Nintendo fans found a spectacular way to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the iconic Kirby^™ video game character. On Sept. 1 at the PAX Prime conference in Seattle, 536 attendees gathered together and set a new Guinness World Records^® achievement for the most people blowing a chewing gum bubble simultaneously. Participants had fun blowing bubbles that resembled the round, pink Kirby and helped Nintendo of America celebrate, after a representative from Guinness World Records confirmed the official record-setting count.

In this photo provided by Nintendo of America, hundreds of Kirby fans gathered together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Kirby to try to break the Guinness World Records for the most people blowing a chewing gum bubble simultaneously, at PAX Prime in Seattle on Sept. 1, 2012. (Photo by Kevin Casey/Invision for Nintendo of America/AP Images)

The new world record added to the growing excitement about Kirby at PAX Prime, where attendees had an early chance to experience Kirby’s Dream Collection: Special Edition for the Wii^™ system. Launching Sept. 16, this commemorative game collection includes six classic Kirby games on one disc, plus a commemorative booklet, a music CD and an interactive timeline that gives players a fun way to explore Kirby’s colorful history. Since debuting in 1992, Kirby has starred in 22 video games that collectively have sold more than 33 million units worldwide. His distinctive appearance and unique ability to inhale enemies and copy their abilities have made him a fan favorite for two decades.

“Kirby is no ordinary character, so it’s not a surprise that his fans would go to extraordinary lengths to mark his 20^th anniversary,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Nintendo is proud to have such a dedicated and enthusiastic following. Between this new world record and the upcoming launch of Kirby’s Dream Collection: Special Edition, it’s turning out to be one heck of an anniversary party.”

According to Guinness World Records, the previous record was 304 participants, achieved by Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Oct. 27, 2010. Participants in the Kirby-themed record attempt were instructed to chew their gum for at least one minute and then blow and hold bubbles for 30 seconds.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wii.

For more information about Kirby’s Dream Collection: Special Edition, visit http://kirby.nintendo.com/dreamcollection.

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^™ home console, Nintendo 3DS^™ and Nintendo DS^™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System^™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.9 billion video games and more than 630 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi^™ and Nintendo DSi XL^™, as well as the Game Boy^™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES^™, Nintendo 64^™ and Nintendo GameCube^™ 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.

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