Nintendo Head to Shed Light on the Design Opportunities Presented by

Nintendo's Video Game Systems

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Iconic game developer and president of

Nintendo Co., Ltd. Satoru Iwata returns for the second consecutive year to

deliver the keynote address of the 2006 Game Developers Conference (GDC).

GDC, the world's largest event exclusively devoted to the art of game

creation, will take place at the San Jose Convention Center Monday through

Friday, March 20-24.

In his keynote, entitled "Disrupting Development," Iwata will inspire

developers to take risks and mine the depths of their imaginations to create

innovative games regardless of the size of teams or budgets. He will point

to the Nintendo DS(TM) "brain-training" games and Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection

to prove it is still possible to succeed at engaging new players and

surprising existing players. Iwata will also share his thoughts on the role

Nintendo's video game systems will play in expanding the market and widening

the possibilities for developers.

"We are extremely honored to feature an experienced platform leader such as

Satoru Iwata as a keynote speaker," said Jamil Moledina, director, Game

Developers Conference. "As Nintendo reinvents the scope of what games can

be, it is ever more crucial to share their creative and market-growing

philosophies with the other leaders of the game creation industry."

Born in 1959 in the Hokkaido Prefecture of Japan, Iwata studied at and

graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology University, where he

majored in computer science. Shortly after graduating, Iwata joined HAL

Laboratory, Inc. and in 1983 began coordinating the software production and

development of Nintendo titles, such as the Kirby series. By 1993, he had

become president of that company. In 2000, Iwata moved to Nintendo Co., Ltd.

as the head of the Corporate Planning division, where he was responsible for

Nintendo's global corporate planning. In 2002, he was named president of

Nintendo Co., Ltd. where he continues to guide development of games with the

passion of a game creator.

Satoru Iwata's keynote, "Disrupting Development," is scheduled for Thursday,

March 23, from 10:30 to 11:30am.

The GDC is the largest and most important professional development event for

the games industry. The conference will feature more than 300 lectures and

workshops designed to provide inspiration and build skills. The annual event

offers an independent forum for developers from around the world to set the

agenda for the next stage of interactive tools.

The GDC will take place March 20-24 at the San Jose Convention Center. To

secure early rate pricing, be sure to register by February 15. Learn more at

www.gdconf.com.