The craziest, most dedicated GameCube fans have shown just how far they’ll go to win a GameCube… And the winners have been selected.

Nintendo’s GameCube launch contest “What would YOU do for a Nintendo GameCube” has come to a close, with the five finalists all completing their wacky act of Nintendo devotion to walk away with a Nintendo GameCube early. Grand prize winner was Corey Olcsvary, who shaved his head, wore a leaf, painted himself blue and ate bugs. Here’s a picture of Corey and fellow winner, Matthew Knapp, who painted a GameCube with condiments using his tongue & the press release:

SAN FRANCISCO--Nov. 2, 2001--Topping off a

month-long online contest asking contestants "What would YOU do for a

Nintendo GameCube?", Nintendo awarded five of its most devoted fans a

Nintendo GameCube(TM) before it hits stores on November 18.

Corey Olcsvary beat out four other finalists from across the

nation to become the contest's grand prize winner with the most

creative and wacky stunt -- he became a human "Pikmin" character from

the upcoming Nintendo GameCube Pikmin video game by shaving his head,

donning a leaf, painting himself blue and munching on a bowl of

"Pikmin food" including live worms and crickets.

Fans submitted more than 17,000 entries to the "What would YOU do

for a Nintendo GameCube?" contest through the newly launched Nintendo

GameCube Web site, www.nintendogamecube.com. In front of a packed

crowd of Nintendo fans, Olcsvary, a 19-year-old Texan, "gobbled up"

the competition with a captivating performance, winning over the panel

of judges. Olcsvary was awarded a Nintendo GameCube, a Game Boy

Advance(TM), a video game software package and $5,000 in cash. Other

finalists performed creative stunts at the event including:

-- First runner up Jason Siler, age 26 from Illinois, proposed to

his girlfriend dressed as Nintendo's Mario character while

his girlfriend was wearing a Princess Peach costume.

-- Second runners up Lizzy Joseph, age 16 from Arizona, ate a

Nintendo GameCube-sized replica of uncooked Spam, cat food and

chocolate syrup; and Matthew Knapp, age 16 from Wyoming,

painted a Nintendo GameCube logo using only his tongue and

various condiments.

-- Fourth runner up Jeffrey Hildack, age 24 from New York,

juggled several previous generation Nintendo game systems

dressed as Mario while whistling the Mario theme.

"The response to this contest, like the enthusiasm for the

Nintendo GameCube arrival, has been tremendous," says Peter Main,

Nintendo's executive vice president, sales and marketing. "Of course,

we never expected someone to become a human Pikmin and dine on

mealworms and crickets just to get his hands on a Nintendo GameCube

before its November 18 launch!"

The "What would YOU do for a Nintendo GameCube?" contest finals

took place November 1 at the Nintendo Cube Club in San Francisco.

Nintendo Cube Clubs are part of the $75 million marketing campaign

traveling to 12 major cities over a seven-week period, from the end of

September through the middle of November.

As the worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of

interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co. Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan,

manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home

video game systems. The systems include Game Boy(R), Nintendo(R) 64,

Game Boy Advance and the upcoming NINTENDO GAMECUBE(TM). Since the

release of its first home video game system in 1985, Nintendo has sold

more than 1.4 billion video games worldwide, creating enduring

industry icons such as Mario(TM) and Donkey Kong(R) and launching such

franchises as Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). As a wholly owned subsidiary,

Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as

headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.

Congrats to all the winners!