Another hot card game turned video game is on its way.ATARI ANNOUNCES DUEL MASTERS: SEMPAI LEGENDS
With More Than 120 Million Booster Packs Sold In Japan, Duel Masters Prepares For European Invasion
London - 30 April 2004 - Atari and Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, today announced that Duel MastersTM - the number one toy in Japan according to US Weekly Toy News - will be released for Nintendo's Game Boy® Advance in October 2004 across Europe. Already an incredibly successful trading card game, television series and comic book in Japan, Atari's Duel MastersTM: Sempai Legends, which was developed under license from Hasbro, will launch following the newest round of the Duel Masters trading card game from Wizards of the Coast. With more than 120 million booster packs sold in Japan, Duel Masters is preparing to invade Europe.
"The gripping combination of tactical play, fun and mysticism in Duel Masters: Sempai Legends will help the franchise make the transition into a great piece of interactive entertainment," said Martin Spiess, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Atari Europe. "It's very exciting to be working with Wizards of the Coast to bring what is already a huge phenomenon in Japan to Europe and the Game Boy Advance."
"Atari has successfully demonstrated its expertise in bringing anime properties and trading card franchises to the interactive entertainment sector, and we are excited to be working with them on Duel Masters," said James Szubski, Duel Masters brand manager, Wizards of the Coast. "Duel Masters has already demonstrated its ability to span a variety of entertainment genres, and Atari's Game Boy Advance offering combined with our trading card game delivers the perfect vehicle with which to introduce this universe to Europe."
Duel Masters' Accomplishments in Japan
More than 120,000,000 Duel Masters booster packs sold since launch in may 2002
More than 4,000,000 Duel Masters decks sold
The Trading Card Game has been the #1 toy in Japan for the last 11 consecutive months
One out of four Japanese 8-12 year-old boys plays Duel Masters
There are more than 1000 Duel Masters play events per month
26 episodes of the Duel Masters TV show have been produced; 26 additional episodes are currently in production
US Launch
By week 3 the Duel Masters Trading Card Game was out-selling all other Wizards of The Coast products combined in the non-specialist market place
Sales of booster packs are growing faster than in Japan during the same period following launch
TV show on Cartoon Network has a growing and loyal fan base with an 18% share of 6-11 year old male viewers
www.duelmasters.com receives more than 500k page views per week
UK Launch
Duel Masters Trading Card Game launched on 5th March
Sales in Week 2 were 5 times that of week 1
Duel Masters: Sempai Legends for the Game Boy Advance is scheduled for European release in October 2004.
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About Duel Masters: Sempai Legends for Game Boy Advance
Duel Masters: Sempai Legends offers a story-driven experience, in which the lead character inherits a valuable Duel Masters card from his grandfather, but before he can add it to his deck, it is stolen by a mysterious man. As a result, the lead character must travel through a dangerous world inhabited by rival duelists in the hopes of regaining his stolen property. Along the way, he enters tournaments and gains the experience to someday become a Kaijudo Master. For more information, please visit www.atari.com
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