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Use this form to book a massage therapist for your event.
i. Event should be (planned/negotiated/settled) at least two (2) weeks prior to Event.
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Posted: 5:17 pm Monday, July 20th, 2009
Did Obama make the pitch?
By Opinion Staff
Letter writer William F. McDermott says the media let President Obama off the hook for a bad pitch opening the All Star Game. Here's his letter:
"Pro-Obama media deceit reached a new low as readers of The Post sports page were told last week: 'His practice in the Rose Garden pays off as President Obama delivers a strike — maybe a little low — to the Cardinals' Albert Pujols on the ceremonial first pitch.'
"Yeah, and 'maybe a little short,' as the accompanying photo clearly shows Mr. Pujols standing in front of home plate to snare the ball and save the Prez from an embarrassing one-hopper. But who are you going to believe, The Post or your lying eyes?
"An Associated Press story on the inside heavily shaded the truth, saying that Mr. Obama 'was true to his word: He didn't bounce it,' and saying that the ball 'barely reached the plate.' It says Mr. Pujols 'helped the president, moving up on the plate and reaching out to scoop the low toss.' Watch the video. Those who witnessed the actual throw saw a typical celebrity lollypop more suited to a slow-pitch softball league than a baseball diamond.
"It doesn't matter that the president of the United States can't pitch a baseball. But it is disturbing the our media's obsession with preserving this president's image extends to telling the public that it isn't seeing what it's seeing, especially in a trivial instance like this."
What do you think? Did the media hype the president's pitch? Take our poll above. The video is below:


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Forces of ASEAN members to share their views as the neighboring countries in dealing with security issues more complex, dangerous and unpredictable future.
Chief of Defence Force, General Tan Sri Azizan Ariffin said, although the Southeast Asian country is now able to enjoy economic progress, the fact that he is still haunted by issues of cross-border crimes such as terrorism, piracy, drug and human trafficking.
Strictly speaking, the role of the military in dealing with such issues has always proven to be necessary when placed at the forefront of the national border control over other security agencies.
"Not only that, we also tested with natural disasters like the tsunami, the spread of H1N1 virus and the haze that has engulfed several ASEAN countries.
All the issues that forced us to finish together. There must be closer collaboration to ensure the security issues in various aspects to be addressed," he said.
He said this when opening the ASEAN meeting Army Commander (ACAMM) to-11 at the Hotel Nikko here, today.
Also joining the Army Commander, General Datuk Mohd Zulkifeli. Zin and Chief of nine Army Commander and representatives from 10 ASEAN countries.
Meanwhile, at a press conference Zulkifeli then notify the involved issues of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief as well as strengthening cooperation in the region became the main topic to be discussed at the meeting.
"Although it only deals with Chief of Army, but this discussion will be comprehensive, covering all aspects. It will then be brought representatives of the countries involved to their respective governments to be assessed and implemented," he said.
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Memo to bloggers
If you post on an elected official getting in trouble and you make a big deal out of which party he/she belongs to, I will not read your post.
Carry on.
Assuming you are referring to Spitzer, when will we learn the names of all the other men who were caught up in the investigation?
One further question: If I should deposit $4,000 in my grandson's bank account to buy, say, a used car or to pay some school tuition, might I expect it to pop up on the FBI's radar?
I've been searching here without having any luck. Perhaps you could link to the similar post you made when Larry Craig was caught tapping his foot, or Mark Foley was accused of sending suggestive emails to an intern, because I just can't seem to find them.
Perhaps you need to upgrade your search techniques:
Mr. Spitzer is referred to as "Client #9". My question is, where is the list of 1 through 8, and of 10 through whatever. Because of this, it looks too much like a politically motivated action.
Neither of those posts makes the demand that bloggers not mention or mock party affiliation. Why now? Because it's a Democrat this time? Automagic forgiveness for all sins and transgressions if you're a Democrat, like Frank or Reynolds. Automagic lynch mob for any GOP that even THINKs or HINTs that he wants to stray. Funny how that works.


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Pacific Rim is an amazing geeky summer blockbuster,
but is this movie too far fetched? can we make robots this big?
this Infographic tells us about Large Robots.
<Click for Full Size>
Pacific Rim is an amazing geeky summer blockbuster,
but is this movie too far fetched? can we make robots this big?
this Infographic tells us about Large Robots.
<Click for Full Size>
I've reviewed the latest Tarantino movie Django Unchained [Here]. I've downloaded a DVD Screener ver. Via torrent (guilty) I couldn't wait for it to be released here. Also, the censorship is just unbearable. Here's the run time between Kuwait & the original run.
It's like 15 mins difference …. woow
this an awesome 20-min movie on the Sega mascot
Almost 10 years from the original Lord of the Rings has passed, people still linger of the magical world of Tolkien. Peter Jackson is back on the helm to direct the prequel story to the epic fantasy.
frankly, I was disappointed to hear that Guillermo del Toro left the set of The Hobbit in pre-production phase. On the other hand, my hopes were up again when the original director took his old place back.
Now, let's talk about the new 1st part of three. The Hobbit ,an unexpected journey. It's a difficult situation when you try to have a comeback specially after the huge success of LOTR, but the movie was good, not as good as Followship of the Ring. I'll state my problems with it later.
I loved the cinematography, top notch nostalgic sets from the original trilogy. It was better due to the fact it was more colorful and wide (all thanks yo the RED Epic camera) it was a wise decision from Jackson to pick this camera for this, thought it needs more light when shooting but the outcome is gorgeous.
Also, the soundtrack was Epic and powerful. Specifically, the dwarves song. I've been humming that tone all week before the premier
The performance was brilliant. Ian (Gandalf) was awesome as ever. Of course Andy Serkis (Golum) was terrific.
One of my problems with An Expected Journey is that the dwarves didn't have a huge effect on the movie, they had their part but I didn't relate to any of them except Thorin. The Followship were all huge and had outstanding parts in the plot. The other problem is the movie was cold at the beginning, and some parts in the middle. Other than those problems it was a very entertaining journey.
+amazing cinematography
+powerful OST
+brilliant cast
-cold at moments
-some characters
My most anticipated movie of 2013, from one of my favorites directors out there Guillermo del Toro …..released in July.
Grand Cinemas opened in Kuwait in last Eid. They did a really good job by playing Skyfall exclusively at their theater. I really liked their seating, very comfy. my friend the other day told me GC will release-one of the most anticipating movies and 1st part of a trilogy-The Hobbit exclusively at their theater. I wasn't sure about that. The Hobbit is a Huge movie to be shown exclusively, BUT I've just checked their site Wichita states the release date of The Hobbit Dec13th. On the other hand, KNCC didn't show any Hobbit in the same date.
UPDATE: it's official GC will release The Hobbit exclusively
this is an awesome movie,
full of geeky stuff and it has that B-movie feel to it.
here are some info from the video description:
Half-man, half-cyborg: Manborg. Killed while battling the forces of hell, a supersoldier is brought back from the dead in order to fight an army of Nazi vampires and demons led by the nefarious Count Draculon. Cue kung-fu killing, stop-motion monster battles, hoverbikes, robots, demons and a character named Doctor Scorpius.
very impressive job guys
I want them to make it.
seriously I used to love this show when I was a Kid
sometimes fake trailers are better than actual existing movies.
Yesterday I went to see Disney's latest CGI movie Wreck-it Ralph. I've been excited about this movie like all the gamers out there. It's fun, lots of it actually. I thought the potential of this movie would wasted. It didn't. Loved the many references about games out there.
The whole concept is just awesome. The characters were fantastic. The plot was, well it's a Disney movie so its straight forward & linear. It had so many beautiful ideas from the gaming world. Highly recommended. 8.5/10
this is just awesome sh!t, MUST WATCH
Monster Roll from Dan Blank on Vimeo.
Favorite avenger, Robert Dawney ftw
غراند سينما هي أول سينما سيتم افتتاحها بعد انتهاء عقد احتكار شركة السينما الكويتية
موقعها سيكون في مجمع الحمرا مول
وستفتح أبوابها بانطلاقة قوية وهي عرض فلم جيمس الجديد
بشكل حصري في شاشتها
سيكون الافتتاح يوم الجمعة القادم قبيل عيد الاضحى
نتمنى أن تكون غراند سينما أفضل من سنسكيب
ليس من ناحية تقطيع الافلام ومنعها
فذلك بيد وزارة الاعلام
لكن من خلال تفادي أخطاء و مشاكل سنسكيب
كتبت موضوع بالسابق عن سنسكيب يلقي الضوء على أغلب ما يدور في ذهني تجاهها
وبالحديث بشكل تقني قليلا
غراند سينما مزودة باجهزة عرض
وهي الدقة اللتي ستكون بديلة لل
وكما يقترحه اسم التقنية فهي انقى و اوضح من سابقتها ب4مرات
Looper is one of those movies that come once every 2-3 years (if not more) the concept of time traveling and changing your past to alter your future was done numerous times. Some movies succeeded (terminator, primer) others not so much.
Looper was an instant classic for me. I loved everything about the movie. The performance of the cast was compelling, the tone of the movie stands out as a powerful contemporary sci-fi.
There were some draggy moments here and there, some cold ones to be precise. All in all it was a great movie. The twists were done superbly, the action scenes are fast, and catchy. There were moments where I went "Ohh Snaaap"
To conclude, Looper is by far one of the best sci-fi movies ever. My favorite movie of this year after TDKR.
+awesome action, direction
+strong performance by the cast
-cold moments
Anthony Hopkins play the renounced director at the time he was making his masterpiece Psycho.
This is a fan made web-series. looks awesome
I agree with most of the list only number shouldn't event be in the list.
So overacted.


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Hermitage student earns Civitan scholarship
Hermitage High School senior Samuel Richardson, who will graduate next month, plans to help pay his way through his four years at University of Virginia. The Greater Richmond Civitan Club helped him get off to a good start, awarding Richardson its $4,000 scholarship Wednesday night at the Civitan Honor Key Awards Banquet at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Richmond.
Richardson was one of 31 local high school students honored at the banquet but was the only one awarded with the scholarship.
Those who chose the scholarship winner had been impressed with Richardson pledging to put $10,000 of his own money each year to help pay for his tuition, said Pat Robson, secretary of the Greater Richmond Civitan Club and master of ceremonies for the banquet.
"He's not just riding the family cab," Robson said.
The pledge fit well with the words of the banquet's guest speaker, Nora Raum, who works as a part-time newscaster for NPR and attorney. She joked that she should become a used-car saleswoman to "hit the trifecta of jobs with a bad public perception."
During her speech, Raum spoke about her unusual path through education and preached the importance of avoiding large student loans, adding that it's better to take eight years to finish college with no debt than to do so in four years with a lot of debt.
Richardson plans to earn his degree at UVA without student loans, Robson said.
Richardson said he felt lucky and blessed after winning the scholarship. He thought his commitment to public service may have set him apart to the other candidates. He plans to spend some time in the Army as an officer after college.
Among many activities, Richardson is an Eagle Scout, plays first chair trombone in his high school marching band and played volleyball and cross country, he said. He has a 4.84 GPA, though he said others at Hermitage had higher GPAs.
He plans to pursue a double major at UVA, with one of his majors being Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures.
The Honor Key Awards, which were given to all 31 students, have existed since the World War II era, Robson said. Those honored must have shown excellence in scholarship, sportsmanship and leadership, he said.
Five other Henrico County students – Alexander Althoff (Deep Run HS), Lakshmi Ravindra (Henrico HS), Aubrey Temple (Highland Springs HS), Joseph DiTrapani (J.R. Tucker HS) and Alpha Mansaray (Varina HS) – were among the 31 honored at the banquet.
The Greater Richmond Civitan Club is part of the larger Civitan International, an organization of volunteer service clubs with chapters in 25 countries, Robson said. The club was started in 1917 in Birmingham, Ala., and places a special emphasis on helping people with developmental disabilities.
Garden tails
The threat of bad weather didn't keep visitors away from Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden July 10 for the facility's weekly Flowers After 5 event (which pairs music and food with a chance to stroll the garden) and its monthly Fidos After 5 (which allows dog owners to bring their pets with them to enjoy the evening). > Read more.
Western Henrico Rotary helps fund Midwives For Haiti Jeep
Thanks in part to a $10,000 gift from the Western Henrico Rotary Club, another bright pink Jeep modified to travel extremely rough terrain has been delivered to Midwives For Haiti so that more pregnant women in the quake-ravaged country will have access to prenatal care and a greater chance of surviving childbirth.
The funds were raised at the annual casino night held in February, club president Adam Cherry said. The Rotary Club also helped purchase the Virginia-based charity's first pink jeep three years ago. > Read more.
Agencies combine on new entry point to Chickahominy
Canoeing and kayaking enthusiasts soon will have a new access point to the Chickahominy River. VDOT, the James River Association and Henrico County Parks and Recreation are teaming up to establish a new site in Eastern Henrico.
The James River Association negotiated the deal with VDOT to procure official access to the area located just east of I-295 on North Airport Road in Sandston. The site includes a park-and-ride commuter lot bordering the Chickahominy River and has been an unofficial launch site used by paddlers for years. > Read more.
Page 1 of 113 pages 1 2 3 > Last ›
Weekend Top 10
An eclectic array of events are taking place this weekend throughout the county. In the West End, we have the Richmond Wedding Expo, the Under the Stars Family Film Series and Henrico Theatre Company's production of "Pump Boys and Dinettes." In the eastern part of the county, we have a blood drive at the Eastern Henrico Recreation Center, Gallmeyer Farm's annual Sweet Corn Festival and an origami workshop at Fairfield Library. For all our top picks this weekend, click here! > Read more.
New Italian restaurant opens in Short Pump
Charlottesville's Bella's Restaurant recently opened a location in Short Pump Village, at 11408 West Broad Street. The restaurant is owned by Valeria Biesnti, a native of Rome who arrived in the U.S. at age 21 and later became a U.S. citizen. With her restaurants, Bisenti has sought to create an ambiance that welcomes diners in a casual setting, like her favorites from her hometown. > Read more.
Henrico native to appear on Travel Channel show
A Henrico native will appear on the third episode of the Travel Channel's new grilling competition series "American Grilled."
The episode, filmed in Charlottesville, will premier July 16 at 9 p.m. and feature Glen Allen-native Rex Holmes, a patent lawyer who operates http://SavoryReviews.com a blo,g centered around tasty recipes and BBQ.
The show features hardcore grilling enthusiasts from across the country going head-to-head for a chance to compete for a $10,000 cash prize and bragging rights when they are crowned the ultimate "grill master." > Read more.
More News
Living history
Brat's surprising rise to prominence 'fun but exhausting'
County dedicates Twin Hickory Park
Holman student has All-Star experience
County to host anti-smoking meetings this month
GRTC seeks advisory group members
Police seek new person of interest in Food Lion shooting
Brat raises $400k in 40 days
Police seek suspect in eyeglass thefts
KHB honors Landlovers, Clean Businesses
- More Henrico News
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CalendarLearn about slime and its basic ingredients in a series of hands-on activities at 2 p.m. at Fairfield Library, 1001 N. Laburnum Ave. Includes a take home science project, "Slime… Full text


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Solange spices things up with her extensions.
2 summer pompadour looks on a twist-out. Read more »
I'm a lazy natural because I choose to be. And, I don't have time! Read more »
A gorgeous summer style or a way to deep condition on the go. Read more »
Sign up now and get the scoop on the hottest new hair care tips, styles and products for your curls, coils and waves.


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Welcome to our new website....
With Leopard Geckos becoming increasingly popular in the pet trade not only in the UK but all over the world, the demand for them also grows.
Here at TS-Geckos our aim is to produce truly amazing geckos. We want you to stop and stare at the geckos we produce and we want to exceed your expectations when you buy from us.
We believe very strongly in after sales and good care advice, but most of all, healthy geckos!
So why not have a look at what leopard geckos we have for sale at the moment?
And why not check out our new project... The Black Pearl Leopard Gecko!
To find out more about TS-Geckos have a look at our About Us page, and to find out more about our plans and what we will be producing in seasons to come, have a look at our Projects and News page.


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Disembark in the realm of ravishing glamour in this top to bottom all sequin party dress designed by Ignite! A halter style dress with a plunging neckline and an open lace-up back shows off your body in the classiest of ways. Showcase this style as a prom dress, guest of wedding dress, or to a chic cocktail affair. Add these finishing touches to the look: a front crystal handbag, high heel glitter sandal, and crystal earrings. • All sequin long dress• Halter style dress• Beaded plunge neckline • Lace-up open back
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get first looks, promos, and free shipping on your first online order.
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MODESTO — The Modesto Irrigation District says it now expects to release by late Monday the proposed contract to sell 2,200 acre-feet of water to the city and county of San Francisco.
The MID's spokeswoman said the draft will be made available on the district Web site, www.mid.org. The board is not expected to vote on the contract for several weeks.


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With the Broncos losing in Indy on Sunday night, it's time to crown a different team the leader in the power rankings for the first time in several weeks.
There wasn't much movement in this week's Power Rankings, the games between top teams were generally very close.
Our latest installment of power rankings shows the Packers trending upwards and the rest of their division rivals on their way down.
A divisional rival of the Packers is on its way up the charts, but after this week's events we give Green Bay back the top spot in the division.
In APC's fourth installment of our power rankings, the Packers take a tumble while a divisional rival enters the top 5 for the first time this year.
We put together our second NFL Power Ranking of the 2013 season, and the Packers slide a bit (but not much).
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Family Guy: Back To The Multiverse dated for release next month
Peter Griffin and the gang to storm consoles towards the end of November
Activision has announced a release date for their Family Guy home console outing.
Family Guy: Back To The Multiverse puts in control of the family Griffin and friends in up to four player co-op as they head out on another one of their typically crazy and controversial adventures.
This is an adventure created with fans of the cartoon series in mind with some of the TV show's writers drafted in to write the storyline.
Family Guy: Back To The Multiverse is out on PS3 and Xbox 360 on November the 23rd.


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The Hanseatic city of Hamburg with its city state excellence initiative, promotes outstanding research with particular emphasis on specific research projects (Excellence Cluster) and the training of young scientists (through graduate schools). Read more about LEXI.
The LiMA Research Cluster aims to bring together existing top-level expertise in multilingualism (linguistics, education sciences) at the University of Hamburg and to combine and focus this expertise on the investigation of migration-induced multilingualism as found in urban centers worldwide. It will investigate whether and in what way migration-induced multilingualism can be translated into advantages for individuals and society and into benefits for the cultural and economic development of urban centers.
The city of Hamburg will serve as a model for an international comparison of similar urban centers. The Cluster will implement extensive and interdisciplinary graduate training and establish an International Graduate School in conjunction with the University of Calgary.
Remember Me
(click on the Lama)
If you have questions about multilingualism, please contact our expert, the LiMA Lama, via e-mail: lima-lama{at}uni-hamburg.de


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Robocop 2
Peter Weller
Directed by Irvin Kershner
It's difficult to imagine a summer film programmed more cynically than this repugnant sequel. Three years ago, director Paul Verhoeven made something vividly satirical and scary with the futuristic tale of Alex J. Murphy (Peter Weller), a Detroit cop killed on duty and transformed by an evil corporation into a law-and-order cyborg, RoboCop. Weller's soulful eyes, peering through his visor, suggested feelings that hadn't died — the man was still fighting the machine.
From the looks of things, director Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back) and screenwriters Frank Miller (author of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) and Walon Green (The Wild Bunch) didn't know what to do for a follow-up. For starters, though, they cut out the human drama. After a brief scene in which Murphy parks outside his home to sneak a glance at his wife and son, action obliterates feeling. Bodies are blown up in lip-licking close-ups. On the streets, hookers grind their heels into men's eyeballs to steal money for "Nuke," a new designer drug injected into the neck. A foulmouthed twelve-year-old boy plots murder; a little girl breaks an old man's kneecaps with a baseball bat. And when Murphy comes up against his ultimate enemy, who is it? A bigger, badder machine. RoboCop 2 is all machine, and it's all vile.
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The launched a district-wide effort Friday to collect money and donations for the family of the 12-year-old student who was last week.
Clifton Principal Jennifer Gates said she has been working for days to set up a fund for the family of Berenice De La Torre after she suffered head and leg injuries in a hit-and-run collision last Friday.
Gates said the response from the community has already been "overwhelming--in a good way."
"We've been flooded with calls," Gates said. "The family is really taken aback by the amount of support they have received and what they know is coming."
De La Torre remains in critical but stable condition in a hospital intensive care unit and her family remains at her bedside, Gates said.
Here's how you can help Berenice's family:
- Monetary Aid: Cash or checks can be delivered directly to the main office of any MUSD school. Checks should be made to the , which will disperse the funds directly to the family.
- Donations: The family has identified four types of gift cards that would be helpful for them to receive. Wal-Mart, Baja Ranch Market, Visa/Mastercard or gas cards can all be delivered straight to school offices.
- Cards: Cards and messages of support can be delivered straight to the Clifton main office.
Gates said a phone message about the fundraising drive will be sent out to Clifton parents later today, and all district employees will receive an email about the effort.


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Carlos Pellegrini, Argentina Vacations - Travel guide to Carlos Pellegrini, Argentina accommodations and vacation packages. Visit Carlos Pellegrini, Argentina for getaways and adventure travel. Plan your Carlos Pellegrini, Argentina vacation today.
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Carlos Pellegrini, Argentina Bed & Breakfasts - The Lodge is located in the middle of the Ibera wetlands nature reserve, where observing alligators, capybaras, marsh deer, howler monkeys, anacondas etc is part of everdays experiences!
Carlos Pellegrini, Argentina Bed & Breakfasts - We invite you to go deep into this, by nature, mysterious place, source of myths and legends, to enjoy real wildlife safaris.
Buenos Aires, Argentina Fishing Trips - FBA sets itself apart from our competitors with a superior customer service. Since we are a highly experienced Golden Dorado fishing tour operator, we can handle all of your fishing needs. That is why we look into every detail of your fishing trip.
Patagonia, Argentina Wildlife & Safari Tours - We are Patagonian people organizing tours to the land we know best: Patagonia.We are committed to provide you all our knowledge and experience in the region, so that you can have an unforgettable adventure.
Mendoza, Argentina Rock Climbing - Aconcagua climbing and trekking expeditions and services.
28 De Septiembre, Argentina Bed & Breakfasts - Keeping its ancient features, the building of the ranch has been refurbished to offer comfort to the guest intending to rest, to enjoy the nature in striking sceneries, to experience adventures or to dig into the historical heritage of the place.
Bahia Blanca, Argentina Hunting Guides - Big game & small game in argentina. Hunting in Argentina, Big game & Small Game. Lodging in ranch, excellent food and drinks, typical " asado".
San Lorenzo - Salta, Argentina Sight-Seeing Tours - Tailor-made Tours, Regular Destinations, Adventure Travel, Business Travel, Theme Tours, From Salta, Jujuy & Tucuman - Argentina Northwest, South American and world wide destinations.
Buenos Aires, Argentina Bed & Breakfasts - Un Rinconcito en Buenos Aires, located in Almagro's district, Geographical Center of Buenos Aires, warm and familiar atmosphere. Elegant and distinguished house with only 3 rooms, beautiful patio, kitchen
Buenos Aires, Argentina Youth Hostels - Locate in geographic city centre, hostel VIVAC is one bed and breakfast with hotel comfortableness with the unconventional and pleasant atmosphere of hostel, BBQ area, entertainment room and equipment kitchen for guess use


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Dominica benefits from its marvelous biodiversity, and has chosen to make ecotourism (and the conservation and preservation practices that go along with it) the foundation of its economic development. Dominica has lush jungles for hiking and mysterious rivers for exploring, and visitors can meet Carib Indians and even walk in the footsteps of Capt. Jack Sparrow -- some of the wilder scenes in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies were filmed here.
St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Americans are not generally known for their restraint when it comes to development, so St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands is a pleasant surprise. Just twenty square miles, the island is devoted primarily to National Parks, and has some of the best beaches and finest snorkeling in the world. Most of the eco-resorts here are modest, more akin to campgrounds than resorts, generally speaking.
No rainforests on Bonaire – the center of this island's green ecosystem is its waters, especially its coral reef, which has been aggressively protected since the 1970s. As one of the world's premier diving locations, careful preservation of the sea isn't just a perk – it's a business necessity. Bonaire's commitment to sustainability is strong: Wind energy is slated to power half the island this year, with bio-diesel fueling the rest. There are no true eco-resorts in Bonaire, either, but small hotels like Captain Don's Habitat are serious about preserving the marine eco-system that makes Bonaire the go-to spot in the Caribbean for SCUBA.
With barrier reefs, jungles, mountains, rainforest, and the largest cave system in Central America, Belize has a vast concentration of natural wonders. Luckily, it's also invested in conservation; as such, the country has fast become one of the premier eco-tourism destinations in the world and home to a number of eco resorts.
Costa Rica
Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula isn't all Cancun Spring Break mayhem. It's also home to a number of quiet, carefully tended eco-preserves, where ancient Mayan ruins have lain hidden under thich jungle vines for centuries. Attractions include the highly accessible Xcaret Eco Park near Cancun-- something of the Disney World of ecotourism, but mostly in a good way.


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text:
12:05 PM Eastern
So Monday morning I hopped in the ol' Vista Cruiser with the family for what was supposed to be a fun-filled afternoon hop across the border to Buffalo, the intent being to hit the brand-spanking-new P.F. Chang's for lunch, pick up "Just Dance" for the Wii for the girlies and grab a couple of pairs of those neat new Skechers walking-on-a-fulcrum shoes at massive American-type discounts.
A great plan in theory, but not so much in execution. As we drove up to the bumper-to-bumperness crossing the Peace Bridge on the way in to the U.S., it started to snow. By the time we got up to the customs official a half-hour later, you couldn't see three feet in front of your face.
We sat at Chang's lunching it up while watching nature's fury pound the parking lot outside. The Mongol was spectacular, as always, though the Mandarin Chicken wasn't nearly as good as I'd hoped. The lesson? Never order anything new. Anyway, another notch in the Chang's-across-America tour. I've now hit them in Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Scottsdale, Nashville, Indianapolis, Vegas, Boston, Pittsburgh, Rochester and Buffalo.
The lake-effect snow beat the hell out of the Queen City at that rate for, oh, about six hours. The Walden Galleria gradually got busier and busier with people pulling in to, as they said, "escape Armageddon".
Eight to ten inches later, we realized that there was no way we were getting home, so I went down to the Apple Store, Pricelined a hotel room, and we hunkered down at the Buffalo Airport Holiday Inn for the night. Major props to Aaron K. at the Apple Store, by the way. He walked me through the MacBook stuff, let me use the laptop even though I had absolutely no intent of buying one, and then printed out my hotel confirmation. Thank you, sir.
The hotel was conveniently located next door to a Denny's, so that worked for dinner AND breakfast (I don't recommend the Pancake Puppies, unless you're in the mood for a Tiny Tom's/Timbit sort of combo thing, only greasier – they didn't sit well, to say the least). Tuesday morning, though, the sun was out, the roads were clear, and the drive home was completely uneventful, as though nothing had happened the day before. By the time we crossed over into Queenston, it was as though there hadn't even been a storm – probably because the wintry brimstone didn't even reach there.
Damn lake effect.
So, why am I regaling you with the details of my trip? So that it's now tax-deductible? Well, partially, but also because there's really nothing happening in the world of baseball other than Jason Bay signing with the Mets and Mark DeRosa with the Giants.
Poor Jason Bay – he goes from what was a great situation for him in Boston to a far less great situation in Flushing and for just six million dollars (Aside – how sick is it that we can say "just six million dollars" as though it's an insignificant amount of money, given that it's more than most of us will make in our lives?). Bay's representatives seriously misread the market, and now he winds up in a place in which he doesn't want to be, in a ballpark that doesn't suit his game at all, and all because his agent led him to believe that he could do far better than the $60 million over four years that the Red Sox offered him both at the all-star break and again this winter.
On the Blue Jays front, don't expect Alex Anthopoulos to stop trying to wheel and/or deal just because he's getting married on Saturday and heading off to honeymoon in Hawaii for ten days. He still has conversations going with free agents and with other G.M.'s on several fronts, and deals could very well be made over the next couple of weeks.
Those deals, however, will not involve Ramon Castro. It turns out that the power-hitting back-up catcher who everyone reported that the Blue Jays had signed earlier this month is still a free agent. The Jays never did sign him, despite getting involved in negotiations with him. I'm not sure how or why it fell through, or if it even got close enough to reach the point where one can even accurately say that it "fell through", but it didn't happen. Right now, John Buck is the Jays' starting catcher, and Raul Chavez will be his back-up.
I have one more hosting gig before the New Year, it'll be the New Year's Eve Afternoon Spectacular (or some such) from 2:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern on the 31st. My big brother, the famous film critic, will be in for the first hour to talk movies, and in the second hour we'll have Brandon Morrow (unless his cell phone fails him – he's on vacation) and probably some cheesy '80s trivia as well.
Today and tomorrow are your last chances to vote for Tom Cheek. The damn Facebook voting thing seems to reset itself every three days or so, so there's no real way to know where Tom sits in the balloting, other than the fact that he's definitely in first or second. Regardless, it's a close race with Jacques Doucet. Yes, Tom will absolutely finish in the top three in the voting, and will be included on the final ballot for the Ford C. Frick Award for inclusion in the broadcasters' wing of the Hall of Fame, but that wasn't the point of this exercise. The point was to have him finish first by such a huge margin that his candidacy wouldn't be able to be ignored any longer. I really do appreciate all those of you who have come out and voted, and I'm asking all of you again to really come out and blitz the voting over these last two days. There is none more deserving of your time and effort. Please go to www.facebook.com/baseballhall to cast your vote for Tom.
Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome.
54 Responses to "Snowed In"
Hi Mike,
Just wondering if the Jays would be interested in Brett Myers? He appeared to have alot of potential and could be moved into a closer role if he is healthy. What do you think?
MW: Myers did have a lot of potential once upon a time, but had a lot of trouble keeping the ball in the park last season. He might be a guy that winds up on the outside looking in when the music stops, and if that's the case, maybe you take a shot. But the Jays seem to be going high on character, too, and he doesn't fit there.- Jon
Be honest Mike… you were looking to improve your dance skills and the Just Dance game is really for you ;). Looking forward to hearing you on new year's eve!
MW: I haven't Just Danced yet.- Chris B.
Does Jason Bay signing with the Mets somehow affect the pick the Jays get for losing Scutaro? I thought I heard that. If so, how?
MW: Nope. It doesn't, at all.- Jack O
Why didn't the bluejays go after Juan Pierre. I know it would not go with the strategy but all they had to do was give up to minor league pitchers, and the guy can still average 52 steal per year and have a 3.00 average
MW: Why would you want Juan Pierre on a team that's building for two or three years down the road? Why you would want him at all is a separate question, but I'll take an answer to the first one.- Robbie Goldman
Very happy with Anthopoulos's moves so far, especially his willingness to make the high risk/reward trade for Morrow. I do have doubts about Cito's ability to help the youth on the team thrive for his remaining year, and would like to see Overbay gone and Wallace in to begin the season.
MW: It would be a mistake for Wallace to break camp with the Jays.- Will, Oshawa
I hate to do this but I'd appreciate your reaction to the idea I suggested in the post here:
In short, Brian Tallet for Angel Pagan. Reasoning elaborated on in the post if you want to know why I think it works.
MW: Like one of your commenters said, it'd have to be Omar Minaya making a bonehead trade. There's no way that the Jays should be able to get back Pagan for Tallet.- WillRain
Hey Mike, I know this isn't re your post but was that you doing some filler on espn on Monday night? If not you, then it was an excellent imitation.
We were in Costa Rica and I knew I recognized the voice and it came to me. It was a very strange broadcast – it was on a spanish channel though everything was in english except the graphics, but whenever there was a spanish interview or commercial, you came on, which I thought was weird for a Spanish channel.
MW: It wasn't me.- Michael Cherney
Hey Mike,
I think the Jays should have made a run at Duchscherer. At a base salary of 2mil + 3.5mil in incentives it doesn't seem like a costly signing. His stats look good and he could have been our new ace. What are your thoughts on the signing and do you think he would be a fit for the Jays?
Thanks for reading,
MW: He would have been a fit if the Jays were going anywhere this season, but I wouldn't bring anyone like that in on a one-year deal – what's the use?- Kevin
Any idea of a veteran pitcher that the Jays have a chance at signing. I'm assuming that someone will be brought in that can throw 200 innings and help out. I would hope he is not a Victor Zambrano/ Tomo Okha caliber player. Can you comment on Joel Piniero, Erik Bedard, Jon Garland, Jason Marquis, Carl Pavano and Jarrod Washburn. I think Erik Bedard gets hurt too much and will want too much money. I think Carl Pavano stinks and would fit the Zambrano/Okha comparison to a tee. Joel Pineiro is too much of a risk as he may get overpaid for one good season. That leaves Jason Marquis, Jon Garland and Jarrod Washburn. All three of these guys have consistently taken the ball every fifth day and have been half decent. All three are capable of pitching 200 plus innings and haved proved durable. Anything more then a 3 year deal for Garland or Marquis may be too much. I would be hesitant to even offer a two year deal. I believe some team may step up and give those 2 guys a 3 or 4 year deal. That leaves Jarrod Washburn. His terrible 2nd half with Detroit may have been a blessing for Toronto as he may be inclined to accept a one year deal. I think he can be a good signing for Toronto to eat up innings. He may want to prove his time with Detroit was a fluke and re-establish himself as a solid 2 or 3 pitcher. The other benefit to signing a resurgent Washburn is that he may fetch a half decent prospect at the deadline for a contending team. What are your thoughts on Jon Garland, Jason Marquis and Jarrod Washburn? Would these three guys be of interest to Antoupolos if they were willing to accept one or two year deals? I would rather see Brian Tallet go every fifth day then a Carl Pavano type. I was the guy praising Tallet all of last year saying he was better then a mop up reliever. I know Tallet walks too many guys but he managed to pitch 160 innings injury free and he may be able to go 200 if given the chance. I know that his WHIP is uninspiring but this team is probably going to suck anyways and I find watching this guy entertaining.
MW: There's something to be said for adding a "veteran innings-eater" to the Jays' rotation, which is going to be awfully young and inexperienced. But there's no point in signing a guy like a Garland, Marquis or Washburn if they're going to ask for anything more than a one-year deal worth between $2-3 million, and they all are. They're better off picking up a scrap-heap Ohka/Zambrano/Clement type just to have a fallback in case some of the kids get hurt or need to take a step back. It's not about winning in 2010, it's about developing. So why throw away money on a guy who's not going to really help you? Give those innings to David Purcey instead.- Domenick
Hi Mike,
I am sorry to hear about your snow troubles south of the border. Luckily, none of that snow reached us in Toronto.
I have a follow up question/concern from the Jays compensation for Scutaro being bumped from a first round draft pick (and a supplemental pick) to a second round pick because of the John Lackey signing.
It does not seem fair that Boston had minimal interest in resigning both Jason Bay and Billy Wagner. However, I believe that they are able to retain both of those 2 first round picks (NYM/Atlanta) as compensation. Should the Jays not receive one of these 1st round picks? It does not seem fair. The rich get richer.
MW: The rich lost free agents, so they get compensation. Same as the Blue Jays do.- Kevin
Hi Mike,
Enjoy your work very much. Been doing my duty and voting for Tom on the facebook poll. Is this the only way the FCF ballot is decided? Could you point us to somewhere where the process is fully explained?
Is there any truth to the ugly rumour I've heard that AA might be interested in Marcus Thames?
MW: I have heard that, too. Doesn't make much sense to me. They already have a few guys who can do what Thames does in Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Randy Ruiz. The Facebook poll determines three of the ten spots on the final Frick ballot. The other spots are determined by a committee.- Henry B
From what I've read if Johermyn Chavez was in the rule 5 draft it would have been in the minor league portion. A player signed at 18 years or younger must have been in the organization 5 years (he might not qualify). A player drafted from A ball or lower must play with the new team's AA team.
MW: That's not what I believe to be true, but I'll check.- scott
Cross boarding shopping is not helping the Canadian Economy Mr. W…
If our economy was stronger we'd have more money to spend going to baseball games and buying BJ gear. The jays profits would sore and we'd be bringing in Bay and Lackey. We'd have kept halladay.
Here I thought the Middle East War and struggling global markets were to blame. And now we see it was Mike Wilner's Wii and dining preferences that have single-handedly crippled the Jays!
Sound logic, yes? :)
MW: No – and you need a spell checker. I spend WAY more money at home than I do across the border!- Eman
Got to love lake effect snow! Don't miss it now that we are in the D.C. area and spend winters in Myrtle Beach, SC. And speaking of Myrtle Beach, you need to check out the P.F. Changs down there. You could tie it in with a trip to see the M.B. Pelicans (an Atlanta Farm Team) play.
MW: Sign me up!- Bonnie
According to D. Smith, Jed Lowrie was at the Raptor's game last night. Wha? Has to be coincidence, no?
MW: Yep – it's not like he's a free agent or anything.- S. Charles
Come to think, though, perhaps cultivating a knowledgable connection inside the ACC could turn out to be a good source of leads, as per who's in town. Guess that since Matt Stairs is out of the equation, Raps games would be a much bigger draw to MLBer's than the Maple Laughs.
MW: Except for Justin Morneau, Jason Bay and their ilk.- S. Charles
Hi Mike
A question: As it appears the Jays rotation will be all young and apparently no veteran influence. How do you think the bullpen coach (I had a brain cramp and forgot the name of the new pitching coach) will do with the young guys? Are the Jays going to miss Arnsberg in that role?
Do you see AA getting a veteran pitcher yet?
BTW there is always more snow in B'lo than Toronto :-)
MW: Yes, there is. The new pitching coach is Bruce Walton, and I assume he'll do just as well as Arnsberg did – they worked very closely together while Arnie was here. See above for the veteran pitcher thing.- Richard from AR
Hi Mike
Do you think its a good idea to sign John Mcdonald to a two year 3 million dollar contact?
MW: A contract? Sure, why not?- Robbie
Hey Mike,
Are you on twitter?
MW: Nope- Mike B
youre on the air right now, with you bro, and im stuck at work.
PLEASE, nominate GYMKATA for "best sports movie ever".
You will make my day, year, and next year.
All the best.
MW: Sorry – I didn't get to this in time. Didn't we talk about Gymkata last year?- Slobberface
Mike…I remember back in the 80′s when my buddies were into old Cutlass Oldsmobiles and one of them bought an old Vista Cruiser station wagon just to take the 455 engine out so he could put it into his hot-rod Cutlass…Is this the same type of vehicle you're talking fondly about?
MW: No. I don't really drive a Vista Cruiser.- chris m.
Your road trip stories are amazing.
Nothing beats Chinese food over the holidays, eh?
The best part of New Year's baseballically is that the 1st major event is the Hall of Fame announcement. I'd be somewhat surprised (though not shocked) if R. Alomar doesn't get 75%+. He wasn't just the best 2B in baseball for the better part of the 90s, but arguably the best all-around MLB player during that time.
As I recall, Peter Gammons once remarked, watching Alomar at spring training one year, "Roberto Alomar doesn't need to get better, but he will."
MW: I would think that Alomar will be a first-ballot guy, but there are a lot of people who disagree. We'll find out soon.- Adrian
Hey Mike,
I have two very different questions I am hoping you can help me with. I say very different because they have absolutely nothing to do with the Toronto Blue Jays, or any other team, for that matter. They are just a couple of things about which I have always wondered.
A) How does the 'player to be named later' trade work? For example, Toronto's trade for Jose Bautista back in August of 2008. Was there a list of players, agreed upon by the Pirates and Jays, from which Pittsburgh could make their final choice? Or, was there another process by which Pittsburgh chose Robinzon Diaz? I am basically asking if you know how a team chooses the player whom they ultimately get back, at a later date. And;
2) Can a starting pitcher NEVER be credited with a win if he does not pitch five complete innings? I believe that the official scorer makes the decision of which RELIEF pitcher, whom he deems most deserving, gets the win. But, (and I know this is the most far-fetched situation ever) the example I have always thought of was: what if the starting pitcher (who's team happened to be leading 11-0 as he was throwing a perfect game) got hurt after recording the second strike, on the third batter, in the top of the fifth inning, and had to leave the game. And then each of the subsequent relief pitchers allowed at least a run with the final score ending up at 11-10? (Again, I know this is thoroughly improbable.) However, what would happen? Do you know if it is possible for that starter, who clearly was the best pitcher and who obviously had the biggest impact on the final score, to be credited with the win?
Extremely random questions to which I have I always wanted to know the answers!
Thanks for your help!
MW: 1 – There are a lot of different ways to determine a PTBNL. Sometimes a team gets to choose a player off an agreed-upon list, sometimes the player is someone who a team will later choose in the Rule 5 draft, and then deal, sometimes it's a player who is unprotected in the Rule 5, so they have to wait and see if he gets through, sometimes it's a guy who was signed less than a year before the trade, so he can't be moved until the year is up, sometimes the teams just can't settle on a final piece to a trade they know is close. There's no set rule. 2 – A starting pitcher can NEVER be credited with a win if he doesn't go at least five innings.- Justin from Ardtrea
Was looking over at FanGraphs and according to that site, this is how the Jays starters are projecting for this year for AVG, HR, RBI (I know you don't like 2 of those stats but I'm using them for the sake of simplicity):
Bautista .241/13/48
Hill .283/20/76
Lind .305/31/113
Wells .271/19/77
Snider .275/26/90
Encarnacion .259/21/69
Wallace .278/17/57 or Ruiz .294/9/31 (projecting limited playing time)
Buck .231/12/50
Gonzalez .248/6/28
I have assumed Overbay will be gone. I notice they're predicting Hill's power numbers to slide. Do you find any of these stats to be a stretch? Any pleasant surprises? I think 26 HR from Snider would be great.. and I'd be happy with 21 from Encarnacion… only 2 guys in the lineup with .280+ BAs is kind of scary, though.
I have a question – any chance of the Jays trying out Wells in the 2 spot? That would allow them to flip him and Hill so that Hill could hit where he should be hitting, in the 5 spot (or perhaps the 4 spot at the start of the season when they'll have Snider 9th I'm sure… sigh). Wells walks more than Hill and has more speed, as well.
Also, what would you say the odds are of Wallace breaking camp with the Jays? Wouldn't it kind of be a waste of a year of service time? I think they should let Ruiz have a shot.
MW: The Fangraphs numbers don't tell me much. I want OBP and SLG, but even then, they're just projections. I think Wells would be awful in the 2 spot, carrying that .330 career on-base. He doesn't walk more than Hill – Vernon's isolated OBP is 49, Hill's is 52, no significant difference. See above for the Wallace thing, I agree with you, there's no need to waste a year of service time.- Ryan Hall
Mike, I've read some rumours that the Cubs are interested in Jason Fraser.
I'm actually a fan of Fraser and would like to see him in a Jays uniform next year. I think he deserves a shot at the closers role. Didn't he do a nice job at the end of last season? Or has he more value traded?
MW: Frasor did a terrific job out of the bullpen last year, and I'd love to see him back. But if he can bring back a high-ceiling prospect in trade, he's gotta go.- Scotty
Mike, that was an awesome show yesterday, as for the cheesy 80′s music trivia, I only knew the Billy Ocean tune. This isn't consdiered cheesy, but see if you know these lyrics, I'm sure you do.
I had a friend who was a big baseball player, back in high school. He could throw that speed ball by you, make you look like a fool, boy.
Will you hosting any shows from now until spring training? Thanks Mike.
Peter, St.Catharines
MW: Please. Is there anyone reading this who doesn't know that song? Come on, Peter. Make an effort! I don't think I'm scheduled to do any hosting between now and The JaysTalk, no.- Peter
Hi Mike, the Phillies got Cliff Lee to make a run at it last season. If they went all in & traded all their top prospects & got Halladay, they most likely would have won the World Series again.. That opposes a question. Even though the goal is to be World Series champions every year, would organizations trade all their top prospects from their farm to try & win one or two World Series?..The draw back would be that they would have to go like 5 years in the bottom echelon of the league after they win…An example would be the Jays '92 & '93. I think that would be a bad trade off if they are looking at the business side since the 5 bad years would probably lead to sub par attendance as oppose to say 1 World Series, followed by 6 competitive years after which would lead to greater profits during those years…ur thoughts…Thanks Mike
MW: Flags fly forever. Fans always remember their champions, and it's worth anything to win a World Series. But the Jays didn't fall off because they dealt all their top prospects to make those runs. Who did they lose out on? Jeff Kent, sure, and maybe Derek Bell, but beyond that – Steve Karsay? Ryan Thompson? Rob Ducey? Williams Suero? The Phillies should still have dealt for Halladay in July even after they'd traded for Lee, I think.- David f from Etobicoke
Will this be the big-ticket item that the front office is signing to show neglected Jays' fans that they have our best interests at heart? He'll likely be pitching in the minors for at least a season and would make a nice pitching-mate for Drabek. There could be a major upside to him.
Do you think the Jays have a chance of landing him? I don't recall them taking part in the show 'n' tell a couple of weeks ago…
MW: They did, and evidently they've had another private one. I think he'd be a fantastic sign for them. I'm gonna post about it.- isabella reyes
Does the TSN reported story of the Jays interest in Aroldis Chapman have any legs?
MW: See above. I think ESPN had it first, though, and TSN grabbed it from them.- Domenick
Talking of pitching, here's an interesting–if math-heavy–piece that suggests our Mark Rzepczynski could be a very, very good pitcher indeed. Apparently he gets a lot of ground-ball outs. Which sounds familiar. I hope he continues in this way.
MW: And a lot of swings-and-misses, too. I'm a big fan.- isabella reyes
Interesting article by Baseball Prospectus suggesting that Aroldis Chapman may be one to stay away from.
MW: He's 21 and has been playing for one of Cuba's best teams for four years – that's what I take from that.- Domenick
mike is it true the blue jays have a war chest of 16 million dollars to spend on the draft.r the jays in the running for Aroldis Chapman and do u think he is worth 20 to 25 million over 4 years. do u now the numbers he had in the cuban league, happy new year mike all the best this year.
MW: No, it's not. I think they are and I think he is. No, but I know them. Thanks.- jays fan from the start
hey mike hope you had a happy holidays and good new year.
the jays have been a lot more involved in the off season thus far then in recent years which i something i like . now of coarse we lost the BEST PITCHER IN ALL OF BASEBALL but its ok sometimes you have to do what you have to do. i'm just glad we got something back for him then letting him go for free at the end of this season. also i'm actually pleased with some of the other moves we finally got rid of league which i've told you was something had to be done and i really like this guy morrow nice add to our pen or rotation. now i know its early in the off season but i think two names that haven't been picked up yet that surprised me are orlando hudson the o dog who i think is a big catch and i think hed want to come back to the jays. and russel branyon who played unbelieveable last season. i think you pick him up and drop overbay try and get prospects for him . as for hudson i think he and hill can switch playing time or move hudson to short which i know were already overbooked at the position. now about the jays as a whole i really like our chances this year even without doc. the redsox lost bay and the yankees atleast to me seemed to have giving up a hell of a lot mroe then they received this off season. what do you think about that.
as always thanks for replying and LET GO JAYS
MW: I don't see Orlando Hudson coming back, nor do I see Russ Branyan (who I love) making his way over here, either. Those positions are spoken for, whether Overbay stays or goes. The Red Sox lost Bay, but picked up John Lackey and Mike Cameron. The Yankees lost Hideki Matsui and Melky Cabrera and picked up Javier Vazquez, Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson. How is that a net loss for the Yankees even a little bit? Please don't really like the Jays' chances for 2010.- joe from new jersey
great job mike,just love ur insider work and im really excited about our new gm,i cant wait to see our final roster
MW: Thanks.- nando
Hey Mike,
Happy News Years! Not sure if it's been covered yet but why do the Jays want to move Brett Wallace from 3B to 1B. I know Edwin's under contract at 3B for 2010 but surely Wallace won't be ready till 2011, and isn't it easier with Lind, Overbay and potentially Cooper at 1B to leave Wallace at 3B?
MW: The Blue Jays think that Wallace will be just OK at third, if that, but above average at first.- James R
Hey Mike,
Thought some hot rumours might melt some snow… Heard the jays had a private workout with a big stud lefty from cuba. What's the story?
MW: I don't know.- ted
Will you be able to get Alex on the JaysTalk similar to Wednesday with J.P.?
I don't think Alex is as open as JP, but it would be a great opportunity to get a chance for fans to get some questions in every week (or bi-monthly, etc).
MW: I hope he'd want to do it, but I'm not sure.- James from Mississauga
So the Jays are perusing Aroldis Chapman..Could the Vernon Wells contract foil the chances of this signing?..The Red Sox have offered 15.5 mil..The Jays would need to offer up at least 20 mil..Without Overbay and Halladay they may have the cash..But is he a wise investment?..Is he really that good?
MW: There's no way to know whether he is or isn't. The Jays would need to offer up $20-$25 million OVER FOUR OR FIVE YEARS – clearing Rios, Rolen and Halladay take care of more than that entire amount in one season, so they can easily afford him and Wells' contract doesn't even enter into the discussion. I think it'd be a great investment.- ray b
Mike, Do you like the wii? I was thinking of getting wii fit to help me stay active in the winter.
MW: I do like the wii, but I wouldn't recommend the wii fit if you're looking for it to move your lifestyle from sedentary to active. It's fun, and you can break a sweat, but it's not really that much of a workout unless you really try hard to make it so.- JW
Mike, re Post #13 — I don't think a spell-checker is going to help, since as far as I know the check will only find/identify incorrect spelling, not the incorrect use of otherwise correct words. Both "boarding" and "sore" are existing words.
MW: Fair enough.- Norm
Hey Mike,
If the Jays are on a 4 to 5 year plan, then why sign Chapman. He'll be a free agent by tat time. Also, do you think AA opted to rebuild b/c it bought him time as a GM. If he went "all in" and lost this summer, fans would have been calling for his head. Now, he has at least 3-4 years of bad baseball before criticism begins.
MW: I don't think fans would have been calling for AA's head had he done that – they'd have been happy he tried. Chapman could conceivably be under the Jays' control for eight or nine years.- Nick
Oh yea 4 or 5 years isn't a problem…I was thinking more along the lines of one payment of 20+mill plus a contract on top of that..Much like the Dice K deal except less..
I think the Jays would be a good destination for this kid..He could earn a spot this season..
Not sure if the Sox and Yanks could offer that with all of the depth they have..
Have you ever seen this guy pitch?..Can he top 100mph?..Some internet sites have said he hit 102..
MW: I have never seen him pitch, but there's no way he could earn a big-league spot with the Jays this season – nor should he with any team that signs him, if they're smart.- ray b
On a related note, my wife and I had our first date at PF Changs in Bellevue, WA. (outside of Seattle). And we also dined at both of the one's in Chicago. Now that there's one in Buffalo, I'll have to make the point of going on our meeting anniversary later this month. Hopefully we won't get snowed in.
And I just got an email inviting me to renew my piddly $98/year TorStar (which apparently are in very limited quantity) season pass. I am in baby!!!
Happy New Year.
MW: Thanks! Good story.- Tim
Comment #20
No, last year I just caught the end of the segment and posted the trailor on your blog. This year I was stuck at work.
Ah well maybe next year. Keep that tradition going, M-Dub, its awesome.
MW: Thanks, I'll try.- slobberface
A lot of people are suggesting we bring in an experienced SP for the rotation. An innings eater.
I tend to agree but not from the standpoint that "they'd help us take a run at it" but having an example or guide or wisdom for the youngsters. Everyone talked about what a good example Roy made with his preparation and attitude. I realize this is the job the coaches. But it certainly could not hurt to have a bit of a leader at the right price?
Also, I read a TSN article
about the possibility of the Jays trading Snider b/c they now have two pure hitters who are weak on defence (lind/wallace) and don't need a third. Obviously there was more to the theory but what's your take on this? If I said we should trade Snider what would you say?
One last thought: I would have considered not trading Taylor for Wallace. And done this:
1B: Lind
RF: Snider – perhaps LF
LF: Taylor – perhaps RF
DH: Ruis? – or other
Unless Lind is pure crap on defence, which I have not seen evidence of, he's too young to be a DH.
Right now we have no left-feilder, Lind plays DH and never develops in a well-rounded player.
MW: If Lind's best position is bat, and the Jays have other players who are better defenders than he is, I have no problem with him being a DH. I do, however, think he can be an adequate big-league outfielder. I actually think Snider is a good (not great, not terribly above-average, but good) outfielder, and the Jays seem to think that Wallace can be an above-average defender at first. Those are the three bats around whom they're going to build. As far as a veteran starter to share wisdom, you have to be careful who you select. Service time doesn't always make on a good teacher.- David
Lyle Overbay
Edwin Encarnacion
Scott Downs
Jason Frasor
Your predictions mike: will all four of these guys stay in Jay's Uniforms this year?
MW: No.- Markus
Hi Mike,
I miss Baseball Today. Can't wait to have that back on the air.- Scotty D
Mike…Put on your thinking cap..If you banged into someone tomorrow who said to you: "Mike, I've never seen baseball ever, but please show me a video and tell me about one player that you considered the biggest treat to watch play." (someone in your lifetime that you personally watch play)
MW: Probably Roberto Alomar. Maybe Tony Fernandez.- chris m.
Mission accomplished – Tom Cheek was #1 in fan voting for the Frick. Fingers crossed hoping the committe will smell the coffee this year and induct Tom (along with Alomar).
It pains me that I was out of town on New Years Eve day with no Internet access and missed your show. I saw the post referring to Billy Ocean; I called in a few years ago on your show and missed a Billy Ocean song! Did he play at your wedding or something ?
Is there any chance you or Tom Young or Pat Schmoody can post the show on your blog ?
In return I offer you an 80′s lyric challenge – one of my faves.
"I bought a toothbrush, some toothpaste, a flannel for my face,
Pajamas, a hairbrush, new shoes and a case.
I said to my reflection, Let's get out of this place."
MW: I don't know about posting the New Year's Eve show, but I'll look into it. And Tempted, by Squeeze. Not difficult.- TouchemallJoe
Mike glad you survived the drive to Buffalo – ok Halladay is gone, don't know what happened to our regular catcher? He had a great season.
Alex Anthopoulous does sound very young on the radio, congrats to him getting married.
So why do we not have Chavez or Rod Barajas? He worked very hard, and was fun to watch
MW: The Jays do still have Chavez, and they kind of still have Barajas in that they signed John Buck, who is basically the same guy, but five years younger. And as much as I like The Captain, in no way did he have a great season. Barajas got out 74.2% of the time he came to the plate in 2009 – that's awful.- Barb
michael,- darrell bishop
love your response to post 48 above here.
great call there on tony fernandez.
you really really do know your baseball my friend. indeed.
in the field & at the plate, he was baseball poetry no doubt.
absolutely my all time fave blue jay position player to watch day in day out. hands down for me anyway…..
and still have to post my simon le bon/baseball story to you as i mentioned i would to you awhile back…
back when they were on top of the world around 83′. seven & the ragged tiger days…..
i know you're a big fan of the group so i'll give you the whole story sometime soon during this downtime coming up…
What do you think about Buck Martinez doing play by play for the Jays in 2010? I think he is an exceptional analyst. Only time will tell if he's a good play by play announcer. In a perfect world Jays fans would have a Wilner/Martinez combo…you do the play by play and Buck does the analysis!
MW: I agree with you completely!- Mark
O.M.D. VS. Echo and the Bunny Men?
MW: Do I have to choose? I wasn't a fan of either.- jeremy
saw the above post…omd vs. echo & the b-men.
if we're going to delve into that era.
so how about the furs, simple minds, the smiths, depeche mode?
that's some quality there for that era no?
rank those if you would for yourself….
and maybe going out on a limb
here abit but let's not forget martin frye's (nice voice there) abc. lexican of love. outstanding work at the time i think…….
MW: I absolutely hated Depeche Mode. They're fourth on that list, behind Simple Minds, The Furs of Psychedelia and The SMiths.- darrell bishop


text:
Where is the land beyond the eye
Bioshock Infinite and Story in GamesPosted: December 29, 2013
Sometimes there are games that come out and core gamers latch onto them and
bandy them about as an example of a game with great story or a game that is art.
Bioshock Infinite is just such a game and gamers that are grasping to
say it is art or to say it has an amazing story are just outright wrong. First
and foremost-- we are talking about a product, not art. Bioshock
Infinite is not just a game in medium; it is a grinding experience that
forces you through gauntlets of enemies to proceed forward through locked
doors-- the locked doors being your only motive to fight the majority of the
The story of Infinite is, like all games, the story of the player
playing the game, and the story of Bioshock Infinite is about a guy
named Booker who likes to search through trashcans and desks for coin. This is
why game designers should be more careful about what they are asking the player
to do. What you do in the game becomes the narrative and when you do the same
thing over and over, it is not a story, it is a tribulation-- it is gaming for
the sole purpose of gaming and for the purpose of inflating the length of the
product. It is, as some action sequences in movies these days (Crystal
Skull, Hobbit, Star Trek Into Darkness, Red 2), pornographic-- it is action
for the purpose of action and not an event in the narrative that develops the
Most gamers have a totally misconstrued idea of what the term story
means. The story of Infinite is not the history of the world or the
surreal ending (that has nothing to do with the events of the game and
everything to do with creating some interdimensional explanation for how the
flying city of Columbia exists as an alternative history). The story of
anything, whether a novel or a game, is what it all boils down to and the story
of Infinite boils down to a whole lot of shooting and searching for
money to buy upgrades for one's weapons to make the mindless hours of shooting
move faster.
The game's setting, the floating city; is high concept, but that is all it
is. The game is absorbed with trying to tell you the history of the flying city
of Columbia and absorbed in portraying Christianity as wrong; and in that fervor
to make commentary on Christianity and segregation it breaks one of the first
rules of fiction-- show, do not tell. What it shows you, what you spend the game
doing is looting (a form of game design that has the player searching through
areas and killing enemies to gain loot).
Infinite fails to live up the promise of the great story that
some gamers thought they experienced, but worse yet; as a game it offers nothing
innovative in terms of level design, controls, or puzzle design. I would much
rather play a new Bioshock entry which takes place in Rapture again, at
the bottom of the ocean, and at least see the developers do something fresh with
the franchise like providing the player with puzzles based on raising and
lowering the water levels in the flooded areas of the city; like a macro
water temple from The Legend of Zelda. Bioshock needs
more driving the player than money and locked doors; whether it be advancing
puzzle design or adopting Sony's Move interface for 1:1 melee action. I'm bored
with the current combat; bored with stunning enemies with lightning and shooting
them. All that Infinite has done is moved Bioshock to a less
interesting place with abominable cliché steam punk porn and grating musical
textures from the early 20th century.
Post Script: Suggested reading material-
How to get the Wonder Woman Feature out of Production HadesPosted: October 04, 2013
The costume design isn't what is stopping this character from making it to the big screen-- changing her iconic look would be re-inventing the wheel. The biggest tweak that they need to make is adding a few inches of material to the trunks so her lady parts are hanging out like Miley Cyrus' tongue.
What's got the Wonder Woman feature constipated is the story.
There is no chance of this character being magical going forward. The comic book religious can put that one in the grave. But the story could still address the "gods" in the form of aliens.
The Origin-
There are four main articles that have to be addressed in a Wonder Woman film: the origin of her powers, the gauntlets, the costume, and the lasso.
Powers: Option A- She is a metahuman; born with her powers, whenever it was that she was born.
Option B- The Amazons were a race of female warriors created by either the Old Gods (Olympians) or New Gods (Jack Kirby's New Gods).
Option C- Diana was the offspring of a New God and a human woman; born in recent centuries.
The Wrist Gauntlets: It could be believable that she used her super human powers to create the bullet proof gauntlets.
The Costume: She could either inherit the fantastic costume or assemble it herself; again with super human crafting skills.
The Lasso of Truth: The lasso isn't something that Diana Prince built in the basement. The lasso has properties of advanced technology-- indestructable and able to detect lies (and in my opinion should inflict burning pain upon those restrained by it). This could be the item that the first feature film revolves around. It could be an alien (Old God) artifact and the "origin" film could follow the story of how Wonder Woman came into possession of this weapon.
The Plot-
I see multiple potential story arcs to be told with Wonder Woman and I think the challenge in getting the first movie right is restraint. I think what people want is something that is more spy vs spy or Indiana Jones than a generic (Marvel style) super hero origin flick with a generic villain that shares the same origin/power as the title character (thus eroding the very uniqueness of the hero).
I would prefer the film go the Indiana Jones route and put Wonder Woman on a quest for a lost artifact (the lasso of truth) in the Indian jungle; which of course the Nazis are also on the hunt for and they have in their employ a metahuman of their own casting (see below).
The Villain-
The door is wide open for the casting of the villain in the above scenario but my choice would be Amazo. Amazo would simply be a metahuman with the empathic power to find and take the powers of other metahumans (upon killing them). If you're unfamiliar with him, he is a Silver Age character that would basically work like Sylar from the television show Heroes.
The backstory I would give to Amazo in the 1940s would be that he has taken the powers (and lives) of Citizen Steel (steel skeleton), Hawkman (magnetokinesis), and some other Easter egg characters.
The Future Technologies of GamingPosted: September 22, 2013
The technologies on this list could change the way gamers view and play their games in the coming decades.
1. Pen and Pad: This option could be easy to overlook when searching for an interface that will create excitement among the mainstream audience, but perhaps the best interfaces are those tested and adopted by professionals. The people building video games are adopting pen based interfaces and leaving the mouse behind-- perhaps it is time that the gamers have such an advanced interface to play games.
2. 3D Motion controllers: With Sony's new stereoscopic camera it will be possible for the Move controller to be even more accurate and track the player's motions in 3D space. The only barrier for Sony doing this is the lack of a mechanic on the wand for turning left and right and the lack of games. Perhaps there is hope that Star Wars Battlefront will feature just such motion control for light sabers. With the lack of a scroll wheel or slider on the Move controller though; it would mean controlling the camera entirely with motion control and then locking on to enemies in order to draw the saber.
3. 3D Glove: Technology for measuring the bend of the fingers is already here and the consoles are launching with stereoscopic cameras; so it's only a matter of time before one of the three big console companies produces a glove that utilizes their existing motion tracking tech.
4. Haptics: The Novint Falcon has been around for years but the technology still has the potential to amaze the masses; if the price can be brought down in the future and the tech is utilized as the selling point of a future console. Haptics bridges the gap of virtual reality and allows the player to feel virtual events like the firing of a gun, feel the impact of something hitting your avatar, or simply feel surfaces within the virtual world.
5. Next Generation Force Feedback: A true haptic controller like the Falcon would require players to play at a desk or on their coffee table, but there are new force feedback designs being developed that could create some of the illusion of haptics in wireless free handed controllers. A company called Reactive Grip has created a four-way force feedback system that slides four bars up and down inside the handle of the controller to generate the sense of impact and shifting weight.
1. The cutting edge of tech lust for many hardcore gamers right now is the Oculus Rift. The VR headset is now reaching mass market price-potential and Sony has taken notice of the demand-- Sony has allegedly been working on a HMD for the PS4 that they already have games using for camera/head control.
While the product appeals to hardcore gamers; it is not practical for long gaming sessions, and could cause eye strain, eye damage, headaches, dizzyness, and general motion sickness.
2. Superwide (Wrap) Displays: One possibility for the future of displays is the 180 degree superwide screen.
3. Bubble Screens: This is essentially the ambition of Imax in the home. Where the superwide display could be enjoyed by more than one person; the prospects of the dome screen seem limited, as with the HMD, to serving as something for one person. This ultimately may keep the tech from crossing over as something other than gaming hardware.
4. Projectors: Microsoft released a video earlier this year that showed off a concept that could in the future serve as the ultimate method for displaying a game. Microsoft's Illumiroom used Kinect to scan the room and then work with projectors to project the world of the game that exists outside of the limits of the television screen onto the floor, walls, and other iregular surfaces of the room. It all proved too expensive for current consumers... but in ten or twenty years you might be projecting the game world on all six surfaces of a room and not even using a television.
My Contributions
- Title
- Date
- Bioshock Infinite and Story in Games
- How to get the Wonder Woman Feature out of Production Hades
- The Future Technologies of Gaming
- The WiiU and Oculus Rift
- What Has Happened to Gaming?
- Man of Steel-- Why (Dumb) Geeks Hate It
- Why Doesn't 1up Just Become a Blog Site?
- Iwata on Asymmetrical Gaming
- Xbox One at E3 2013-- $920
- Xbox One Doesn't Have a Consumer
- Nintendo Cancels E3 Press Event
- 1up is Closing its Doors
- No Right Analog Stick on Next Gen Controllers
- Halo 4 Forge
- First Impressions of Halo 4
- WiiU's Tablet's Shoulder Keys are Impossibly Uncomfortable
- iKazoo and the Majora's Mask Remake
- Ideas on Where to Begin with Star Wars Episodes 7-9
- The Golden Age of Gaming Is Over
- Making Black Ops 2 the Signature Launch Title for WiiU
My Games
Comments (1)
Hi, I am mumemmyPosted: Jun 22, 2013 12:00AM PST by mumemmy
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text: Naomi Campbell & Kate Moss for Interview Magazine Posted on 28 November 2012 by LAMBERT + ASSOCIATES Captured by Mert & Marcus for the latest issue of Interview Germany. Via Highsnobiety. Related posts: Supermodels Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and More Take Gold at the Olympics Closing Ceremonies Kate Moss Vogue UK June 2012 Kate Moss Book Signing @ colette Kate Moss, the Stuart Weitzman's New Face


text:
None of the Wii U launch titles managed to get into the top ten all-formats charts in the United Kingdom. Nintendo Land reached number eleven, and New Super Mario Bros U only managed to claim the number fourteen spot. Ubisoft's ZombiU only managed seventeenth place. The highest new entry was Far Cry 3, which claimed the second spot in the top ten.
94 thoughts on "Wii U Games Fail To Reach The Top Ten In The UK"
Lost faith in my country -.- seriously, its just COD and FIFA over here, everyone is stupid. Far Cry 3 deserves it though, its damn good
I hear that, this nation is obsessed with football games, has there ever been a week without Fifa somewhere in the top 10?
Probably not. Gaming just feels like a fad here, barely anyone plays real games, just ones that are popular once, and then popular forever, so anything else that comes in is either real games behind them, or a small boom of a decent game getting to number 1 or 2, like Far Cry 3 has
That's the casual audience to you. There aren't as many "core" gamers as people think, save for maybe the US. I'm not even sure if the Wii U sold more than 4000 in Norway (population: about 5 million)…
well, its a brand new console. why would any of the games be top sellers if the console barely came out and there are only 40,000 in the wild out there compared to the millions of xboxes and ps3s
If it were a new Smash Brothers or Zelda I bet you it would have made top 10
Ya, but those don't get pulled out at launch
So true, so many people I know would rather play Fifa than the games on the Wii U. It's stupid.
I mean i dont trying to say the WiiU should be in the top 5, its a new console, and new investments, and the games arent really must buys, but it doesnt change that our top 10′s are often full of crap
Well ronsidering that the WIi U in the UK sold around 40K unit, seems sensible that no Wii U game made the top 10
I couldn't agree more, in my video games design course at college, only like 5 out of 20 of us are Nintendo Fans, I'm the only one that got a Wii U on Day 1, the other 15 just seem to bash the Wii U like there is no tomorrow, and COD and Fifa are both really overrated games that really need to decrease in sales, same thing every year being sold basically. Pokemon maybe the same thing nearly everytime Gameplay wise, but there is a lot more into Pokemon than COD and Fifa, plus it's more fun to play.
But I also agree with why they didn't sell much on Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U etc. only cause of the limited amount of Wii U's we even had to begin with. We sold 40,000 Wii U's here, and thats not bad at all considering the lack of Wii U's available. Just wait till next year, I'm sure the sales of Wii U hardware and Software will increase by a large chunck! :D
The console doesn't have any exclusive blockbuster games, no suprise it hasn't sold much yet.
CoD yes…. but hey, FIFA 11 and 12 was not like that, FIFA 13 vs FIFA 12 = little changes.
CoD is overrated…. Pokemon is not overrated, who plays Pokemon will know why.
Dude. Give the console a chance :/. There is only 40K wiiu's in UK. There is about 6 million ps3 and 360′s. Obviously they're gunna have a higher software attache rate.
The wiiu games will slowly creep up into the charts.
Not just your country man. Here in Brazil the highest selling games for Xbox 360 and PS3 are Fifa and PES. Freaking Brazilians with no taste to good games (because they only play it). At least the majority do.
While I admit I enjoy playing Fifa on certain occasions, it nowhere near polished as a good triple A game.
Different strokes homie.
Just because you dont like these games, it doesnt mean people have bad taste in gaming. Its clearly selling well, its just not youre type of game.
FIFA is better than PES, FIFA is a good game, its not overrated….. just remember FIFA 11 and FIFA 12. FIFA 13 has some new feautures but its almost perfect, what should they add if its good enough?
I suppose what with it only being launched on the 30th of November that the numbers will be a little low. Still, 11th is not bad.
Tsk Tsk… No wonder why the Wii U launched in NA first, No offense UK. To make this easy just reply none taken…
Erm….the Wii U console sales hit 400,000k in a smaller country at more or less the same rate when compared to the much larger North American region. Just saying ;)
For the record, I'm neither from the US nor the UK
400,000,000? That's a lot.
Two mistakes, btw. It's 40k in the UK.
I suspect the undersupply of Wii U Consoles might have something to do with it…
(seriously, my games store only received 5 premium consoles! 5!)
Who wants to buy Wii U games without having the console?
When they resupply consoles they might be selling better, who knows.
I saw Wii U's avaialble in my local Game and HMV on Saturday afternoon, at this time i think the games simply arent strong enough.
Except, Black Ops 2, Assassins Creed 3, Just Dance 4, Lego Lord of the Rings, and FIFA 13 are all launch titles for Wii U.
So, you must mean "No Nintendo first-party Wii U launch titles made Top 10″ which is actually a GOOD thing for Wii U, since third-parties are always bitching about never being able to over-take Nintendo's own titles in sales.
Off topic but…
Does anybody here have Black Ops 2 on Wii U? I have it on PS3 and don't know if I should trade it for a Wii U version. Does the Wii U version run smoothly and work fine?
Also are the controls for it easy or does it take some getting used to?
It should be the same, Wii U black ops is a port of the PS3.
Yeah plays looks identical only thing is the wii u gamepad does make it a better experience traded my 360 version in as well better on wii u
It's not a port. It was released 5 days later.
A multi-plat game uses a base system to be developed on, then it gets ported to other consoles.
For example, most multi-plats get developed on xbox, then get ported to the PS3. That's often the case why the xbox version of the games play better than the PS3 version. (Unless they did a really good job with the port, which isn't often the case.)
Nope… most multiplatform games are port from the Xbox 360 or in other words, example for BO2. BO2 is port for PS3, PC and Wii U
Yeah i traded my 360 version plays identical on wii u only problem nowhere near the amount of players on like there is on xbox but the gamepad makes the game better than ps3 and 360 versions
Runs great and controls great both on the GamePad and the pro controller. Online is a bit weaker since it's less people, but that also means less douchebags. :P
Less kids screaming in the mics :D
i have the game, it runs great.
did you know the ps3 and wii u ver is a port of the 360 ver?
Yes, not only PS3/Wii U, PC too…. but PC is tweaked in terms of "graphics", but again, Wii U is also tweaked aka 2 screens (tv + gamepad = coop).
90%+ multiplatform games are first made for Xbox 360
isn't it a bit early for such statistics? its been 3 days, 2 of which were weekend…
Huge fan of Nintendo but I really hope the Wii U fails. The sooner Nintendo gets out of the console business the better.
Would prefer them to be developing Zelda, Mario, DK, Metroid, etc games for Xbox and PS.
Hopefully the Wii U is the death of their console business and by the looks of things, we might be in luck.
Im also a huge Nintendo Fan and i think microsoft and sony are the ones that should leave the gaming industry, all they do is beef up there graphics with every new console.
Sure, but I'd prefer Nintendo to be bashing out beautiful worlds full of detail than the ok Twilight Princess and the somewhat awful Skyward Sword.
Sick of Nintendo being 10 steps ahead of the competition with the things they make popular or create (rumble, motion control, analogue stick, etc) and 20 steps behind with everything else (Internet, graphics, multiplayer, etc).
Feel like its time for them to be developers and innovators instead of developers, innovators and console developers.
I see what you mean.
I get your point but I can not agree. Both Sony and Microsoft are pretty dull console makers and if Nintendo went 3rd party way they would have to release their motion controls as gimmic stuff (see PS move and kinnect) which would make it sell very little as Sony and Microsoft do not really support creative idéas at all (again see PS move and kinnect, the later who could've became really good) which would mean you still had to buy "another system" to play Nintendo games.
do not feed this troll.
Of course I'm a troll, I don't have the same opinion as you, ugh
To be fair, coming to a Nintendo fan site and saying Nintendo should go third party is an incredibly trollish thing to do.
No one goes to apple fansites and tells them to make android phones. At least, they shouldn't do.
Of the 3 console makers, Nintendo is the absolute last one that gaming can afford to lose. Microsoft and Sony will always produce consoles that are nigh identical. A couple of exclusives each, to seperate them. But by large, the same. Nintendo are the one willing to take risks or do anything to expand and change gaming.
You can be disappointed with the Wii U if you like. Thats fine. But suggesting Nintendo leave the hardware business, is a terrible idea. If that happens, everybody loses. Although it will never happen, Nintendo have enough money to not make a profit for over 10 years and still be fine. And the Wii U becomes profitable after 1 game sale. So they're doing alright.
If going 3rd party is his honest opinion about the best direction for Nintendo, then I don't see a problem with his stating so on a Nintendo fan site, especially if he considers himself a fan of nintendo
It's a very valid opinion, actually. If Nintendo was so relevant as you suggest, you'd hear a lot more about them in media and not when they release their 1-2 major releases for the year which is forgotten shortly after while gamers continue to eat up CoD and similar titles. As you can tell, that doesn't happen anymore. So I guess they really aren't that big of a deal.
Also, no, the PS3 and 360 libraries aren't "identical" in the slightest…just take a look at the difference in exclusives for instance.
Nintendo could leave the hardware business and focus on software and honestly, nobody but the fans would really care. Gamers however, will finally get Zelda, etc on other platforms while Nintendo could perhaps put fourth even stronger software than ever at a much faster rate.
tl;dr, Nintendo's presence as a hardware manufacture is nigh irrelevant.
I think Iwata or some other Nintendo represantive said that if they quit console making, they'd quit game developing too. Don't remember the source, so don't take me on the word though.
Trust me they wouldn't. That's an absolutely selfish way to "go out" and would do more harm than good to their image.
Bury all of their decades of work just because they quit making hardware? Surrrrrrrrrrre. I'd say good riddance if they did do that, though. Would prove that they don't really care about the audience that enjoyed their software.
Nintendo has stated that several times in the past. If their business dies their franchises get buried with them. They said they would never sell their properties to another company.
They also said they would not go paid DLC… We all saw what happened with that didn't we?
You can have a opinión has long is not a retarded 1
Bravo for disrespecting retarded people just to further your argument.
Hopefully you'll bring black people and gays into the joke too seen as though that's completely hilarious as well.
I dont mean retarded because of being born but retarded has in not having studies Or information,seems i was right calling you retard
Nah feller wii u is here to stay i suggest you play one and realise the error of your comment it is far better than ps3 at the moment it is not as good as xbox but that is only because of the things you can do on xbox live give it a few months and nintendo online will be equal to xbox live that is when it will ne best console on the market.
I have played one and so far I'm far from impressed.
And all this talk of it being better than PS3 and being as good as Xbox live is purely objective.
Who knows where the Wii U will be in a few years time.
LOL not exactly a "smart analyst" are we? Nintendo has lost of billions in the bank and 0 debt. There's even more chances that Sony gets out of the market if the PS4 fail than Nintendo getting out… that would require around 4x virtual boy consecutive fails.
I forgot the part where I said I was a smart analysist or the part where I even mentioned PS4 going under.
None of that was even the point, the point was I think they're better innovating and developing, not running consoles.
If they can't run consoles how would they innovate?
Hardware is the only way to innovate. It's possible to create fun new games using a standard non-motion control controller
Not* the only way to innovate
If they fail, another wont be far behind. Less changes will just trigger another crash.
that's… a "bit" contradictory aint it? You're a huge fan of Nintendo yet you want them to develop games for their semi-competition and their latest system to fail?
but if Nintendo stopped making consoles, Sony and M$ would no longer be competition. I kind of agree with his statement. I love Nintendo's 1st party games, but they are usually the only games worth playing on a Nintendo console (with a few exceptions). I feel like i was tricked with the Wii and i refuse to buy a Wii U until it is proven to have the 3rd party support i enjoy from my others consoles. If I (and many others concerned about 3rd party support on the Wii U) could play Nintendo games without having to pay and extra $300 to do so, I think Nintendo would see a massive increase in software sales.
Fail to reach the top ten? Well no $hit. Last time I checked the Wii U was on sale for 2 days in the UK. What did these idiot analysts expect?
Why are they giving stats and the dayum system been out for ONLY TWO DAYS! WTF!?
Is this really surprising? For a game to make it onto the charts it would effectively account for a system purchase too considering the Wii U only came out earlier this week.
fuck the u.k only sales that matters is usa and japan
Th UK does matter, sure were mostly chavs and boozers but our country doesn't have mitt Romney. BOOM!!!
It's their advertising, I have seen only 4 wii u adverts and they were all on ITV4 during cheers. But watch bbc or sky so not many have seen the adverts. UP YOUR GAME NINTENDO. (Pun not intended)
Um…wasn't this launched on a Friday?
Yes it was. Just as all good games are in Europe.
https://www.facebook.com/katovic – I'm so so gay. I would like to get nailed in the ass!