Family Gamers Choose EA Hasbro Games This Holiday
LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF “N-STRIKE”, MONOPOLY and HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT Video Games Prove Hot Holiday “Must-Haves”
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec 26, 2008 –(BUSINESS WIRE)–A video game for girls, a game and NERF blaster combo for boys and two video games for everyone in the family to play prove hot holiday sellers for Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS). The first wave of console and handheld titles under the EA and Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) long-term agreement have combined to sell two million units globally since their respective fall launches, according to internal EA sell-thru data.
LITTLEST PET SHOP for the Wii™, Nintendo DS™, and PC reached store shelves in October and according to NPD aggregated DS skus were the #2 overall Nintendo DS title in the US for the month of November1 and the #1 Nintendo DS title in France in October.2 The game, inspired by the Hasbro blockbuster toy line, is teeming with adorably cute pets that girls can collect, take on adventures in four vibrant worlds, or play with via a myriad of mini-games.
NERF “N-Strike”, available on the Wii since October, was the #10 title according to NPD for the month of November. The game, inspired by the globally popular Hasbro franchise, features non-stop NERF-style pandemonium where players are faced with a series of challenging missions that put blasting strategies and skills to the ultimate test. NERF “N-Strike” also ships with a custom NERF SWITCH SHOT EX-3 blaster, the first ever 2-in-1 video game and toy peripheral bundle to hit the market.
HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT, available on the Wii and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, launched in November and was awarded a Toy Wishes 2008 All-Star Award. Featuring six games including: BATTLESHIP, YAHTZEE, BOGGLE, CONNECT FOUR, SORRY! and the all new, SORRY! Sliders. Both MONOPOLY which is available for the Wii, PlayStation2 and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment systems and HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT had strong launches and continue to build momentum through the holiday.
“By innovating with these family brands and delivering a quality, fun game experience our EA Hasbro video games are something parents and friends can gift with pride this holiday season,” said Chip Lange, Vice President and General Manager EA Hasbro. “Our focus on creating audience-appropriate games has paid off with the consumers we wanted to reach and made EA Hasbro titles THE gift to give this holiday.”
PRICING, RATING & AVAILABILITY
LITTLEST PET SHOP has a MSRP of $39.99 for the Wii. The PC and all three Nintendo DS versions (Winter, Garden and Jungle) each carry a price of $29.99. The Wii and PC games are single player, while the Nintendo DS versions support up to four players via wireless Multi-Card Play. All LITTLEST PET SHOP games, which are currently available at retail, are rated “E” for Everyone. For more information, visit https://littlestpetshop.ea.com. For assets, visit https://press.ea.com.
NERF “N-Strike” for the Wii comes bundled with the NERF SWITCH SHOT EX-3 blaster and has a MSRP of $59.99. For expanded multiplayer fun, additional SWITCH SHOT EX-3 blasters are available in retail toy aisles and can be purchased separately for $14.99. Both the video game and blaster are available now at stores nationwide and will ship internationally in 2009. NERF “N-Strike” is rated “Everyone 10+” by the ESRB. For more information, visit https://nerf.ea.com. For assets, visit https://press.ea.com.
HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT has a MSRP of $39.99 for the Wii and $29.99 for the PlayStation 2. The game is rated “E” for Everyone by the ESRB. For more information visit https://hasbrofamilygamenight.ea.com. For screenshots and assets, please visit https://info.ea.com.
MONOPOLY for the Wii, Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 all have a MSRP of $39.99 while the PlayStation 2 version carries a retail price of $29.99. All MONOPOLY games are rated “E” for Everyone. The Pogo.com version of MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition, which more than 1.5 million people have already played, is available for free at https://www.pogo.com/games/monopoly, while the mobile phone versions are available through major mobile carriers with price varying by carrier. For more information, visit https://monopoly.ea.com. .
1 According to NPD Data for November 2008.
2 Three DS skus aggregated internal sales data.
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