MARIO KART: DOUBLE DASH!! PREPARES TO RUN THE COMPETITION OFF THE ROAD

The Season's Expected Best Seller Takes the Pole Position

REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 17, 2003 – The holiday season's most anticipated video game, Mario Kart®: Double Dash!!™ for the Nintendo GameCube™, is gassed up and ready to roll. The game, which launches today, brings high-octane competition to the couches of America. It continues the tradition of rich graphics and multiple challenging courses, while bringing entirely new racing modes, weapons and strategies into play.

Mario Kart remains one of the best-loved series in video game history, having sold more than 23 million units worldwide during the past 11 years. When Mario Kart: Double Dash!! launched in Japan on Nov. 7, it immediately raced to No. 1 on the sales charts, selling twice as many units as the No. 2 title.

"Mario Kart: Double Dash!! will be the hottest game of this holiday season," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Whether players battle one-on-one or race against a group of friends, the game sparks friendly rivalries that keep them coming back to this No. 1 franchise."

Competition proves fiercer than ever due to better track design, faster karts, increased AI and twice the probability for chaos. The co-op mode offers a new way to team up with a friend and compete against other friends, as one player drives and the second player in the kart doles out damage.

The co-op mode, in conjunction with a LAN connection, allows up to 16 players to compete at one time. Up to eight karts race at once, with one player driving and the other handling items and executing slide-attacks from the back seat. The two players can swap places to strategically use power-ups for maximum impact.

Players can race against one other in "Versus" mode, or try to beat their best times in time trials. The popular battle modes have been expanded as well to include Bob-omb Blast and Shine Thief, in addition to the original Balloon Battle. Bob-omb Blast is an all-out game of bombardment on wheels with the winner being the one to "tag" their opponents the most. Shine Thief mode is a high-speed version of "capture the flag," as players try to avoid opponents' weapons and grab the target "Shine" before the clock runs out. Within each type of battle mode game, players can choose from a variety of levels, including Pipe Plaza, which is full of warp pipes to zip karts out of (and sometimes even into) danger.

No matter what mode players opt for, they get to choose from a host of Nintendo characters to help them during races, including Mario™, Luigi, Wario™, Donkey Kong® and Peach. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is available now at an MSRP of $49.99, and is Rated E for Everyone.

The worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home and portable video game systems. Each year, hundreds of all-new titles for the best-selling Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube™ systems extend Nintendo's vast game library and continue the tradition of delivering a rich, diverse mix of quality video games for players of all ages. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 1.8 billion video games globally, creating enduring industry icons such as Mario™ and Donkey Kong® and launching popular culture franchise phenomena such as 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, please visit www.nintendo.com.