Nintendo of Europe held a pre-ECTS event for the press, which was hosted by NOE president Satoro Shinbata. The presentation was aimed at reaffirming the position of Nintendo's current hardware, the N64 and Game Boy Color, and to showcase its upcoming platforms, the GameCube and Game Boy Advance. According to Shinbata, the company holds the number-one position in total hardware sales in Europe because of its successful Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64. Nintendo has a 56% market share in England, 69% in Germany, and 62% in Spain in total hardware sales.

　　Much of this overall success can be attributed to the popularity of the Pokemon franchise. Nintendo officials revealed that Pokemon Yellow was the fastest-selling video game of all time in Europe - over one million units sold in just six days. The game continues to show brisk sales as 100,000 units of the product are being shipped weekly in the territory. Additionally, the prior two games in the Pokemon series, Red and Blue, have sold five million units in Europe to date. Nintendo expects the release of Pokemon Gold and Silver for the Game Boy Color on Easter 2001 in Europe to further fuel the strong sales of its handheld platform, which has sold over 31 million units in Europe.

　　Following the Pokemon reel and a short presentation on upcoming Nintendo 64 games such as Dinosaur Planet and Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the company unveiled its GameCube console for the first time on the European continent. The GameCube presentation was essentially a repeat performance of the recent Space World 2000 unveiling in Japan. Nintendo showed snippets of the previous footage, including demos of Luigi, Wave Race, Zelda, Pokemon, and more. After running the demo footage, Shigeru Miyamoto, director of Nintendo Company Limited, came onto the stage. He walked the attendees through the Mario 128 demo from Space World. He discussed the console's capabilities as the demo ran on video. Miyamoto followed up the Mario video with the entire Pokemon Meowth demo, also from Space World 2000. One of the highlights of the show was watching Miyamoto dancing and playing air-guitar as the Meowth demo played on a giant projector screen.

　　The show concluded with the European unveiling of the Game Boy Advance handheld. David Gosen, managing director of sales and marketing at NOE, literally broke the GBA out of a museum exhibit-like glass case using a hammer he pulled from his pockets. He then confirmed that the GBA would be released in Europe in July 2001, simultaneously with the US launch. Nintendo expects the GBA to continue the strong sales legacy of its predecessor. The company has already shipped 120 development kits for the 32-bit handheld and has over 150 developers working on games for the machine.

　　Nintendo of Europe will be showcasing several Game Boy Advance games along with upcoming Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64 games when the ECTS 2000 show opens tomorrow in London. GameSpot will bring you complete coverage from the show floor.