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Chart-topping
children's property Pokemon is joining with Zingy, Inc., the
leading mobile media provider in the U.S. to launch Pokemon
Mobile. The announcement was made at the American International
Toy Fair.
Making
its debut at Toy Fair, Pokemon Mobile offers the first ever
official Pokemon cell phone content, including wallpapers,
ring tones, and short videos. Pokemon Mobile, part of the
multi-billion-dollar personalized mobile media market, will
offer downloadable mobile content which are based on the concept
of collecting, training, and trading Pokemon characters on
a quest to become a Pokemon Master.
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Zingy
will publish Pokemon Mobile content across a variety of platforms
on the major domestic cell phone carriers. Content is available
at http://www.pokemon.com/mobile.
Through
Zingy, popular Pokemon characters, songs, and animated clips
will be brought to life in mobile media content for boys and
girls of all ages. Consumers will be able to select from more
than 30 downloadable content options and can have, for example,
Pikachu, the most popular Pokemon character, announce their
calls. They can also download ringtones from the Pokemon animated
TV series soundtracks. Wallpapers include images of popular
Pokemon, action scenes, and key characters, such as Pokemon
gym leaders and villains.
Pokemon
USA, Inc.vice president of Business Development Yves Saada
said, "With mobile phone usage growing at an unprecedented
rate and our fans looking for more on-demand content, it was
a natural fit for Pokemon to expand into mobile media. Pokemon
has always been a leader in technology and pop culture, and
Pokemon Mobile will prove to be yet another innovative platform
for us to interact with our fans."
"We're
thrilled to be working with Pokemon to incorporate mobile
into their marketing strategy. The addition of Pokemon-branded
content to our portfolio further establishes Zingy as the
premier mobile publisher for brands that impact pop culture,"
said Zingy, Inc.vice president, Licensing and Publishing Scott
Debson.
Personalized
downloads at http://www.pokemon.com/mobile will be $1.99,
on average, per item and will be included on consumers' monthly
mobile phone bill from their existing carrier. Throughout
2006, Pokemon Mobile will continue to add new personalized
content and features, such as on-demand voicemails from popular
Pokemon characters.
Founded
in 2001, Zingy is the leader in mobile media. The company
licenses, publishes and distributes market-leading content,
products and services across all major mobile categories including
personalization, entertainment, information and community,
as well as mobile marketing services to more than 150 leading
brands. Based in New York, Zingy has offices in Los Angeles,
Mexico City and Montreal.
Pokemon
has also kicked off its 10th anniversary worldwide. They have
announced the Pokemon Journey across America and other fan-focused
initiatives. It is an action-packed 24- city national mall
tour that will culminate in August at the first-ever Pokemon
National Video Game Championships.
Pokemon
USA, Inc. president Akira Chiba said, "We are immensely
proud of the success Pokemon has achieved in its 10 year history,
we've become a children's entertainment powerhouse both in
the U.S. and globally. This year promises to be one of the
most exciting ever for the brand as we celebrate this significant
milestone and chart our path for the future."
Throughout
2006, Pokemon is providing its fans with a variety of different
Pokemon initiatives ranging from new ways of interacting with
favorite characters to exciting new animation specials to
challenging new video games.
On
the video game front, Pokemon Trozei, a puzzle game for the
Nintendo DS(R) will launch in March and other Pokemon video
games will be released throughout the year.
In
April, a one-hour TV special entitled "The Mastermind
of Mirage Pokemon" will debut on Kids' WB! and bring
together everyone's favorite Pokemon characters to solve the
unusual mystery of the Mirage Pokemon.
Later
in the year, the eighth Pokemon movie, "Lucario and the
Mystery of Mew" is set for release and will feature never-before-seen
Pokemon and the legend of the Aura Guardian. Join Ash and
his friends on both of these adventures!
Also,
be sure to watch for the brand new Pokemon 10th Anniversary
song and video, "Pokemon Go," which is sure to be
the ultimate nostalgic tune for Pokemon fans everywhere.
Since
its launch in 1996, Pokemon has released 25 video game titles
and has sold more than 140 million video games worldwide.
Four new titles are scheduled for release in 2006. -- The
Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) - With more than 14 billion
Pokemon Trading Card Game cards in circulation, the TCG craze,
which started stateside in 1998, continues to be as popular
as ever.
Pokemon
was first created in Japan as a video game for the Nintendo
Game Boy(R) system. A non-violent game that teaches children
strategy, sportsmanship and team work, Pokemon has captured
the imagination of a generation of children and adults.
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