Wii U Games Will be the Focus of On-Board Gaming and Competitions
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Norwegian Cruise Line and Nintendo of America announced today that they are expanding their partnership to offer Wii U™ video game systems and Wii U games fleetwide. As part of the partnership expansion, the line will feature Nintendo’s newest video game console in all ships’ atriums and youth and teen centers. In addition, the new HD Wii U systems will be featured at various competitions and events on board each ship.
Norwegian first partnered with Nintendo in March 2007, when Wii™ systems were introduced fleetwide. Now, with the introduction of Wii U, the successor to Wii, the gaming experience is being elevated to new levels. The interactive Wii U gaming system complements Norwegian’s Freestyle Cruising® by offering gaming opportunities to guests of all ages. The new consoles give guests the chance to experience a variety of new action, adventure, party, racing, strategy, puzzle and sports games. Upcoming game rollouts will include The Legend of Zelda™: The Wind Waker HD, a high-definition re-release of one of the greatest Nintendo games of all time; Super Mario™ 3D World, the first multiplayer 3D Mario game for Wii U; New Super Luigi U™, starring Mario’s green-clad brother; Pikmin™ 3, which asks players to command an army of colorful creatures; and The Wonderful 101™, which puts players in control of a band of superheroes fighting off an alien invasion.
Wii U delivers great video game experiences with exclusive Nintendo characters in HD. Wii U also features the GamePad controller, which removes the traditional barriers between players, their favorite games and the television by giving one player a second touch screen, while other players use traditional controllers. That lets different players experience the same game in different ways. It’s perfect for the kinds of multiplayer game-playing parties found on board cruise ships.
“The Wii consoles have always been extremely popular among our guests,” said Richard Ambrose, Norwegian Cruise Line’s vice president of entertainment. “The new Wii U systems are guaranteed to take gaming on board to the next level, and will surely be a hit.”
“Wii U provides one of the most social video game experiences you can have, whether you’re playing with family members or friends,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “The ships in Norwegian Cruise Line’s fleet give people a great opportunity to experience Wii U for themselves, have fun playing Nintendo games and make some new friends.”
For more information on Norwegian Cruise Line, visit www.ncl.com. To book a cruise on Norwegian, contact a travel professional, call Norwegian at 800-327-7030 or visit www.ncl.com.
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 4.1 billion video games and more than 655 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.
About Norwegian Cruise Line:
Norwegian Cruise Line is the innovator in cruise travel with a 47-year history of breaking the boundaries of traditional cruising, most notably with the introduction of Freestyle Cruising which revolutionized the industry by giving guests more freedom and flexibility. Today, Norwegian invites guests to “Cruise Like a Norwegian” on one of 12 purpose-built Freestyle Cruising ships, providing guests the opportunity to enjoy a relaxed, resort style cruise vacation on some of the newest and most contemporary ships at sea. Recently, the line was named “Europe’s Leading Cruise Line” for the sixth consecutive year, as well as “Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Line” and “World’s Leading Large Ship Cruise Line” by the World Travel Awards.
The Company took delivery of its most innovative ship to date, the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway on April 25, 2013 and was named “Best New Ship” by the editors of Cruise Critic and received six gold Travel Weekly Magellan Awards including the Contemporary, Large Cruise Ship and Pool Design categories. Known as New York’s ship, Norwegian Breakaway is the largest vessel to homeport year-round in the city and includes hull art by legendary artist Peter Max; seafood restaurant Ocean Blue by famed New York Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian; bakery by Buddy Valastro, star of the TLC series “Cake Boss;” and fitness classes and a retrospective display from the ship’s iconic godmothers, the Rockettes®. The entertainment lineup includes three Broadway shows: Rock of Ages, Burn the Floor and Cirque Dreams™ and Dinner: Jungle Fantasy.
Sister ship Norwegian Getaway, currently under construction at Meyer Werft, will be the largest ship to homeport year-round in Miami and will sail Eastern Caribbean voyages beginning in February. The Company also has two larger vessels on order: Norwegian Escape with delivery scheduled in the fall of 2015; and Norwegian Bliss with delivery in the spring of 2017.
The Company’s largest ship, the 4,100 passenger Norwegian Epic has been named “Best Overall Cruise Ship” by the readers of Travel Weekly two years in a row and “Best Ship for Sea Days” by Cruise Critic.
Norwegian Cruise Line is the official cruise line of the Miami Dolphins/Sun Life Stadium, Blue Man Group and Legends in Concert; and the official cruise line partner of The GRAMMY Awards and is an official partner of the Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall.
