September 16^th, 2002 (12:00am) - Konami has obtained the exclusive worldwide rights to produce and publish video games based on the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, for PlayStation 2 to appear in 2003.

The agreement comes as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles make their long-awaited return to our screens. 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. has launched a new animated show that has recently debuted in the US, and the PAL version of the game will be released to coincide with its European TV premier. Titles for other leading hardware systems will follow throughout the year.

Konami of Europe has already enjoyed great success with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise with a series of arcade and home titles in the early 90s, and is committed to releasing a succession of strong titles based on the series.

"The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has been a key contributor in the growth of Konami as a video game publisher and we welcome it back into the fold," said Kunio Neo, President, Konami of Europe. "Konami is committed to bringing the Ninja Turtles back as video game heroes in the best titles imaginable, and look forward to seeing them brought to life for today’s powerful games hardware."

The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game will be released for PlayStation 2 in 2003. Additional versions for leading formats will follow.

~ditto~