MUMBAI: 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.
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.
