KOEI today announced that Samurai Warriors: KATANA for Nintendo Wii has reached gold status and is set to ship to North American retailers starting on January 15, 2008. Players can pre-order the game now at GameStop.com, EBGames.com and Amazon.com.

KOEI has also launched the official minisite for Samurai Warriors: KATANA at: www.koei.com/katana. On the site players can learn more about the game, watch exclusive movies and more.

Using an exhilarating first-person perspective, Samurai Warriors: KATANA is based on the hugely popular Samurai Warriors series and delivers total arcade-style action right into your own home. By mastering different weapons using the motion-sensitive Wii Remote, veteran and first-time players alike will discover a whole new dimension of excitement to the Samurai Warriors series of games.

On each mission, legendary samurai and allies will serve as your guide. Prevent pirates from invading your ships, rescue maidens from a burning castle, and explore mysterious caverns stalked by ninjas. These and many more challenging missions require quick reflexes, fast thinking, and precision marksmanship.

On the battlefield ninja assassins will be poised to strike at your every turn, but with close-range and long-range weapons, you'll be well equipped for your counterattack. Combat gets up close and personal with the classic samurai sword, spear, and mighty war hammer, but you can still target enemy soldiers in the distance using a bow and arrow, a gun, and even a cannon.