Catch Of The Week!

12th April 2007- Get ready to put your Pokémon skills to the test as Pokémon Ranger launches across Europe this Friday! For the first time in the history of the series players will be able to fill the shoes of an elite Pokémon Ranger and become part of the world famous Pokémon protection unit.

Players assume the role of a male or female character as they commence this multi-layered adventure. Along the way players must learn to harness the powers of captured wild Pokémon to solve problems and help people. In their new role, Pokémon fans get to take part in a series of exciting and increasingly challenging missions.

Rangers are accompanied at all times by a single Pokémon partner who is essential to the Ranger's success. This faithful friend aids the important relationship between the wild Pokémon that the Ranger must catch. Once a Pokémon has been captured, the Ranger can use its powers to help overcome the challenges ahead. However, wild Pokémon powers aren't available forever, so the Ranger must pick the right moment to utilise these, before releasing the Pokémon back into the wild.

And that's not all! The dynamic gameplay featured in Pokémon Ranger makes the game even more exciting. Using the unique Nintendo DS, players control the game entirely with the touch screen and the stylus. This allows them to physically capture wild Pokémon by drawing a circle around them, although this challenge can vary depending on the size and the strength of the Pokémon.

Another highlight of Pokémon Ranger is the numerous sub-quests available, giving players the opportunity to meet and capture legendary Pokémon such as Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza. With over 200 Pokémon to be caught, completing this game is no easy matter!

The launch of Pokémon Ranger will also act as the starting point for an epic quest to discover Manaphy's Egg and eventually capture the ultra-rare Pokémon itself. Do you have what it takes to unravel the mystery and complete the Hunt for Manaphy's Egg?

So, make sure that you're ready to ambush those Pokémon as Pokémon Ranger hits shelves across Europe on the Nintendo DS this Friday.

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For further information please contact the Nintendo Press Office on 020 7307 3103

Click onto www.manaphy.eu for more on Manaphy or check out www.nintendo-europe-media.com ; for all of the most up to date official information on Nintendo.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About Nintendo

The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 387 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario, Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zelda and Pokémon®. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Grossostheim, Germany, was established in 1990 and serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in Europe.

About Pokémon

Pokémon UK, a branch of Pokémon USA, Inc., based in London, UK, manages and oversees the Pokémon franchise in UK, Europe and Africa which includes licensing, merchandising, TV animation, theatrical releases, home video entertainment and publication. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 for the Game Boy®, the world's best-selling video game system. The Pokémon franchise is now a worldwide phenomenon. Since Pokémon was first introduced into Europe in October 1999, nearly 35 million Pokémon video games have been sold across Europe, making it the fastest selling video games ever. Pokémon merchandise has generated over $25 billion in worldwide retail sales to date. The Trading Card Game, fuelled by organized play programmes in 47 countries, has spurred global sales of 14 billion cards to date.