A survey of nearly 2,100 parents confirms what Nintendo has known all along: Pokemon video games help kids learn important core values and skills.
Nintendo commissioned Impulse Research Corp. to conduct the survey to coincide with today's launch of two new highly anticipated video games, Pokemon FireRed and Pokemon LeafGreen for Game Boy Advance.
Key responses from responding parents include:
* More than 75 percent think that Pokemon does a good job of promoting positive values and enhances strategic thinking.
* Almost 70 percent say that Pokemon improves memory skills and promotes teamwork.
* More than 60 percent believe that Pokemon increases mental agility and awareness as well as promotes cooperation with friends.
"We're proud to be a part of a video game franchise that parents believe helps boost important skills, like teamwork and memory, that can translate to kids excelling in school," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "And, with the new Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter bundled with Pokemon FireRed and Pokemon LeafGreen, players now can expand their abilities even further by testing their brain power against many other players simultaneously."
Pokemon FireRed and Pokemon LeafGreen contain expanded lands for players to explore. Players can choose to play as either a boy or girl Trainer as they encounter characters from, and transfer information between, previous games like Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire. A new-and-improved Pokedex is more colorful and easier to use than ever.
Today's launch of two new Pokemon games, Pokemon FireRed and Pokemon LeafGreen, also marks the debut of the new Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter with wireless communication technology from Freescale Semiconductor, which comes packaged with the games. The adapters allow up to 40 players to come together in a Union Room within the games to chat, trade or battle Pokemon without being connected by cables.
Pokemon FireRed and Pokemon LeafGreen, Rated E for Everyone, each sell for an MSRP of $39.99, a price that includes the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter.
Impulse Research Corp. of Los Angeles conducted the online survey in August among a random sample of 2,098 parents across the country who are members of the CyberPulse Advisory Panel. The overall sampling error for the survey is +/- 2.5 percent.
