Fan-Favorite Nintendo Characters Wario and Kirby Get Some Time to Shine

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Today, two popular Nintendo characters launch their new video games on a rare dual-launch day. Conniving Wario™ appears in Wario Land™: Shake It! for the Wii™ console, while “super tuff pink puff” Kirby™ arrives in Kirby Super Star™ Ultra for Nintendo DS™. Both characters have millions of fans, and each game plays to the strengths of its lead character.

Wario Land Shake It! looks like a hand-drawn cartoon that players can control. It’s a classic-style side-scrolling game in which players navigate Wario through a series of enemies and hazards. The game features motion controls: Players shake the Wii Remote™ controller to help Wario shake down his enemies, free coins from treasure bags and even cause earthquakes. Wario’s narcissistic personality is on full display as he sets out to get his hands on the Bottomless Coin Sack.

What Wario is to greed, Kirby is to kindness. But the little pink powerhouse is not to be trifled with. Fans know that Kirby has the ability to inhale enemies and copy their abilities, a trait used to progress through the game and defeat anyone who gets in the way. Kirby Super Star Ultra for the Nintendo DS updates the beloved Super NES™ classic including new graphics, new adventures and new challenges. In local wireless mode, up to four Nintendo DS owners can compete, even if they only have one game card.

“Nintendo has one of the largest stables of beloved video game characters on the planet,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Kirby and Wario’s new games will give veteran players challenges to enjoy while introducing novice players to these iconic video game personalities.”

For more information about Wario Land: Shake It!, visit www.WarioLandShakeIt.com. For more information about Kirby Super Star Ultra, visit www.KirbyKirbyKirby.com. Both games are rated E for Everyone.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.7 billion video games and more than 470 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii and Nintendo DS, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ 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.