Mario and Luigi Hire Comedian Kathy Griffin

Mario and Luigi Hire Comedian Kathy Griffin to Help Find the Funniest Joke;
Nintendo Prizes Await the Winner of the Best Knock-Knock Joke Contest

Oct 16, 2003 08:05 Mario© announces his latest quest: a search for the funniest knock-knock joke. Mario and his comical brother, Luigi, who co-stars in the new game Mario & Luigi©: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy© Advance, have hired comedienne Kathy Griffin to help them in this mission.

"Everything that Luigi does makes me laugh; I'm surprised we ever complete a level," says Mario. "With Kathy Griffin as our judge, we'll depend on her to keep us in line while she determines a winner."

The contest runs now through Nov. 16; contestants can submit jokes online at www.gameboy.com/marioandluigi. Each week, a finalist will be chosen from the week's entries. On Nov. 17, Griffin will select a grand prize winner from among those finalists.

"I know Nintendo will receive thousands of entries, so I hope Mario and Luigi will help me sort through these," Griffin said. "I'll be a tough knock-knock judge so make entries original, because I won't hesitate to throw those who write bad jokes into knock-knock jail."

Mario chose a knock-knock joke contest because the brothers' back-and-forth patter reflects the kind of slapstick humor that gamers will find in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. For the first time, players control both Mario and Luigi simultaneously in this hilarious, action-filled role-playing game.

"An evil witch steals Princess Peach's voice and replaces it with explosives, of all things," says Mario. "Luigi and I work together to recover her stolen voice. Even bad-boy Bowser helps us -- probably so he can kidnap her later."

Players can control Mario and Luigi separately or team them up for superhero-style combination moves. The involved storyline, puzzle-solving challenges and points system common to classic role-playing games combine with the jumping challenges and action battles of more traditional Mario games. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is Rated E for Everyone, and will be released Nov. 17 at an MSRP of $34.99.

The grand prize winner of the knock-knock joke contest will receive a Game Boy© Advance SP, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga game, Nintendo GameCube© system and more. For official rules and prizes, go to www.gameboy.com/marioandluigi.

The worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home and portable video game systems. Each year, hundreds of all-new titles for the best-selling Game Boy© Advance and Nintendo GameCube© systems extend Nintendo's vast game library and continue the tradition of delivering a rich, diverse mix of quality video games for players of all ages. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 1.8 billion video games globally, creating enduring industry icons such as Mario© and Donkey Kong© and launching popular culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid©,
Zelda© and Pokemon©. 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, visit the company's Web sites at either www.nintendo.com.