Press Releases

Nintendo's 'Zelda' Video Game Outdraws Top Hollywood Holiday Releases; $150 Million 'Box Office' In Six Weeks

(Redmond, Wash. Jan. 7, 1999) Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" established an historic benchmark for the video game and entertainment industry as the tally shows it generated more retail revenues during the last six weeks of 1998 than any Hollywood feature film released over the same key holiday time period.

Based on data from Nintendo and entertainment industry sources(1), Nintendo's Zelda title for the Nintendo 64 video game console generated approximate retail revenues of $150 million based on the nearly 2.5 million units sold at an average retail price of $60. The top grossing movie for the same time period was the Disney/Pixar production of "A Bug's Life", with approximately $114 million in box office receipts. Counting all releases from the week of Nov. 20 through the end of the year, revenues are ranked as follows:

"When you consider that roughly 15 years ago the home video game industry didn't even exist in America, the fact that a video game in the most important retail period of 1998 could outdraw any Hollywood release is nothing short of amazing," says Peter Main, Nintendo of America executive vice president, sales and marketing. "Coupled with the phenomenal growth of online activity, we're seeing a decided shift among consumers toward interactive entertainment. Users now can manage and control the story process and outcome, rather than the simply observe the passive delivery of the same uniform message to a mass audience."

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time also became the fastest selling game of all time and the number one selling video game of all of 1998, even though it was available for only the last 39 days of the year. Furthermore, Zelda remains on track to sell through more than 6 million games worldwide before the end of Nintendo's fiscal year on March 31. And separately, the Zelda how-to Player's Guide, published by Nintendo Power magazine, has already sold in excess of one million units as a distinct retail item.

This current Zelda game is the first designed to play on the Nintendo 64 system, following previous versions released for the original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (1987), and the 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1992). Critics have labeled the latest installment 'the video game of the century'(2) and "the Gone With The Wind of video games"(3).

Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, is the acknowledged worldwide leader in the creation of interactive entertainment. To date, Nintendo has sold more than one billion video games worldwide, and has created such industry icons as Mario, Yoshi, Zelda, and Donkey Kong. Nintendo manufactures and markets hardware and software for its best-selling home video game systems, including the 64-bit Nintendo 64, the hand-held Game Boy, and the 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in North America, where more than 40 percent of American households own a Nintendo game system.

For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's web site, www.nintendo.com.

(1) Exhibitor Relations Company
(2) Next Generation magazine, 12/98
(3) Chip and Jonathan Carter, Tribune Media Services