Biggest Nintendo 64 Hits Available at $39.95; Move will Further Widen Industry Leadership.

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 1998--Concluding a record year in which it decisively led the North American video game industry, Nintendo of America today ushered in 1998 with a bang, announcing Nintendo 64 software price reductions for seven of America's favorite video games to a suggested manufacturers retail price of $39.95.

The new pricing for the "Player's Choice" series of hit Nintendo 64 games will go into effect on Jan. 26, and apply to million-selling titles Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Star Fox 64, Cruis'n USA, Wave Race 64, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. Through November, each of these games was among the best ten sellers in the country for all of 1997.

Independent nationwide sales tracking data indicates that Nintendo led the video game industry in 1997 in virtually every meaningful measurement: each of the top five selling video games for any console; total hardware system sales; number one game publisher within all three industry categories (32/64 bit `next generation'; 16 bit; and handheld); and a total corporate retail revenue share of market of 55% (up from 44% in 1996).

"As the only video game system with 64-bit technology, a built-in joystick controller and four-player capability, Nintendo 64 has an unfair advantage," says Peter Main, Nintendo executive vice president of sales and marketing. "Our less sophisticated 32-bit competitors spent most of 1997 competing on the basis of lower software pricing. That option no longer exists."

"Our industry leadership derives directly from our record of creating and marketing the world's most popular video games," says Nintendo of America chairman Howard Lincoln. "And a disproportionate number of those games derive directly from Shigeru Miyamoto's team at Nintendo in Japan, and the N64 development teams at Rare, Ltd., in England. To my way of thinking, these two groups constitute the best game developers in the world, and they are devoted exclusively to Nintendo products." Two Rare developed products, Diddy Kong Racing and Goldeneye 007, joined Mr. Miyamoto's Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 among the top selling games of the year for any platform.

"This more affordable pricing on America's favorite video games is just a first step in what will be unquestionably Nintendo's strongest first half in history," Main says. "Our first-party lineup features Nintendo 64 titles including Yoshi's Story, 1080 Snowboarding, NBA Courtside, Cruis'n World, Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball and Banjo-Kazooie developed by Rare. On Game Boy, we'll see everything from James Bond to Warioland 2 to Bugs Bunny in addition to a limited edition Ice Blue colored hardware unit in February. And behind all of it is our biggest first half marketing budget ever."

Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, is the leader in the worldwide $15 billion retail video game industry. Nintendo manufactures and markets hardware and software for its best-selling home video game systems, including the hand-held Game Boy, the 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the 64-bit Nintendo 64, the fastest selling video game system in history. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Washington, serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere, where more than 40 percent of American households own a Nintendo game system. For more information about Nintendo 64 or any Nintendo products, visit Nintendo's web site on the Internet, www.nintendo.com .

CONTACT: Golin/Harris

Eileen Tanner, 509/628-1993