The video game company is rereleasing the console that started it all, with a new version of the Nintendo Entertainment System set to hit shops in November

Hot on the heels of Nintendos biggest success in years that would be Pokmon Go, which you may have read about the company is releasing a new version of its 1983 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) on 11 November. Stock in the company, already on the rise from the Pokmon Go phenomenon, was up 15% on Thursday morning.

The new NES, called the Nintendo Classic Mini, will be smaller, lighter and composed of fewer parts than its 33-year-old thrice-great-grandfather. The company has released five subsequent home video game consoles since the NES broke out and, unlike other systems made by Nintendo, the new version will be a dedicated machine with a preset selection of 30 games from the companys vast library. It will retail for $59.99.

In keeping with established tradition, consumers will need to buy a cord to plug the device into the wall separately, though technology may finally have caught up with this policy, given that the Classic Mini will be its first unit that can run on USB power. Its controller will be compatible with the Wii and Wii U, through which Nintendo sells its older games over the internet.

Of the 713 official games for the original Nintendo, the Classic Mini will ship with all three of the original Mario Bros games, Metroid, Ninja Gaiden, both The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link, and Castlevania II: Simons Quest, among several others.

Plug and play game consoles of this sort, often using pirated versions of Nintendos games, have floated around the low end of the video game market for years and benefited from the tech worlds dedication to increasing data storage capacity. When they shipped in the 1980s, Nintendo games were about the size of a piece of toast; now many consoles are simply 1980s-style joysticks that can easily store the data for several games inside their plastic housing.

Nintendo has succeeded most dramatically when it has opted out of the console wars between Sonys PlayStation and Microsofts XBox series and focused on marketing new types of play to younger gamers. Its bestselling home video console is still the original Wii and its least auspicious product launch was the Wii U, which tried to retain fans who liked the Wiis gimmicks while catering to the hobbyist market at the same time.

With an open nostalgia play, Each title is sure to bring back fond memories the companys press release reads, Nintendo is reaching for an underserved market, which is traditionally what the company does best.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/14/nintendo-classic-mini-entertainment-system

The Guardian hit the streets to speak to restaurateurs who have transformed their establishments into money-making Pokspots, but not everyone is happy with invasions of Pokmon catchers.

Bars and restaurants across the country have been scrambling to cash in on the Pokmon Go phenomenon and lure budding trainers into their establishments, but the company behind the game is hoping to monetize it even further by introducing sponsored locations.

Restaurateurs quickly realized the potential value in the game, as players often wander into businesses looking for their next catch. The luckier restaurants are already key locations in the game, known as Pokspots for players to recharge, and gyms to train their Pokmon, which draw more players.

However, a small investment can also go a long way. Linizio Pizza Bar in Queens, New York, made headlines when its manager, Sean Benedetti, reported a 75% surge in sales over the weekend, after he spent $10 to lure a dozen Pokmon.

The amount of people has been astonishing, Tom Lattanzio, the stores owner, told the New York Post. All day long, from afternoon to evening this past weekend.

The app has been downloaded 7.5m times since its release last week. The most effective way to attract potential customers is to use Lure Modules, which attract Pokmon to a specific location. One Twitter user calculated that it would cost a business $1.17 per hour to keep a lure active in their store throughout the day.

Other restaurants are also working on marketing their locations without using Lure. Carollann Scott, marketing director of Backstreet Grill in Albuquerque, New Mexico, realized the local area was full of Pokmon and people were playing outside.

We found out that theres always Pokmon in our restaurants, she said. Ive seen people walking through our parking lot almost everyday, using [the app] and we want to make sure they know that if they come inside theyre gonna find one thats even better.

They tweeted a picture out to entice potential members of Team Ash or Team Misty to come and dine at their location. Its only been a day and results are unclear.

Multiple national chains such as Waffle House and Olive Garden have also hopped on the bandwagon, tweeting pictures of Pokmon at their franchises.

Pokmon trainer Roemello Agjmurati was delighted to find out that the restaurant Five Leaves in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, was a Pokspot, while he was having brunch there.

The second I walked in I immediately saw people around me playing the game. Even people outside waiting were catching Pokmon, he told the Guardian. I immediately placed a lure on the Pokstop which made more Pokmon come to the restaurant.

However, not all restaurants are amused. The employees at Five Leaves said they dont need, weird fake cartoon characters to market their restaurant.

Its not something that I would encourage here. Were a busy restaurant. We dont necessarily need to do that, said manager Arryan Decatur.

He has noticed people loitering outside the restaurant playing the game and customers pretending to examine the menu with the game open only to leave shortly after.

Another Greenpoint restaurant, Spritzerhaus, distanced themselves from a Pokmon bar crawl one of many planned in Brooklyn in the upcoming month that was set to begin at their restaurant.

[I] have no interest in Pokmon, Pokmon-related business tactics or any human being on Earth that plays childrens games on their phones, the bar manager told Mic via email.

The organizers subsequently chose a different starting point for the bar crawl.

Not having any Pokmon can also be detrimental to businesses. An Olive Garden in Washington state received a complaint that read: No Pokmon in this restaurant was upsetting! What did the owner do to them??

In an interview with the Financial Times, Niantic CEO John Hanke said that the game may begin offering sponsored locations. Currently the games main business model is in-app purchases of things such as lures a feature which allows players to attract Pokmon but Hanke told FT, there is a second component to our business model at Niantic, which is this concept of sponsored locations.

He added that companies pay us to be locations within the virtual game board the premise being that it is an inducement that drives foot traffic.

These companies would pay per customer that was drawn to their location by the app. Niantic has a history of using this business model with its previous game Ingress, where brands such as Duane Reade, and Jamba Juice paid to be locations on its virtual board game.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/14/pokemon-go-sponsored-locations-restaurants-business

A young boy was knocked down and run over by a 5-foot-tall, 300-pound security robot at a California mall on Thursday.

Sixteen-month-old Harwin Cheng suffered a swollen foot and several scrapes in the scary encounter at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto.

“The robot hit my son’s head and he fell down — facing down on the floor — and the robot did not stop and it kept moving forward,” Harwin’s mom, Tiffany Teng, told ABC 7.

Teng said that the robot would have run over her son’s other foot had her husband not pulled the boy away.

ABC 7 reporter Lilian Kim tweeted a photo of Harwin’s injury next to the accused robot:

Knightscope

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/security-robot-toddler_us_57863670e4b03fc3ee4e8f3a?section=