-Nintendo of America issued a surge of new information today about what consumers can expect from the company in the coming months. Let’s get right to it:

“With Nintendo DSi XL, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M coming in the first six months of the year, we’re making sure all our fans have great game content to enjoy year-round.”

• The new Nintendo DSi XL^™ hand-held system launches March 28 at a suggested retail price of $189.99. The screens of the Nintendo DSi XL are 93 percent larger than those of the Nintendo DS^™ Lite model, providing a more vivid and engaging play experience. The screens of the Nintendo DSi XL also feature a wider viewing angle, letting friends and family members join the fun. The new system launches in both Burgundy and Bronze colors, and comes loaded with pre-installed premium software Brain Age^™ Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Math and Photo Clock, as well as two free applications: the Nintendo DSi Browser and Flipnote Studio^™. Nintendo DSi XL will also come with a larger pen-like stylus that allows for a more comfortable grip and enhanced ease of use when playing games that use the Nintendo DS touch screen. America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking and WarioWare^™: D.I.Y. will also launch for the Nintendo DS family of products on March 28, providing consumers with new content that can be enjoyed on any Nintendo DS system. Games like these demonstrate the enhanced experience available with the Nintendo DSi XL.
• Super Mario Galaxy^™ 2, the sequel to the smash-hit galaxy-hopping original game, launches May 23 for the Wii^™ console. The game includes the amazing gravity-defying, physics-based exploration from the first game, but is loaded with entirely new galaxies and features to challenge and delight players. On some stages, Mario^™ can pair up with his dinosaur buddy Yoshi^™ and use his tongue to grab items and spit them back at enemies. Players can also have fun with new items such as a drill that lets our hero tunnel through solid rock.
• Metroid^™: Other M, the incredible new Metroid game developed for Wii through a collaboration by Nintendo and the world-renowned Team Ninja, launches June 27. The game looks at the classic franchise from a new perspective: While much of the game is reminiscent of 2-D side-scrollers, players can switch the perspective into 3-D at any time as they explore the twisting passages of a derelict space station and delve deep into a cinematic, never-before-told story of bounty hunter Samus Aran’s past. This new approach uses a new control scheme in which players use the Wii Remote^™ controller held sideways to battle enemies and navigate the expansive, gorgeous environments in classic Metroid fashion, then aim at the screen with the Wii Remote pointer to blast foes in first-person and hunt the world for clues and hidden passages.
• In a unique partnership with Square-Enix, Nintendo of America will publish Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies in the Americas when the game arrives in summer 2010. Dragon Quest IX has sold more than 4.15 million copies in the Japanese market. Nintendo and Square-Enix will now work together to bring this title to the Nintendo DS consumer base in the Americas.
• Capcom’s Monster Hunter^® Tri, an epic action game for Wii, launches in the United States on April 20. The game lets players customize their character, armor and weapons in order to protect a town from majestic monsters as that town rebuilds following a devastating earthquake. Online play will be available for all players with broadband Internet access at no additional cost. Online text chat is fully functional and online voice chat is enabled using the Wii Speak^™ microphone, which is sold separately. At a suggested retail price of $59.99, limited quantities of Monster Hunter Tri will include the new Black Classic Controller Pro^™, while both Black and White versions of the controller will be available separately at a suggested retail price of $19.99. The game will also be available without a controller at a suggested retail price of $49.99.
• Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, the breakthrough shooter game for Wii from legendary developer Treasure, will launch across North America on June 7. The game features nonstop action with two playable characters and international online leaderboards to track high scores. Using the Wii Remote pointer functionality, the game offers unprecedented precision in the shooter genre.
• FlingSmash^™ for Wii will test players’ Wii Remote skills as they bounce a ball-like hero through countless side-scrolling stages, combining the precision of racket sports with the unpredictable fun of pinball. Playable only with the Wii MotionPlus^™ accessory, the game will launch this summer.
• Picross 3D is poised to become a puzzle game phenomenon when it launches for the Nintendo DS family of products on May 3. In Picross 3D, players start with a cube and smash away smaller blocks to reveal an object, shape or symbol. Delivering more than 350 unique puzzles and more made available for download on a regular basis after launch via the Nintendo^® Wi-Fi Connection service (broadband Internet access required), the game takes the mind-bending fun of Picross into the next dimension.
• 100 Classic Books transforms the Nintendo DS family of products into a library of timeless literature when it launches on June 14 at a suggested retail price of $19.99, highlighted by 100 works from authors such as William Shakespeare, Jules Verne, Jane Austen, Mark Twain and more. Readers can adjust the size of text, place bookmarks and even download new content via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service (broadband Internet connection required).
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands^™ from Ubisoft will launch May 18 on both the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms. Boasting amazing graphics with fantastic action and puzzle-solving game play, the Wii version will be the first in franchise history to feature a two-player cooperative experience. As an added bonus, the Wii version of the game will exclusively include the 1992 Super NES^™ version of the original Prince of Persia game.
• Disney Guilty Party is the official title of the highly anticipated first collaboration between Disney Interactive Studios and its recently acquired studio, Wideload Games. The fun and hilarious mystery party game is set for release in the second half of 2010, exclusively for Wii.
• Majesco’s Nintendo DSi exclusive Ghostwire: Link to the Paranormal uses incredible augmented reality technology through the Nintendo DSi Camera. Launching this October, the game lets players become a ghost hunter as they interact with the paranormal.

Nintendo also announced a variety of games available to download directly to the Wii console from the Wii Shop Channel via the WiiWare^™ service, and directly to the Nintendo DS via the DSi Shop and DSiWare^™ services.

For WiiWare:

• Launching on March 1, Capcom’s Mega Man^™ 10 builds upon the huge impact of Mega Man 9, a completely new adventure rendered in classic 8-bit style. This new game looks and sounds as awesomely retro as its predecessor.
• Launching on March 8, Max & the Magic Marker from Press Play turns the Wii Remote into an orange magic marker that’s literally magic. Players draw lines and objects to help Max reach objects and his ultimate goal.
• The long-awaited indie cult classic Cave Story comes to WiiWare with new game play, artwork and music enhancements on March 22. It’s classic gaming reborn for 2010.
• Launching on March 29, WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase is a standalone product exclusive to the WiiWare service and available only from the Wii Shop Channel. The game contains more than 70 new microgames and features interoperability with the WarioWare: D.I.Y. game for the Nintendo DS family of products. Players that own both games can transfer content between the two via a local wireless connection, and can even play user-created microgames on their television using WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase.
• As the techno music pulses, Nintendo’s Art Style^™: light trax^™ puts players in charge of a white beam of light as it engages in a surreal race against other beams across a dark track. Players must keep away from obstacles, use items and look for power boosts if they want to finish first. Art Style: light trax launches this spring.
• Swim and spin through the primordial ooze in Nintendo’s Art Style: Rotozoa^™ as you absorb tiny organisms that match the colors of your tentacles. As you absorb more organisms, your tentacles grow. The challenge increases as additional tentacles are gained, but power-ups can help you survive and thrive. Art Style: Rotozoa launches this spring.
• Launching this spring, Rage of the Gladiator from Ghostfire Games is an intense fighting game that asks players to perfect their well-timed moves against an array of opponents. The game is compatible with the Wii MotionPlus accessory.
• Launching this spring, And Yet It Moves from Broken Rules requires players to rotate the world to help their line-drawn protagonist progress. Walls become floors and floors become ceilings in this surreal twist on the platformer genre.
• Launching this summer, Independent Games Festival Seumas McNally Grand Prize Finalist Super Meat Boy from Team Meat sets a cube of meat off on an adventure to save Princess Bandage. This off-the-wall game is not for the faint of heart.

For Nintendo DSiWare:

• Nintendo’s Photo Dojo^™ is poised to be the cult hit of 2010 when it launches this spring. The game first asks players to pose for 13 pictures and input 10 sound effects. Once that’s done, the player becomes the main character in a hilarious side-scrolling fighting game. Create up to eight characters and do battle alone or against a friend on a single Nintendo DSi or Nintendo DSi XL system.
• Launching this spring, Nintendo’s Metal Torrent^™ delivers a frantic barrage of gunfire that fills the screen. Players try to convert opponents’ bullets into cubes that, when collected, increase their score and fill an energy meter that powers special weapons. Online Leaderboards record scores and movies of top games.
• Launching this spring, X-Scape^™ from Nintendo immerses players in an exploratory adventure involving more than 20 planets. Players will pilot their tank through 3-D tunnels, fire at enemies and even battle ancient weapons that resemble giant robots.

“Nintendo finished 2009 with a bang, and we’re continuing our momentum into 2010,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “With Nintendo DSi XL, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M coming in the first six months of the year, we’re making sure all our fans have great game content to enjoy year-round.”

Remember that Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit www.Nintendo.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii^™, Nintendo DS^™ and Nintendo DSi^™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System^™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.3 billion video games and more than 558 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy^™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES^™, Nintendo 64^™ and Nintendo GameCube^™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario^™, Donkey Kong^™, 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, visit the company’s Web site at www.Nintendo.com.

Consumers nationwide continue to snap up Nintendo products for the holidays, and Nintendo is poised to carry that momentum into 2010. Dozens of games for the Wii^™, Nintendo DS^™ and Nintendo DSi^™ systems are on the way in a wide range of categories from both Nintendo and its third-party partners.

To bring a little color to the winter months, Nintendo will release two new colors for its Wii Remote^™ controller. Starting Feb. 14, the controller will come in Pink or Blue and will be bundled with a Wii MotionPlus^™ accessory. Along with the current White and Black versions of the controller, now every player in four-player matches can have his or her own color.

“During the holidays, tens of millions of Americans are going to spend enjoyable hours with both Wii and Nintendo DS,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “And the enjoyment will only grow in the early weeks of 2010, whether your taste in gaming comes from exploring ocean depths, catching, training and battling Pokémon or even designing your own micro-games.”

On the Wii console, Endless Ocean^™: Blue World arrives on Feb. 22 to provide players with an adventurous and educational experience, complete with underwater exploration, an adventurous storyline and Wii Speak^™ compatibility. This January also sees the highly anticipated release of Tatsunoko VS. Capcom^™: Ultimate All-Stars. Available exclusively on Wii, this new VS. series fighting game features global online game play for those who have access to a broadband Internet connection.

On the portable side, Nintendo’s hand-held systems will see the arrival of a number of diverse games, including the eagerly awaited Pokémon^™ HeartGold Version and Pokémon^™ SoulSilver Version on March 14. Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version allow fans to return to the scenic Johto region first introduced in the beloved Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver games. The games have been fully enhanced with rich graphics, updated sound, new touch-screen controls and much more.

On March 28, WarioWare D.I.Y.^™ lets users design their own micro-games from scratch and share them with other WarioWare D.I.Y. owners via a broadband Internet connection and Nintendo^® Wi-Fi Connection. Every element, such as the characters, the environment, the actions and even the purpose of the micro-game itself, can be created entirely by the player. Also on March 28, hungry gamers can dig into America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking, which gives family members the chance to prepare 300 different dishes together. All of the recipes and the how-to videos in the game were created by the popular public television show America’s Test Kitchen.

On Jan. 18, Glory of Heracles^™ introduces U.S. role-playing fans to the popular Japanese franchise. The game is inspired by Greek mythology and written by Kazushige Nojima of Final Fantasy fame. The traditional role-playing game features an engrossing story and a robust battle system.

Below is a partial list of upcoming packaged and downloadable games for the Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems. Note that game titles and launch dates are subject to change.

Remember that Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about Nintendo, visit www.nintendo.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii^™, Nintendo DS^™ and Nintendo DSi^™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System^™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.2 billion video games and more than 535 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy^™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES^™, Nintendo 64^™ and Nintendo GameCube^™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario^™, Donkey Kong^™, 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, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.

One of the year’s biggest adventures is fired up and heading down the tracks. Today’s launch of The Legend of Zelda^™: Spirit Tracks for the hand-held Nintendo DS^™ and Nintendo DSi^™ video game systems marks a fun new chapter in the historic franchise. For the first time, heroic Link^™ teams with Princess Zelda^™, who accompanies him on an original quest to save Hyrule from ruin. This unforgettable saga has Link navigating perilous dungeons and commanding a customizable train. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks features challenging puzzles, wide-ranging exploration and a deep storyline.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks builds upon the dynamic touch-screen control interface established in 2007’s The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, making it easier for players to perform advanced maneuvers and guide Link through an engaging series of adventures and challenges. An active participant throughout the entire game, Princess Zelda can take control of powerful Phantom characters to help Link make his way through obstacle-filled dungeons. New items include the Whirlwind and the Spirit Flute, which allows players to perform music that has magical effects on objects and events in the game by blowing into the built-in microphone of the Nintendo DS or Nintendo DSi.

While controlling Link’s customizable train, players can take on special missions in which he transports people and valuable cargo across the game world. The train offers players the opportunity to explore the world of Hyrule, taking more challenging routes to reach new areas as they acquire new parts and equipment.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks includes a new head-to-head multiplayer mode that lets up to four players compete via a local wireless connection with one game card. In this mode, players explore six unique areas in search of valuable Force Gems. Traversing these areas and attempting to possess the most Force Gems at the end of each session, players must also avoid patrolling Phantoms, while setting off traps and using hidden abilities to foil their opponents.

“During the holidays, people are striving to find entertainment options that offer hours of fun, and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks delivers,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “For more than 20 years, audiences have been captivated by the storyline and sense of exploration offered by these beloved games. The plot twists and seamless controls of this latest installment will engage existing fans of The Legend of Zelda series while introducing new players to the series’ magic.”

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the 15^th game in this internationally renowned series. Since its inception in 1986, more than 59 million games in The Legend of Zelda series have been sold worldwide.

For more information about The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, visit www.zelda.com/spirittracks.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii^™, Nintendo DS^™ and Nintendo DSi^™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System^™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.2 billion video games and more than 535 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy^™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES^™, Nintendo 64^™ and Nintendo GameCube^™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario^™, Donkey Kong^™, 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, visit the company’s Web site at www.Nintendo.com.