HYPNOTIC SECURES EXCLUSIVE FEATURE FILM AND TELEVISION RIGHTS FOR NINTENDO GAME ETERNAL DARKNESS: SANITY'S REQUIEM

Companies Collaborate to Take Popular Brand to Television and Film

LOS ANGELES – (June 27, 2003) -- Nintendo of America Inc. and Hypnotic, a New York and Los Angeles-based branded entertainment company, will collaborate to bring Nintendo's popular "Eternal Darkness™: Sanity's Requiem" video game title to new heights through the development of motion picture and television projects. Hypnotic will spearhead all TV and film development, financing, production and distribution rights for the property, from hiring the writers to brokering studio commitments and distribution deals.

Hypnotic understands the power of the Eternal Darkness brand as it produced the successful Eternal Darkness Filmmaking Competition, in 2001 and 2002, to promote the release of the game. Hypnotic chairman, Liz Hamburg, has worked with Nintendo throughout her career and brings her deep understanding of the entertainment and gaming industries to the table to help propel the brand into the filmed entertainment space.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, gaming's first true psychological thriller, received the ‘Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story' award at the 2003 Interactive Achievement Awards, the Oscars® of the video-game community.  "The characters in this game are extremely complex and story is truly dynamic," says Gail Tilden, vice president, Brand Management, Nintendo of America, Inc.  "We're looking forward to working hand-in-hand with Hypnotic to bring this exciting and innovative entertainment property to an even broader audience." 

"We are thrilled to once again work with Nintendo to extend this brand and its powerful story to the masses," says David Bartis, CEO, Hypnotic. "We are eager to get the project started and to leverage our relationships in both the entertainment and marketing worlds to propel Eternal Darkness onto yet another entertainment platform."

Hypnotic's current projects include the development of their latest television series, "The O.C." to air on FOX, the Terry Tate, Office Linebacker original film series and commercials for Reebok, The Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival, Toyota's Scion Screening Series, and numerous development deals leveraging its talent pool and immense short film library. 

Chairman Liz Hamburg and in-house producer Steven Hein spearheaded the deal. Gail Tilden helmed the negotiation for Nintendo.

ABOUT ETERNAL DARKNESS: SANITY'S REQUIEM

Long before humanity graced the Universe, the Earth belonged to another species, an ancient species unbound by physics or nature, purpose or ethic. Through the shifting of time, this species was driven into the recesses of the world to lie dormant until conditions were right for its return. Across history 12 chosen people come together to decide the destiny of the human race. As game play progresses, these 12 souls find their lives torn apart by the unseen evil, thrusting them to face their most suppressed fears with the promise of neither reward nor glory. The extreme sacrifice they eventually make is the cost of saving humanity.  Developed by Silicon Knights and Nintendo, Eternal Darkness launched exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube in June 2002.

ABOUT HYPNOTIC:

Hypnotic is a New York and Los Angeles based branded entertainment company with a proven track record in traditional television and film development, entertainment marketing, and the distribution of short films and animations.  The Company is leading the industry in developing brand-based content and marketing programs for the world's most innovative advertisers.  Hypnotic offers its brand and agency clients a fully integrated solution, from entertainment strategy and creative development, to the production and distribution of branded content and programs.  Investors include Vivendi Universal, Knowledge Universe, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Windsor Media.

ABOUT NINTENDO:

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 Pokémon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.

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