LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF "N-STRIKE", MONOPOLY and HASBRO FAMILY GAME
NIGHT Video Games Prove Hot Holiday "Must-Haves"
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec 26, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
A video game for girls, a game and NERF blaster combo for boys and two
video games for everyone in the family to play prove hot holiday sellers
for Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS). The first wave of console and
handheld titles under the EA and Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) long-term
agreement have combined to sell two million units globally since their
respective fall launches, according to internal EA sell-thru data.
LITTLEST PET SHOP for the Wii(TM), Nintendo DS(TM), and PC reached
store shelves in October and according to NPD aggregated DS skus were
the #2 overall Nintendo DS title in the US for the month of November1
and the #1 Nintendo DS title in France in October.2 The game,
inspired by the Hasbro blockbuster toy line, is teeming with adorably
cute pets that girls can collect, take on adventures in four vibrant
worlds, or play with via a myriad of mini-games.
NERF "N-Strike", available on the Wii since October, was the #10
title according to NPD for the month of November. The game, inspired by
the globally popular Hasbro franchise, features non-stop NERF-style
pandemonium where players are faced with a series of challenging
missions that put blasting strategies and skills to the ultimate test. NERF
"N-Strike" also ships with a custom NERF SWITCH SHOT EX-3
blaster, the first ever 2-in-1 video game and toy peripheral bundle to
hit the market.
HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT, available on the Wii and PlayStation(R)2
computer entertainment system, launched in November and was awarded a
Toy Wishes 2008 All-Star Award. Featuring six games including:
BATTLESHIP, YAHTZEE, BOGGLE, CONNECT FOUR, SORRY! and the all new,
SORRY! Sliders. Both MONOPOLY which is available for the Wii,
PlayStation2 and PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment systems and HASBRO
FAMILY GAME NIGHT had strong launches and continue to build momentum
through the holiday.
"By innovating with these family brands and delivering a quality, fun
game experience our EA Hasbro video games are something parents and
friends can gift with pride this holiday season," said Chip Lange, Vice
President and General Manager EA Hasbro. "Our focus on creating
audience-appropriate games has paid off with the consumers we wanted to
reach and made EA Hasbro titles THE gift to give this holiday."
PRICING, RATING & AVAILABILITY
LITTLEST PET SHOP has a MSRP of $39.99 for the Wii. The PC and
all three Nintendo DS versions (Winter, Garden and Jungle) each carry a
price of $29.99. The Wii and PC games are single player, while the
Nintendo DS versions support up to four players via wireless Multi-Card
Play. All LITTLEST PET SHOP games, which are currently available
at retail, are rated "E" for Everyone. For more information, visit http://littlestpetshop.ea.com.
For assets, visit http://press.ea.com.
NERF "N-Strike" for the Wii comes bundled with the NERF
SWITCH SHOT EX-3 blaster and has a MSRP of $59.99. For expanded
multiplayer fun, additional SWITCH SHOT EX-3 blasters are available in
retail toy aisles and can be purchased separately for $14.99. Both the
video game and blaster are available now at stores nationwide and will
ship internationally in 2009. NERF "N-Strike" is rated "Everyone
10+" by the ESRB. For more information, visit http://nerf.ea.com.
For assets, visit http://press.ea.com.
HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT has a MSRP of $39.99 for the Wii and$29.99
for the PlayStation 2. The game is rated "E" for Everyone by the ESRB.
For more information visit http://hasbrofamilygamenight.ea.com.
For screenshots and assets, please visit http://info.ea.com.
MONOPOLY for the Wii, Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 all have a MSRP
of $39.99 while the PlayStation 2 version carries a retail price of
$29.99. All MONOPOLY games are rated "E" for Everyone. The
Pogo.com version of MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition,
which more than 1.5 million people have already played, is available for
free at http://www.pogo.com/games/monopoly,
while the mobile phone versions are available through major mobile
carriers with price varying by carrier. For more information, visit http://monopoly.ea.com.
For assets, visit http://press.ea.com.
1 According to NPD Data for November 2008.
2 Three DS skus aggregated internal sales data.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is
the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded
in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive
software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular
handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under
four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS
FreestyleTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted
GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than
one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com.
More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can
be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, and EA SPORTS Freestyle, and Pogo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other
countries. HASBRO, LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF, N-STRIKE, MR. POTATO HEAD,
FAMILY GAME NIGHT, CONNECT FOUR, BATTLESHIP, YAHTZEE, BOGGLE and SORRY!
are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission. Nintendo DS and
the Wii are trademarks of Nintendo. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
EA Hasbro PR
Alexis Mervin, 650-628-7703
amervin@ea.com
or
EA PR
Trudy Muller, 650-628-2926
tmuller@ea.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
News Provided by COMTEX