Nintendo of America (NOA) and the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation unveiled their new portable Fun Centers today, which now feature Wiis. Nintendo and Starlight have committed to placing hundreds of the new Fun Centers in hospitals across Canada and the United States this year. Nintendo will be manufacturing 1,250 of the new Fun Centers in its first run, and Starlight says it expects to have about 500 of the units in hospitals by the end of this year.

Created specifically to give hospitalized children an entertaining respite during difficult hospital stays, the new Fun Centers feature a Sharp AQUOS flat-panel television, a DVD player, a Wii and a selection of games including Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports and Mario Party 8. The last incarnation of the Fun Centers featured Nintendo GameCubes and earned praise from families, doctors and hospital staff for their ability to boost morale and reduce the feeling of isolation for sick children. The partnership between the two organizations is now in its 16^th year, and since the first Fun Center model was created in 1992, over 5,000 units have been distributed to over 1,000 hospitals across North America.

“We’re extremely proud to make Fun Centers a part of our collaboration with Starlight,” said Don James, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Operations. “The inclusive fun of Wii is especially valuable for families in need of a tension reliever while dealing with serious pediatric illness. We hope the new Fun Centers will give kids and their loved ones an opportunity to play, laugh and connect with each other amid trying circumstances.”

Nintendo will be marking the introduction of the new Fun Centers by donating two of the units to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles at a special Super Mario Galaxy -themed event tomorrow, Wednesday June 25 ^th . Super Mario will be in attendance at the event, as well as child star Allen Alvarado, from Discovery Kids' Flight 29 Down , who has had his own personal experience with Starlight and Fun Centers, which kept him company kept up his spirits while he was hospitalized for several weeks at Childrens Hospital after a car crash last fall.

“ Our patients at Childrens Hospital benefit greatly from the Fun Centers,” said Linda Garcia, Manager, Child Development Services, for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. “The Fun Centers serve as a diversional tool for Child Life Specialists to provide to patients and families in the playrooms, at bedside and throughout the hospital, including medical units, clinics and waiting rooms. The Fun Centers promote socialization, mastery and fun. Through this play, children learn about cooperation, positive thinking and problem-solving skills. The Fun Centers also provide opportunities for hand strengthening and finger dexterity, an important therapeutic value for our patients undergoing physical rehabilitation.”

Two patients play on a Nintendo GameCube Fun Center

For more information on the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation, check out www.millionstars.org. To learn more about the Fun Centers, go to www.starlight.org/funcenter.