Mr-Paul

But Nintendo isn't just one developer. It's a big corporation made of lots of development teams. Yet this generation on Wii U, Most of those studios haven't been making the "darker" side of their game portfolio. No Metroid. No F-Zero. No Zelda other than re-makes (yet!). No new IPs other than Splatoon. Let's compare them to Disney, a big corporation with a family-orientated image. They've got their main animation studio, which has a particular style, but they also have such a diverse range of other studios to create content that appeals to all. And when they felt they had gaps in their portfolio, they invest in other studios to make their company better. They take opportunities when they can to expand their company. Superhero movies doing well? They buy Marvel. Chance to buy Star Wars comes up? Snap at it. They don't just rely on Mickey Mouse and their main animation portfolio. Nintendo remind me a bit of Arsenal. Will sit on shedloads of cash reserves rather than investing to expand their company.

I feel like lots of people missed the point made over the last week that Nintendo's problem isn't necessarily diversity of genres, but diversity of style. I'm going to make another food based analogy. Let's say Nintendo make crisps. They make normal crisps, Hula Hoops, Wotsits, Doritos, the lot. Plenty of different types. Unmatched even. The problem is, they only come in Salt & Vinegar flavour. This is great for some people, they love Salt & Vinegar, so they're happy to just buy Nintendo's crisps. However, some people don't like Salt & Vinegar at all, so despite liking crisps, won't buy Nintendo's. Then you have the people who like Salt & Vinegar, but don't just want to eat Salt & Vinegar. They'll go to another crisp maker that has more flavours, a multipack with Ready Salted, Cheese & Onion, and a bit of Smoky Bacon for that meatiness. They might not get as much Salt & Vinegar, but there's plenty of other flavours to keep them happy. In the last generation, Nintendo's marketing convinced everyone they needed that Salt & Vinegar. They got people who had never tried Salt & Vinegar before to try it, and even convinced those who don't usually like Salt & Vinegar that they would like their crisps even though they were Salt & Vinegar. Problem is, this generation, they've only managed to convince that first group who really like Salt & Vinegar that their crisps are worth buying. I don't like Salt & Vinegar...I do like Nintendo! But I would prefer the multipack!

No worries about it, it's a bit of an awkward place to get to and the Sam Smith's was a good alternative anyway Hopefully they haven't put my name on a blacklist for booking next year :p I must thank you again for having us over to your place, you are very hospitable and it was great to see you again! Maybe we need a N-E trip to the cricket so we don't bore the rest with it at the meet again :p

Yep, I had a brilliant couple of days Was good to see everyone I had met before again, and awesome to meet some others for the first time (Fierce Link, Eenuh, Debug Mode, jayseven) - you're all wonderful people My one disappointment was @ReZourceman and @Goafer disappearing without saying bye to me! How dare you! (I forgive you!) Looking forward to the next one!

Didn't even bother watching. Such a predictable result. Stuck to the Olympics instead.

Last night was fun guys and girls. I've had an hour and a half's sleep. I've watched another couple of chapters of Trapped in the Closet. I will be with you as soon as the full number of overs scheduled to be bowled today have been bowled.

I still can't get over that green water. Probably my favourite day of the games so far. Been gripped by it all. It's just such a shame swimming finals are at such a ridiculous time. I keep trying to stay awake for them but always fall asleep before they start. I bloody love the Olympics.

Anyone just watched the diving final? Absolutely amazing! Was so tense, but GB get their first ever Olympic diving gold!

Does it matter just how many genres are covered? The fact is, Nintendo's console is missing a whole ton of games and under-represented in genres that sell bucketloads on other consoles. And as Sheikah above says, the Nintendo style doesn't do it for everyone. By only having Nintendo producing games, despite their efforts to cover many genres, many won't be interested. His chocolate analogy is a good one. It's also like going to a food court and there's only McDonalds, which might have lots of choice there that you like, but there's another food court which has Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, Subway, so it has more different options available so is more likely to appeal to more people, therefore that food court will most likely get more business, despite the individual popularity of McDonalds.

Guac is always worth the extra quid. Always. And totally agree re where to go. There are so many great food places in London. Meatliquor like you said is one I've been meaning to try out for a while. Five Guys is great but there's so many small chains and independent places worth shouting about too.

Shush you :p (but yes, I do have a tendency to drag everyone I know there!) I really don't mind where we go, I'd be happy with anything, but as a Mexican food lover, I definitely rate Chilango above Tortilla and Chipotle.

It's not a bar but they do stuff like beers and frozen margheritas. It's casual dining so no booking tables, just go up, get your food made and find a seat. Their website if anyone fancies a look. I don't know what burritos you've been eating, I've never got bad gas from them!

Cool, have responded saying upstairs will be fine, we should have plenty of room there as I've give 15 as the number of us going down. From my experience, I think it should still be more suitable than Meltdown. 8pm is the time I said, just so you guys know I'm really not fussy about the food options so will happily go with the flow there. I'd happily try one of the other posher burgers that I haven't got round to like Patty & Bun, Meatliquor, Honest Burgers, Shake Shack, etc. if any of those have better veggie options and appeal to people. Or pub food is absolutely fine but I think anywhere near Hyde Park might be a struggle for a group of our size, unless it was completely pre-arranged. Or a burrito is a brilliant idea as suggested by @Goron_3, I love Chilango which is in Angel, Camden, Soho, Chancery Lane + more, not sure if they do halal but also a good option for veggies.

Didn't notice that! Was just a quick pic to send to a friend on facebook!

Right guys, the basement tables of Loading are fully booked but they can still reserve us some tables upstairs from which we can go downstairs to the consoles from/play board games on. They also say there will be a couple of DJs playing there. Still happy to go ahead with that?

Been working for a company for the last 10 months on a freelance basis, but they've just offered me a full time role, which I'm well pleased about. Although I won't be doing much different to what I already was, now I have more responsibility, plus a solid income and all the benefits! I am now officially a Social Media/Operations Executive!

Pokémon Go made me do this. i've gone and ordered a pack of two decks as well. Got a new job so might treat myself to the new Arsenal shirt too.

Off to see this at midnight. Actually really excited despite the poor reviews. I didn't like Batman v Superman all that much and I'm probably more of a Marvel guy over DC but something about this makes me think I'm going to enjoy it despite the criticisms. We'll see.

Finally, they admit it! Hopefully it's sorted soon. It forced me to update to the new version today. Totally agree with @Hero\-of\-Time. There's no way that the bonuses being missing could be just a bug. If it was, it'd have never made it through testing. That's if they do any sort of testing!

Booooooooo! Stay out late! Or stay til the next morning! It's once a year! Don't miss out on the bants. (I know it's really easy to say when I live in London and don't have to worry about travel but I reallly want you guys to stay!)

I know very little about them, but they're Individual Values, and basically they're hidden stats that determine how good a Pokémon can be. Someone else can probably give a better explanation, I'm in kind of the same boat as you!

So according to Pokéadvisor I just caught a perfect IV Charmander. However, it's only CP 186. What do I do with it in terms of powering up/evolving? Which way round? Is it worth it due to its low level? I have no idea about this side of the mechanics, so if someone clever could tell me what to do that would be brilliant.

So I just saw on the book of faces that this is happening on Hyde Park on Saturday the 13th...

Anyone on Android, the old version still works. Uninstall the latest version and install the old apk from here. I just had a much more enjoyable walk because of it.

Not long until this now! Just over a week and a half! I'm excited. Can we get a final attendee list drawn up? Like @Zell, I'm happy to go to Loading Bar again on the Saturday night, if people are up for that I don't mind booking a table again if we have an idea of the numbers.