Does your DS have a smokescreen?
A teenage spy's ultimate gaget is none other than the DS in the new movie Stormbreaker. Supposedly this is a specialized DS, modified by MI6 to use flash cards that give it Bond-like abilities. This will be some nice publicity for the DS (like it needs any more), I just hope it isn't another "Wizard." That little 1980's gem nearly destroyed the Power Glove's reputation, so let's hope "Stormbreaker" isn't another 90-minute Nintendo commercial.
The hot-selling Nintendo DS(TM)
will make its motion picture debut in the upcoming teen spy thriller
Stormbreaker. Nintendo has signed an agreement with the film's producers
that will turn the Nintendo DS into the ultimate spy gadget. Stormbreaker is
based on the first in the popular Alex Rider series of books by Anthony
Horowitz, which have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060627/LATU080 Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050516/NINTENDODSLOGO )
After the murder of his uncle and guardian, the MI6 British spy agency
recruits the reluctant 14-year-old Alex Rider to take over his uncle's
mission. Like any good spy, during training he receives his key piece of
gadgetry: a Hot Rod Red Nintendo DS. He also gets several game cards that
transform his DS into an eavesdropping device, a wiretap detector or a smoke
bomb.
"Along with writer Anthony Horowitz, we asked ourselves how the Secret
Service would get secret tools into the hands of a 14-year-old spy," says
Peter Samuelson, who, with his brother Marc, produced the film. "Nintendo DS
is the perfect fit: Alex's spyware hides in plain sight. Audiences will be
thrilled to see how it helps Alex get out of a host of heart-pounding
predicaments."
Stormbreaker is scheduled for release in the United Kingdom on July 21 by
Entertainment Film Distributors, in the United States on Oct. 6 by The
Weinstein Company and worldwide from August by leading local distributors.
The film stars Alex Pettyfer as Alex Rider, with Sarah Bolger, Robbie
Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Damian Lewis, Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Sophie
Okonedo, Missi Pyle, Andy Serkis, Alicia Silverstone, Ashley Walters and
Mickey Rourke.
"The agreement is a perfect marriage of two hot entertainment
properties," explains George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice
president of marketing and corporate communications. "And while the Nintendo
DS is one of the most versatile gaming systems available, we unfortunately
have no plans to make any DS spy-related functions available to the general
public."
The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment,
Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and
software for its Nintendo DS(TM), Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo
GameCube(TM) systems, and upcoming Wii(TM) console. Since 1983, Nintendo has
sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 375 million hardware units
globally, and has created industry icons like Mario(TM), Donkey Kong(R),
Metroid(R), Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). 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 site at www.nintendo.com.
