Microsoft and 4Kids Entertainment Form Alliance; Entertainment Leaders Team Up to Create Children's Property
REDMOND, Wash. & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2006--Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced today an alliance with 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE) - the children's entertainment company whose expertise in brand positioning has led to such powerhouse properties as Yu-Gi-Oh!(R), Pokemon(R) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(R) - to develop a unique children's entertainment property.

Under the agreement, 4Kids Entertainment will serve as the licensing agent for a forthcoming children's entertainment property on a global basis for Microsoft Game Studios. The exclusive representation agreement encompasses all broadcast, home video, music and merchandise licensing rights.

Alfred R. Kahn, Chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, said: "We are thrilled to serve as the partner of choice and act as the vehicle for Microsoft to broaden its appeal among a more mainstream market focusing on children and family entertainment. We are confident our strong track record in developing integrated marketing and merchandising programs designed specifically for kids will enhance the future success of Microsoft Game Studios."

Ed Ventura, director of Franchise Development at Microsoft said: "We are excited to explore the opportunities our collective efforts can create when we combine 4Kids's proven expertise in bringing engaging children's properties to life with Microsoft's leadership and knowledge of interactive entertainment."

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

About Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox(R) and Xbox 360(TM) video game systems, the Windows(R) operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as "Age of Empires(R)," "Flight Simulator" and "Zoo Tycoon(R);" Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as the upcoming "Gears of War" and franchises such as "Halo(R)," "Fable(R)," "Project Gotham Racing(R)" and "Forza Motorsport(TM)"; and MSN(R) Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as "Bejeweled" and "Hexic(R)."

About 4Kids Entertainment

Headquartered in New York City with international offices in London, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE) is a global provider of children's entertainment and merchandise licensing. 4Kids, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, provides domestic and international merchandise licensing; product development; television, film, music and home video production and distribution; media planning and buying; and Web site development. For further information, please visit the Company's Web site at www.4KidsEntertainment.com.

About 4Kids TV

4Kids TV(TM), 4Kids Entertainment's four hours of children's programming broadcast Saturday mornings on FOX, features popular animated series for both boys and girls including Magical DoReMi(TM), Winx Club(TM), Bratz(R), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(R), Sonic X(TM) and G.I. Joe Sigma 6(TM). For more information, visit www.4Kids.TV.

Nintendo Co. will begin selling an adaptor for its DS and Game Boy Advance handheld game players to allow them to play music and video, the company said, matching a popular feature on Sony's portable game machine.

Nintendo is in a heated battle to defend its dominant position in the lucrative handheld market against new competitor Sony Corp., which launched the PlayStation Portable (PSP), its first ever mobile game device, on Dec. 12 in Japan.

Nintendo's DS, launched in the United States on Nov. 21 and in Japan on Dec. 2, has been flying off the shelves but the PSP has generated an equal level of buzz among game fans, in large part because it can also play back music and movie files. The DS, which by itself is strictly a game device, will be able to play video in the MPEG-4 format and songs in the MP3 format by inserting a memory card into the new adaptor, which is plugged into a slot in the machine.

The adaptor will also work with the DS predecessor, the Game Boy Advance SP.

About 58 million Game Boy Advances have been sold worldwide. The DS is off to a strong start, with shipments expected to reach 2.8 million units by the end of the year.

"Someone could record a TV program on a memory card and then watch it the next day on their way to work on the train," said Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa, adding that it would allow for playback of CD-quality sound, depending on the transfer rate.

The company will start selling the adaptor in February 2005 in Japan for about 5,000 yen ($47.47, £25), Minagawa said. That is roughly the difference between the price of the DS by itself, at 15,000 yen, and the PSP, which sells for 19,800 yen before tax.

The device will be displayed at the Panasonic Center, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.'s showroom in Tokyo for current and future products, on Thursday. Nintendo has a game corner on the first floor of the facility.

Minagawa said Nintendo had no immediate plans to sell the adaptor overseas. The company quietly put a notice about the device on its Website on Wednesday without notifying media or issuing an official news release.

www.nintendo.co.jp

This week has been a rather busy week for Nintendo...
First, they raised it's stake in major-league baseball's (Seattle) Mariners to more than 50 percent, a company spokesman said today.

Nintendo's U.S. subsidiary spent $67 million to acquire the stake held by former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, who acquired his share of the club in 1992, Yasuhiro Minagawa said.

Nintendo's U.S. subsidiary had owned a stake in the team but is not disclosing how much it owned or how much it owns after the transaction, he said.

The Mariners are one of the most popular major-league baseball teams in Japan because of right fielder Ichiro.

Then, comfirmed some new Cube games including Pokemon and Mario are in develeopment..

Finally, the company has begun internal work on the planning and production side of animated movies. All financing for these projects will be handled internally. While specific content hasn't been revealed, the company does expect to have its first pictures made public some time in 2006.

Previously, Nintendo's dealings in the movie business have been through licensed properties, like Pokemon and a positively weird movie based on Super Mario Brothers. One wouldn't actually call these Nintendo movies, though.

Whatever movie properties do show up, it's expected that Nintendo will take advantage of the new wireless technology from the DS in its film releases. The first film to allow DS owners to download content via wireless transfer by simply bringing their DS systems to the theater will be the new Pokemon movie, a non-Nintendo production that's scheduled for Japanese release in the Summer.