KONAMI TO INCLUDE EXCLUSIVE YU-GI-OH! CARDS WITH GAME BOY® COLOR GAME

Special Edition Collectible Cards are Only Available with the Initial Release of Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories

REDWOOD CITY, CA ­ March 18, 2002 ­ Konami of America today unveiled a set of three limited edition collectible cards for the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game that will be exclusively bundled with Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories for Nintendo Game Boy® Color, slated to ship nationwide tomorrow. The game will include a set of holographic, silver foil embossed cards that will only be available with the initial release of the game and will not be available anywhere else.  Subsequent shipments of the Game Boy® Color title will include a completely different 3-card set from the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories will include official Trading Card Game cards exclusively created as a bundle with the first shipment of the game.  The beautifully designed, embossed holographic cards give players three powerful monsters from Yu-Gi-Oh!; Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Exodia the Forbidden One, and Dark Magician. Future shipments of the Game Boy® Color game will include a different set of cards.

The release of Konami¹s Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories (as well as Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories for the Sony PlayStation®, also shipping tomorrow) represents the long-awaited debut of the mega-popular games to the US. The Yu-Gi-Oh! game series has already sold more than 7.5 million units in Japan and has seen massive success as a licensed property; amassing staggering figures that include more than 3.5 billion cards, 23 million comic books and an excess of $2 billion generated in merchandise sales.

The franchise premiered in the US in Fall 2001 as an animated TV series broadcast on KidsWB. Entering its second season this fall, the show, Yu-Gi-Oh! King of Games, currently ranks #1 in its Saturday morning timeslot.* Furthering the support of Yu-Gi-Oh! in the US, leading card manufacturer, Upper Deck introduced the collectible card game in March 2002. As demand for the franchise continues to grow, Konami is releasing these two highly anticipated video games and plans to launch a second generation of Yu-Gi-Oh! games later this year.

³The success of Yu-Gi-Oh! in Japan rivals that of the most popular franchises ever to originate overseas before making the jump to the US,² said Dennis Lee, Product Manager for Konami of America. ³The series weaves an intriguing story filled with mystery and riddles that immerses players in a magical world. The video games bring the Yu-Gi-Oh! world to life.²

Both Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories for Nintendo Game Boy® Color and Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories for Sony PlayStation® are slated to ship on March 19, 2002 at an SRP of $29.99.

Learn more about Yu-Gi-Oh! by visiting: http://www.yugiohkingofgames.com

About Yu-Gi-Oh!
The Yu-Gi-Oh! universe was born of artist Kazuki Takahashi and first appeared in the Japanese comic book Shonen Jump in 1996. An instant hit, the comic has spawned a cartoon television show, a collectible card game, several Game Boy® Color and Sony PlayStation® games as well as other licensed merchandise. Yu-Gi-Oh! follows the adventures of Yugi, a young boy who possesses the Millennium Puzzle that allows him to transform into his alter-ego, the Game King, whenever he is challenged.

About KONAMI CORPORATION

KONAMI CORPORATION is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties, specializing in the home video game market.  KONAMI CORPORATION¹s action and adventure titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill and Castlevania, among other top sellers. The latest information about Konami can be found on the Web at www.konami.com. KONAMI CORPORATION is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiary offices, Konami of America, Inc. in the US and Konami of Europe in Frankfurt, Germany.

*Source: NTI, Kid Network season to date (10/01/2001-12/08/2001)

Konami is a registered trademark of Konami Corporation. ©2001 2002  Konami of America, Inc. Kids WB! is a registered trademark of Warner Bros. Game Boy is a registered trademark of Nintendo of America. PlayStation is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America. All other trademarks copyright of their respective owners.

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