Gamers Start Perfecting Ninja Skills as Registration for North American Master Ninja Tournament Begins

Registration for the highly-anticipated Ninja Gaiden and Xbox Live tournament to begin in May

TORRANCE, Calif., April 15, 2004‹Tecmo® and Xbox Live announced today that online registration for all three rounds of the North America Master Ninja Tournament will begin on Monday, May 3rd. Starting then, participants in North America will be able to register online (http://www.xbox.com/MasterNinjaTournament) for tournament competition as gamers help ninja Ryu Hayabusa seek revenge for his clan who was massacred by the evil Vigoor Empire.

After registering, gamers will have a little over one week to practice and perfect their Ninja skills before the tournament kick-off on the first day of E3 2004, May 12th. Participants will be able to compete in round one of the tournament after they have downloaded The Live Key via Xbox Live. The Live Key will unlock the Master Ninja Tournament Worldwide Scoreboard that allows contestants to post their highest Karma score at the end of Ninja Gaiden. Gamers must first defeat the entire game on the normal difficulty setting in order to finish the first round and post their scores on the online worldwide leader board. The contestant with the highest score at the end of round one will move on to the online regional playoffs.

Contestants will have the opportunity to qualify three times for the regional playoffs. The second and third rounds will require gamers to download additional content, creating new challenges within Ninja Gaiden. Only the most skilled Ninjas will make it to the finals of the Master Ninja Tournament, to be held at an undisclosed European location. More details to be released in May.

Ninja Gaiden will embark on its next journey at this year¹s E3 with an action-packed event promoting the tournament at the Tecmo booth. The live event will reveal new details, including specific dates for each subsequent round of the regional playoffs. Attendees will be immersed in the Ninja Gaiden experience as they witness a display of unique prizes for the Master Ninja winners, as well as sneak previews of downloadable Xbox Live content. All necessary Master Ninja Tournament information will also be available at the Tecmo booth.

The Ninja battle will expand globally as Europe, Asia and Japan host similar playoff rounds for the Master Ninja Tournament. Details on how to register in these areas are forthcoming.

About Ninja Gaiden

One of Tecmo¹s most treasured franchises is given new life in a whole new action-packed Ninja Gaiden. The player takes on the role of the powerful and mysterious ninja, Ryu Hayabusa, who seeks revenge after his clan is massacred by the Vigor Empire.

Boasting 100% action, Ninja Gaiden allows the player to unleash their inner ninja with smooth game play, speedy battle sequences, and a variety of advanced acrobatic ninja moves from running and flipping off walls to hanging and swinging on rails. The player also has a variety of primary and secondary weapons at their disposal that when used in a combination, create advanced weapon attacks such as damaging wall-based assaults and all-powerful ultimate attacks. Xbox Live Compatibility, a host of challenging levels and visually exquisite environments are just a few more reasons why Ninja Gaiden raises the bar in the action gaming genre.

Ninja Gaiden is available now at all retail outlets where video games are sold, with a suggested retail price of $49.99 and an ESRB rating of Mature. Gamers can order Ninja Gaiden at Tecmo¹s website (http://www.tecmoinc.com). For additional information on the game, visit the official Ninja Gaiden website (www.ninjagaidengame.com)

About Tecmo, Inc.
Tecmo, Inc., located in Torrance, California, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tecmo, LTD in Tokyo, Japan and is a leader in the interactive entertainment industry, and now the wireless entertainment industry with its newest division Tecmo Mobile. Tecmo recently kicked off its new portable prowess with the launch of its classic football game, Tecmo Bowl, available to download on select mobile phones for some hard-hitting action on the go! Tecmo develops and publishes video games and content on wireless platforms and next-generation consoles. Tecmo has gained worldwide recognition with product lines such as the brand new Tecmo Bowl® for mobile carriers, and award-winning franchises including Ninja Gaiden ®, Dead or Alive®, Fatal Frame®, Monster Rancher®, and Gallop Racer®.

About Xbox
Xbox (http://www.xbox.com) is the video game system from Microsoft that brings people together for the most exhilarating game and entertainment experiences. Xbox delivers an expansive collection of breakthrough games, powerful hardware and the unified Xbox Live online service. The new tagline, "it's good to play together," captures the spirit of Xbox as the social hub of the new digital entertainment lifestyle. Xbox is now available in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.

About Xbox Live
Xbox Live, which launched in the United States Nov. 15, 2002, allows gamers to play multiplayer Xbox games with other gamers everywhere via a broadband connection. With a built-in hard drive and Ethernet port, the Xbox console is the only video game system built from the ground up for online gaming, negating the need to buy additional, costly peripherals or upgrades. Xbox Live enables gamers to easily find their friends; talk to other players during game play through the Xbox Communicator headset; download current statistics, new levels and characters to their Xbox hard drive; and play online‹all exclusive features to Xbox Live.

Xbox is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
 

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