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Art Academy for Nintendo DS

REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 1, 2010 – If you've ever wished for a little more creative spark in your life, you're not alone. A new survey conducted by Wakefield Research for Nintendo indicates that 81 percent of adults wish they were more creative. While making time for creative pursuits can be difficult for working adults and students alike, Nintendo has offered a unique solution with the recent launch of the Art Academy™ software for the Nintendo DS™ family of hand-held systems. This new portable software offers a convenient way for people from all walks of life to satisfy their creative appetites, featuring fun and interactive drawing and painting lessons that can be applied to real-world art materials and a Free Paint mode that lets you create art whenever inspiration strikes.

It's no secret that creativity enhances the human experience. The findings of the Wakefield study point not only to the strength of people's creative impulses but also to the value they place on creativity in the world at large. Nearly 80 percent of respondents believe that creativity is one of the rarest skills in the workplace, while more than two-thirds of surveyed parents said they would rather have their children be creative than athletic.

"People clearly share a desire for more creative inspiration," said Marc Franklin, Nintendo of America's director of Public Relations. "We were surprised to learn that nearly one in four people feel bored or frustrated because they don't have a creative outlet. Art Academy includes lessons and a Free Paint mode that can help fill that void by providing a daily creative outlet for people, whether they use the software at home or on the go."

In addition to a strong craving for creative activity, participants in the Wakefield survey expressed concerns about arts education. Sixty percent of parents agreed that there is not enough focus on art activities in their children's schools. The portable art lessons in Art Academy are one option parents can consider for giving their kids a regular creative outlet outside the classroom. Whether they're learning to draw a pear or paint the ocean, users can follow basic tutorials on topics such as color, shading and composition. They can also explore the possibilities of Free Paint mode, which lets them draw whatever comes to mind.

The launch of Art Academy is the latest effort in Nintendo's ongoing commitment to provide unique experiences. In 2008, the release of the game Wii Music™ for the Wii™ console gave consumers of all ages and backgrounds an extraordinary, interactive way to share and expand their love of music. Other Nintendo game titles, including WarioWare™: D.I.Y. and the new Mario vs. Donkey Kong™: Mini-Land Mayhem! for Nintendo DS systems, invite players to flex their creativity by designing their own in-game levels and sharing them wirelessly with friends.

For more information about Art Academy, visit http://artacademy.nintendo.com. Also check out this video filmed at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York: http://www.stylewiz.com/ZetaScreener/Nintendos_Art_Academy.html.

These results were drawn from data that was collected by Wakefield Research via e-mail and an online survey. Two population samples were used for the study, one consisting of 1,000 American adults ages 18 and older and another consisting of 400 mothers. Polling was conducted Oct. 22-29, 2010.

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™ home console and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.5 billion video games and more than 577 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, 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, please visit the company's website at http://www.nintendo.com.