Topic: Game Boy Betters Box Offices

[WindyMan]

Gee, another Nintendo news release about the Game Boy Advance being unstoppable.

Game Boy Advance: Hotter Than Hollywood

Sales Should Surpass Those of Any Movie Studio

Hollywood studios are banking on huge holiday films like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Cat in the Hat and The Last Samurai to make their years, but no movie - or movie studio - will match the entertainment muscle of Nintendo's white-hot Game Boy Advance. In fact, the Game Boy Advance line in 2003 is tracking to exceed the year's total box office revenues for any Hollywood studio.

That's right: Hardware and games for the Game Boy Advance are projected to exceed $1.5 billion in revenue in the United States, an estimate beyond the domestic estimates for any Hollywood movie maker.

"Game Boy Advance is the envy of the entertainment world," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Not only does our 'studio' boast a library of more than 550 titles, but these hits get played over and over again."

Game Boy Advance games continue to drive sales of the hardware. Popular titles like Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire all have contributed to its success. In 2002, about 7 million Game Boy Advance units were sold in the United States. This year, it is expected to reach nearly 9 million.

Despite the sluggish economy, sales of Game Boy Advance have flourished, thanks in part to the March release of the stylish, front-lit Game Boy Advance SP and the release of the Game Boy Advance SP in new casings of Flame (red) and Onyx (black) six months later. The Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo GameCube are the only game systems to show an increase in systems sold compared with 2002.

Nintendo sold more than 400,000 Game Boy Advance systems in October alone, 100,000 more than any other game system! And its momentum continues:

When the Game Boy Advance is ranked alongside the three home consoles, it grabs a commanding share of the market with 38 percent.

"The Game Boy will sell out this Christmas," says Michael Pachter, vice president of research at Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles.

So for Game Boy Advance, "advance" tickets are advised.