Mattel announced on Monday that Bernie Stolar has been named president of the company's Mattel Interactive division. Bernie previously served as president of Sega of America and held positions at other gaming companies such as Sony, Konami, and Atari.

　　"With his wealth of interactive and brand-building experience, Bernie has the ideal background for this position and a strong record of past success,'' Jill E. Barad, Mattel's chairman and chief executive officer, said. "Under his leadership, we will maximize the value of our rich portfolio of software brands.''

　　Mattel will be handling the release of the WonderSwan in the US, a handheld system looking to steal the market from the Game Boy Color and NeoGeo Pocket Color. The WonderSwan, which is rumored to soon offer color graphics, will be able to connect with the PlayStation and the PlayStation2.

　　"Mattel has some of the strongest brands in the world,'' Stolar said. "I'm looking forward to helping shape Mattel's software and online product lines to further capitalize on its strengths today and make Mattel Interactive an even stronger interactive and digital media company in the future.''