ESPOO, FINLAND--(Marketwire - Jul 5, 2012) - PAC-MAN® and Final Fantasy headline 22 vintage games delivered by partner NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.

Nokia has today announced NAMCO BANDAI will fully support the recently launched Asha Touch devices, having more than 20 arcade classic titles available to be downloaded through Nokia Store. The new devices were launched just last month and bring a colourful range of great experiences designed for young, urban and aspirational consumers.

Available through Nokia Store as of today, the agreement includes some of the most prestigious titles in the gaming industry, such as PAC-MAN®, Final Fantasy, ACE COMBAT® and Flight Control. Consumers will be able to take advantage of a new touch screen experience that makes mobile web browsing fast, with easy access to social networks and, of course, a great gaming performance.

In total, 22 will be coming on Asha Touch devices from NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc and NAMCO BANDAI Games Americas Inc. including the classics:

- PAC-MAN®
- Flight Control
- SOULCALIBUR®
- ACE COMBAT NORTHERN WINGS™
- Final Fantasy
- RIDGE RACER® Drift
- BRAIN EXERCISE™ with Dr. Kawashima
- GALAGA® Special Edition

These titles are priced between USD 0.99 and USD 2.99. Mobile gaming fans in more than 52 countries will be able to purchase titles without the need for a credit card, via Nokia's extensive direct billing agreements with over 145 operators.

James Kucera, head of mobile for NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., said: "Our partnership with Nokia perfectly illustrates the strengths of our brand's experience and leadership in the mobile games industry and fits our mutual resolve to bring games to all mobile users worldwide"

These latest phones have been designed to provide an incredibly rich, smartphone-like experience to consumers who want to be set free from excessive data consumption costs and short battery life. The devices offer a new, fully re-designed touch user interface, combining the proven ease-of-use from Nokia's heritage with digital design innovations specifically fit for the purpose.

The beautifully crafted Nokia Asha 311 is a fast and fluid 3.5G capacitive touchscreen device, powered by a 1GHz processor to provide a great internet experience. The bright and edgy Nokia Asha 305 is a fun and affordable phone, featuring the exclusive Easy Swap dual SIM. Its sister, the Nokia Asha 306, is a single SIM model, and becomes Nokia's most affordable Wi-Fi handset to date.

Nokia Store has just broken the 5 billion downloads landmark. From January to April, 42% of all content downloaded from Nokia Store was delivered to Asha and other Nokia devices based on the Java ecosystem. Just one year ago, that number was 10%. To date, more than 411 Nokia developers have with apps which have achieved more than 1 million downloads, while India Games, Pico Brothers and Inode have all driven more than 100 million downloads.

Images from NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc, NAMCO BANDAI Games Americas Inc. and Nokia Asha Touch devices are available at http://press.nokia.com.

About Nokia

Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia's technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia

About NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.

NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., part of NAMCO BANDAI Holdings Inc., is a leading global publisher and developer of interactive content - including all major video game consoles, iOS, mobile and online. The company is known for creating and publishing many of the industry's top video game franchises, including PAC-MAN®, TEKKEN®, SOULCALIBUR®, NARUTO™, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN™, Dragon Ball®, GALAGA®, RIDGE RACER® and ACE COMBAT®. More information about the company and its products can be found at www.namcobandaigames.com or www.facebook.com/namco.

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Source: NOKIA via Thomson Reuters ONE [HUG#1624528]