA acquired Infogrames Interactive, Inc. (formerly Hasbro Interactive), including its line of software based on well-known licenses such as MONOPOLY, Jeopardy, TONKA, and Atari, which are published and distributed in the U.S. by Infogrames, Inc. For more information, visit the Company’s Web site at www.infogrames.com.
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