Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. Declares Minneapolis, Minnesota the Host City of Its Illustrious Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME United States World Championship Qualifier 2010

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Known for its powerhouse teams such as the MLB's Twins, the NFL's Vikings and the NBA's Timberwolves, Minnesota is no stranger to Championship play. The quest to be the best continues in Minnesota at the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) United States World Championship Qualifier 2010. From July 9th – July 11th, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KDE) will bring its Guinness World Record best-selling Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME to the Minneapolis Convention Center, as thousands of Duelists will compete for their chance to be crowned Champion.

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From the far reaches of Maine to the beaches of southern California and just about every State in between, Duelists from all over the United States will come together for an exhilarating three days of fierce competition. Each player will be vying for the coveted title of United States Champion and the opportunity to compete at the World Championship event in August.

For Duelists looking for more action beyond the World Championship Qualifier and for those players who aren't qualified and still want to Duel, there will be a wide range of exciting Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG public events on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Some of these great events include Win-A-Mat tournaments, Pegasus League, Go For the Gold events, ATTACK OF THE GIANT CARD!!, and Dragon Duel tournaments for Duelists aged 12 and under, plus others throughout the weekend. There will also be 16-player 2011 Regional Qualifier tournaments running all day on Sunday, so Duelists can qualify early for next year's big event.

Additionally, every Duelist participating in certain public events will receive a pack of the newest KDE tournament participation prize: Turbo Pack 3.

Adding to the electric atmosphere of the weekend, KDE is also hosting the Yu-Gi-Oh! Video Game National Championship on Sunday and the Dragon Duel Championship! Top video game Duelists will be rewarded with exciting prize packages and the winner of the Dragon Duel Championship will receive a paid trip to JUMP FESTA in Tokyo for themselves and a guardian!

Event Information

Prizing information

The Top 4 finishers of the Trading Card Game Championship and the top 2 players of the Video Game Championship will receive the following: Travel and accommodations to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship to be held in Long Beach, California (USA); Trophy; Complete set of Gold Series 3 and Gold Series 2009; a complete set of Super Rare Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Prize Cards; a trip to Disneyland® the day before the World Championship; Personalized hoodie sweatshirt; 120 min. mini-video camera.

In addition to those prizes, top finishers will receive the following:

• 1st Place: Xbox 360 Elite, a one-year subscription to Xbox Live, 1600 MS Live points, a promo code to download Decade Duels on Xbox Live and an additional Dark End Dragon card.
• 2nd Place: 16GB personal music player.
• 3rd – 4th Place: 8GB personal music player.
• 5th – 8th Place: Trophy and 24 packs of The Shining Darkness.
• 9th – 16th Place: 24 packs of The Shining Darkness.
• Top 32: Every player who finishes in the top 32 or better receives a Dark End Dragon card.
• Top 64: Exclusive Top Cut Game Mat.

Additionally, all players will receive a pack of World Championship Qualifier 2010 Card Sleeves and a World Championship Qualifier 2010 Game Mat.

For more information on Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME or country specific Championship event details, please visit www.yugioh-card.com.

About The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG

The Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME is the #1 trading card game in the world with over 22 billion cards sold. It is a game of strategy, where players create individual Decks of cards collected from Structure Decks and Booster Packs. Two players engage in a Duel while using cards that represent powerful monsters, magical Spells and surprising Traps. Duelists with well-constructed Decks, dominating monsters, solid strategy and good fortune are the victors in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG.  Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. is the exclusive licensee and rights holder to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in North America and Latin America.

About Konami

Konami is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties and traditional trading card games.  Konami's software titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, DanceDanceRevolution and Castlevania, among other top sellers.  Konami is also the manufacturer of the wildly popular Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, which has sold more than 22 billion cards worldwide.  The latest information about Konami can be found on the Web at www.konami.com.  Konami Corporation is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiary offices, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH in Frankfurt, Germany.  Konami Corporation is traded in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KNM.  Details of the products published by Konami can be found at www.konami.com.

SOURCE Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.