REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Do your socks go missing in the dryer? Are you constantly shopping for useless stuff? Or maybe you can’t stop spilling all of your secrets? All of this could be caused by Yo-kai! Hundreds of these sometimes spooky, sometimes cute and usually mischievous Yo-kai secretly inhabit our world. They can’t be seen by the human eye, but they’re hiding everywhere! In YO-KAI WATCH an original game from top Japanese entertainment company LEVEL-5 Inc. which launches exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems on Nov. 6, you must explore the in-game world to find and befriend more than 200 of these Yo-kai, each with unique skills, strengths and personalities.
“After selling millions and becoming a cultural phenomenon in Japan, YO-KAI WATCH plans to make a big splash in the U.S. as part of a broad entertainment blitz, including a video game, toys, a comic book and an animated comedy series,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “People will find it easy to love this charming game and its memorable characters.”
After selecting to play as a male or female character, you begin an adventure in an expansive world filled with hidden Yo-kai waiting to be discovered. As you explore the world, you will encounter Whisper, the self-proclaimed “Yo-kai Butler,” who entrusts you with a Yo-kai Watch. With this special watch, you’ll be able to see Yo-kai everywhere in town and even befriend them. Befriending new Yo-kai is not always easy, though – in many cases, you will need to battle with them and impress them during your battle. Once befriended, you’ll receive a Yo-kai medal as proof of your new friendship. Then you can summon your new friends with their Yo-kai Medals, form a team and challenge troublemaking Yo-kai or solve the problems of people in need. Finding all the Yo-kai in the game (especially the rare ones) and seeing their inspired names and charming designs is all part of the fun.
As you collect Yo-kai throughout the game, you can form teams of six Yo-kai at a time. Since each Yo-kai has different abilities, it will take strategy to form the right team and gain the upper hand when confronting particularly troublesome Yo-kai. By strategically initiating Soultimate Moves and purifying your friendly Yo-kai using the touch screen of the Nintendo 3DS system, you can gain the advantage in battle. You can even feed your Yo-kai food, beverages and medicine in battle to heal them. Your assistance and leadership in battle is crucial to success.
Be part of the newest cultural phenomenon and buy YO-KAI WATCH in stores, in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS or at Nintendo.com on Nov. 6 at a suggested retail price of $39.99. If you want to try before you buy, a free demo of the game is now available to download in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS. For people looking to get the game along with a Nintendo 2DS system, an amazing bundle is also available in stores on Nov. 6 at a suggested retail price of $99.99. The bundle includes the Nintendo 2DS system and a pre-installed version of YO-KAI WATCH. For more information about the game, visit http://yo-kai.nintendo.com.
Alongside the video game, the YO-KAI WATCH animated TV show is being broadcast on Disney XD, Mondays at 5 p.m. Full episodes will also be appearing on the Yo-kai Watch Official YouTube Channel on Nov. 5. At the same time, VIZ Media’s Perfect Square imprint is bringing the original manga series to the West for the first time. Starting in January, Hasbro, Inc. will introduce an innovative YO-KAI WATCH product line featuring a system of play centered around the YO-KAI WATCH accessory and collectable medals, along with board games, plush and figures. Fans can pre-order the YO-KAI WATCH accessory at select retailers starting on Nov. 6 and running through Dec. 31. People who pre-order from select retailers will receive an exclusive* Jibanyan “Paws of Fury” medal, while supplies last.
*The exclusive medal is available at Toys R Us, Target, Walmart, GameStop and HasbroToyShop.com. A deposit of $1 to $5 is required to pre-order the watch, while supplies last. See clerk for details. Pre-order availability: Nov. 6 to Dec. 31. Coming January 2016.
Remember that the Nintendo 3DS family of systems feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.3 billion video games and more than 680 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™ and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, 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. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.
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