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The Mission Inhaler AC5 Roller Hockey Skates are the first skates in the Inhaler line to feature the redesigned 1 piece Hi-Lo™ Vanguard™ Aluminum frames providing you with quicker cuts and a shorter stopping distance. The AC5 skates use the Hi-Lo HL1 wheels good for indoor play and have ABEC 7 bearings to keep you rolling.
The Inhaler AC5 features a anatomically formed quarter package and covered it with a woven nylon to provide a good fit with durability. Vents on the top and sides of the toe caps allow's air to pass through to help keep your feet cool and dry. The tendon guard was also lowered, providing an increased range of motion.
- Model Number: 1040132
- Heritage: New
- Level of Play Guideline: Performance
- Fit Guidelines: General fit aspects of the Inhaler boot are medium-high volume, medium-wide ankle area, medium-wide across top of foot and forefoot and medium-wide toe box.
- Sizing Guidelines: Mission skates generally fit 1 1/2 sizes down from your regular shoe size
- Quarter Package:
- Woven nylon - Great durability
- S.I.C.K. vented toe caps
- Lowered tendon guard for more range of motion
- Heel Support:
- Anatomical Heel
- Liner:
- Brushed nylon liner
- Tongue Construction:
- White felt with a lacebite insert
- Outsole:
- Injected TPU
- Lightweight feel with a forgiving feel
- Frame: Hi-Lo™ Vanguard™ frame: Aluminum Series
- The Vanguard™ frame uses 76mm(2) in the front and 80mm(2) in the rear
- Vanguard explodes off the charts in performance!
- Offers increased overall speed and decreased stopping distance
- The perfect balance in wheel sizes - Maximizes results while still maintain a low, powerful center of gravity
- Aluminum - Sections were cut out to make it lighter than ever before
- 2 piece steel, self locking axle
- Wheels:
- Hi-Lo HL1 76A
- Bearings:
- Mission ABEC 7 608
- Weight of One Size 9E skate: 1198 grams
Comments: great skates for the money even on clearance great overall skate no lace bite i have played 7 games strait in 1 day perfect all the way threw
From: Matt, Chicago, IL
Comments: a very nice skate for the money . I preffer a very stiff skate which these are not. These have a moderate amount of boot flex. Fit great because of the e width. Not very comfortable after six games and two bakes. I have to tie them very tight because of the weak boot sidewalls so I get lacebite around my ankles. I would recommend these to a beginning or moderate player. If you are a player in a very competitive league these skates are not top of the line fast and top top of the line stiff and uncomfortable. I should have gotten a higher model for my skating needs. I've been playing hockey for over 25 years and am 30 years . These are a good skate for the money but you get what you pay for
Comments: this is very good intermediate skate and I recommend it very much
From: Ran
Comments: this skate is amazing i broke my other mission skates and mow i got these and they held up amazing. the wheels and bearings are really good had no problems. love the skates
From: Kevin, Tabernacle, NJ
Comments: Just tried these on and they are very good for the price. It is uncomfortable at first (didn't get them baked) but once you get used to it, it is VERY comfortable and has decent speed. Not sure if it's just me but the wheels are wearing off faster than I expected. I would still recommend the AC5 for those casual bladers who want decent speed.
From: Simon, Canada
Comments: :I've had this skate for a month now. Playing twice a week on a concrete rink with a painted surface. I'm a big guy and am hard on skates. Had to bake them to fit right but once that was done fit and break in was no problem even skating barefoot. Seems well made and are holding up fine, even taken a few hard shots to the boot and rail. The wheels that come with this skate are very soft figured they were not going to last think I got 2 games out of them before I chunked the wheels. Replaced with label as ash fault and have had any issues since. Overall a good lightweight skate for the price I would recommend them.
From: Mike, Philly
Comments: I just received these last night and skated in them today for the first time. (I haven't baked them yet) They are very comfortable out of the box. The fit is fairly similar to a Bauer flexlite4.0 and nexus ice skate. I currently wear Bauer totalone nxg's on ice in a EE (ordered through
IW) and these are a very close fit. ( I don't skate inline much, but these are certainly lighter and more comfortable than my old Nike quest 1's from a number of years ago)
So far, very happy!
From: Scott, NY


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Bassaholics Flex Fit Visor
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The Sydney Division of Engineers Australia has over 20,000 members state-wide.
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The Cons CTS Shoes are dope. A thin, low profile kick done the Converse way. Sports a canvas upper, vulcanized outsole, thin tongue and collar, and reinforced stitching at toecap and ollie area. Classic in all kinds of ways. Converse branding at tongue and heel. Available in Red/White Canvas.
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Click here for Important Basketball Prospectus Premium Information!
September 8, 2011
When Better Isn't Better
David Lee's Rebounding
by Sebastian Pruiti
Despite posting the worst rebound percentage of his career in 2010-11, David Lee was still an above-average rebounder for his position, grabbing 15.3 percent of all available rebounds. (The average power forward was at 14.3 percent). Having Lee on your team--especially a team that finished last in rebounding like the Warriors--would figure to lead to improvement on the glass, but that hasn't been the case. In fact, over the past three seasons, Lee's teams have posted a worse rebounding rate (both offensively and defensively) when Lee was on the court.
According to 82games.com, with Lee on the court, the Warriors grabbed 27.6 percent of all offensive rebounds, 66.8 percent of all defensive rebounds which is good for 47.2 percent of all rebounds. With Lee watching from the bench, the Warriors grabbed 30.7 percent of all offensive rebounds and 67.7 percent of all defensive rebounds, which is 49.2 percent of all rebounds. To figure out why this happens, I think it is important to look at both sides of the ball individually:
Offensive Rebounding
The first reason why the Warriors are a better offensive rebounding team with him off of the floor is Lee's shot selection. Over the past three seasons, Lee's game has drifted to the perimeter and the percentage of shots he has taken outside 10 feet has increased:
Why is this important? Well, the farther Lee is away from the basket, the less likely he is going to be following up his own shot and getting the offensive rebound. Because of that, Lee's teams become worse in terms of offensive rebounding:
When Lee is taking jumpers, the rest of the team has no real chance at securing the offensive rebound because the only one who does seem to crash the glass when Lee is on the court is Lee himself. That brings us to the second reason why Lee's teams are better offensive rebounders when he is off the court. When Lee is out of the game, offensive rebounding is more of a team effort and is more successful:
When watching the Warriors try to grab offensive rebounds, I really do think there is a noticeable difference when it comes to Lee's presence. When Lee is on the court, he's usually crashing the boards himself, and most of the time there is either nobody else or one player in the paint with him. That means Lee is trying to fight two or three defenders himself to try and get the offensive rebound. However, when Lee isn't in the game, you have a completely different mentality. Guys are crashing the glass, guards are getting in there, and there are multiple bodies in the paint trying to get their hands on the basketball.
Defensive Rebounding
On the defensive end, David Lee is a ball watcher, and a pretty bad one at that. Most possessions, he gets caught watching the ball instead of his man and as the shot goes up, his man usually slides in position to grab the offensive rebound. To make things worse, Lee doesn't really box out much either. Lee relies on his length, athletic ability, and timing to grab defensive rebounds. Because of his abilities, he is able to grab a lot of defensive rebounds. However, there are a lot of times where he doesn't box out and it hurts him and his team:
Without boxing out, you are giving up positioning and allowing offensive players to get to the ball without much resistance. So how does this hurt the Warriors? Well obviously, if your best rebounder isn't boxing out, the team's not going to secure a fair amount of defensive rebounds.
Sebastian Pruiti is an author of Basketball Prospectus.
You can contact Sebastian by clicking here or click here to see Sebastian's other articles.
1 comment has been left for this article.
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"David Lee is a very talented rebounder, but he has started doing a number of things that not only his rebounding, but his team's rebounding when he is on the court."
I pay for the content on this sight. I would appreciate better editing.


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Mewtwo is coming next year, eight player battles at Wii U launch
Did you happen to watch the October 23 Nintendo Direct? If not, the short story is that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will have a whole lot more content than Super Smash Bros. for 3DS. New modes, way more stages, a ton of new music--but the biggest news? Mewtwo will return as DLC, and multiplayer matches can include up to eight players! Crazy, huh?
Mewtwo is still a ways off, as the developers are prepping him for both the Wii U and 3DS version, with plans to release the psychic Pokemon in spring 2015. But he'll only be available to people that own both versions of the game, so he sounds like a rather expensive bit of downloadable content. As for the eight-player battles, they're offline-only and made to take advantage of the extra space that HD TVs provide the Smash series. If you want to know the dozens of other, smaller additions to the Wii U version, click on the above link to the Direct, or get the game for yourself November 21 in North America and December 5 in Europe. In the meantime, why not familiarize yourself with the ever-expanding roster?
Confirmed fighters
After two years of waiting, Nintendo revealed Super Smash Bros. for Wii and 3DS at E3 2013, and the trailer didn't disappoint. Two dozen fighters have already been confirmed for both versions of the game, including five brand new characters. Obviously we'll keep updating this the moment a new fighter is confirmed for the game, so don't you worry about that! Let's start with the newest character to be added...
First appeared: Pokemon Red/Blue (1998)
Smash Bros. fans have been missing this legendary Pokemon ever since it was left out of Brawl. Mewtwo is the very powerful psychic Pokemon that endeared himself to the Pokemon community when he starred in the first ever Pokemon film before winding up in Melee. Though similar to Lucario, Mewtwo is unique enough that numerous smashing bros had hoped to see him again, and they'll finally get their wish in spring 2015.
And it's well past time for him to make a comeback. According to folks that pulled apart the Smash Bros. source code, Mewtwo was planned to appear in Brawl, and it looked like he had been overlooked again due to time constraints. The developers are taking their time to get this cybernetically enhanced fighter into the game, but I'll take waiting six months if it means I can play as the legendary Pokemon in HD.
Duck Hunt's Dog
Dogs are incredibly lovable, but this has to be the most hated canine in all of gaming history. And that's because pretty much anyone with an NES encountered this smug dog in the free copy of Duck Hunt that came with the system. The fun, simple light gun game is a cute distraction in-between endless sessions of Super Mario Bros., but shooting at ducks gets serious whenever you miss one, as your pooch companion will rise out of the grass and laugh at your mistake. The anger-inducing mutt hasn't made many other appearances in the last three decades, but he and his mallard friends are making a returnin Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U. And this time they'll be working as a team. With this badass comeback, could a Duck Hunt reboot be far behind?
Dark Pit
First appeared: Kid Icarus: Uprising (2012)
Dark Pit may have got his start as a favored alt costume for Pit in Brawl, but he ascended to full character status in Uprising, the previous game directed by Masahiro Sakurai. Dark Pit (or Pittoo as he's called by Palutena) is the magically cloned darker half of the wholesome Pit, out to cause chaos and trouble for the whole Kid Icarus clan. Now that Pittoo is a separate character from Pit on the roster, just how different will he play?
First appeared: Stack-Up (1985)
In 1985, the games market in the US was virtually barren, and Nintendo's plan to introduce the NES to America meant masquerading a console as a toy by bundling it with R.O.B. The friendly, super-'80s machine responded in the real world to inputs in games like Stack-Up and Gyromite, making for a cute gimmick that would soon be eclipsed by the massive popularity of Super Mario Bros. R.O.B. fell to the wayside after that, but has appeared over the last decade as a fun tribute character popping up in multiple Nintendo titles, including Smash Bros. with Brawl. Though some doubted his appearance, the dangerous droid is back once again in this next iteration, bringing his gyro attacks to 3DS and Wii U.
Dr. Mario
First appeared: Dr. Mario (1990)
Just what the doctor ordered! After appearing in Melee and then getting snubbed in Brawl, Dr. Mario is back to beat the viruses right off his opponents. Mario received his medical doctorate to star in the puzzle spin-off of the same name, tossing endless supply of pills at a cold, which any doctor will tell you is how to cure the flu. With lab coat and stethoscope at the ready, the doc is back to administer some tough love to his patients, but how different will play be from Mario given Sakurai's dislike for clones? Did Sakurai make an exception for this fan favorite?
First appeared: Mother 2 (1994) / Earthbound (1995)
Gamers in the West may never see Mother 3 get localized, but the franchise's biggest name is still a part of the Smash Bros. series. The baseball bat-wielding American boy is back to knock you off screen with his unique mix of magic and home run swings. Smash fans have loved him since they met him in the N64 original, so they can rest easy knowing he's back. Though how do the diehards feel that Mother 3's Lucas seems to be missing this time around?
First appeared: Pokemon Red/Blue (1998)
The puffy Fairy-type Pokemon was a real shock to players of the original N64 Smash Bros., but today the seemingly joke character is a series standby. His absence would definitely be noticable. Good thing fans won't have to miss the sleep inducing, graffiti enthusiast on Wii U/3DS, as he'll be around, bashing characters all across every stage while singing the melodic "Jigglypuff" song. Just don't get too close when he starts crooning, because then you'll be unconscious as Jigglypuff sends you flying right off the screen.
Falco Lombardi
First appeared: Star Fox (1993)
Firmly of the opinion that he's much better than Fox McCloud, Falco is the hotshot member of the Star Fox flight squad. And Falco is just as cocky when he's out of the Arwing, as he's proven in previous Smash Bros. appearances. Given Sakurai's talk of no more clone characters, some may have been concerned Falco would skip Wii U/3DS, but he's here in all his pompous glory. I guess I should be thankful. But will he be a top tier character this time just as he is in Melee?
First appeared:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) (As Ganon: The Legend of Zelda (1986))
What good is having the Hero of Time around if he doesn't have an ultimate evil to spar with? That's why Ganondorf will always be around. First introduced as the boarish monster Ganon in the original Legend of Zelda, the more human (but still evil) Ganondorf first appeared as a conniving sorcerer that plots to control all of Hyrule in Ocarina of Time. Ganondorf has returned time after time since that game, always ready to cause havoc and get his hands on the Triforce whenever he possibly can. He'll be continuing his quest for power in Smash, cackling maniacally throughout.
First appeared: Super Mario Land 2 (1992)
After adding him in Brawl, how could Nintendo make another Smash game without the gaseous, onion-loving antihero? First introduced as Mario's twisted opposite, Wario quickly proved popular enough to star in his own series of ridiculous games, making him an unexpected gaming icon. Wario returns with his standard helmet and overall appearance popularized by WarioWare, but you can probably count on his classic look being included as an alternate costume.
Bowser Jr.
Bowser Jr. is designed to be an annoying brat, and he does a very good job at getting on your nerves. The miniature version of King Koopa pops up in virtually every modern Mario game, usually as a whiny mid-boss that must be felled before the plumber can battle Bowser. The redheaded tyke is usually seen floating around in his flying clown mobile, which looks to be accompanying him into Smash Bros. Here's hoping the little jerk has fittingly annoying attacks; he should be as frustrating to fight in Smash Bros. as he is in every other game. Also, if you prefer the Koopalings, then you'll be pleased to know they function as his alternate costumes.
First appeared: Xenoblade (2010)
Rumored no more! Sulk is the next great sword master to join the series, and he's got more than a few skills to differentiate him from the likes of Marth and Link. Shulks unique edge comes from his trademark sword, the powerful Monado thats imbued with multiple magic spells and techniques learned throughout Xenoblade Chronicles. A strong fighter with an interesting background, Shulk makes a great addition because his stage has the potential to be very unique and have some of the best music in the game. Plus, given Nintendo's new commitment to the Xeno series, it's no surprise one of the franchise's stars would appear in the game.
As seen in his first footage, Shulk transforms the Monado to pull off different attacks and grant skills, including stronger smashes and enhanced speed. His Final Smash summons a couple of his friends from Xenoblade Chronicles as well, and his reveal trailer implies that one of the bosses from his game will make an appearance too. But how will his precognitive powers be taken into account?
Meta Knight
What good is a hero if there isn't a worthy rival to test said hero? That's the case with Meta Knight, Kirby's longtime frenemy, who sometimes battles Kirby, but just as often fighting alongside the pink puffball. Meta shares Kirby's round shape, but is far more fearsome thanks to his metal mask, bat-like wings, and his golden sword dubbed Galaxia. Meta Knight also has an army all his own, and the impressive mother ship called the Halberd, a flying machine that's been home to a fair amount of combat both with and against Kirby.
Meta Knight first joined Smash Bros. with Brawl on Wii, a move that makes sense given Masahiro Sakurai created both Meta Knight and Smash. The character is regarded as quite strong in the Smash Bros. community, perhaps even overpowered to an extent. Will Meta Knight remain as dominant on Wii U/3DS, or will he be rebalanced?
She was first introduced as the masked, mysterious hero named Marth (as tribute to the original Marth), but the cat is out of the bag now with Lucina's true identity. She appears from a mysterious portal early in Awakening, wielding the same legendary Falchion blade as Chrom. That seems impossible until it's revealed that Lucina is Chrom's daughter from some doomed future, ready to battle by her father's side, and that includes facing Captain Falcon in a Smash Bros. brawl.
Her move set seems to mirror her combat style from Fire Emblem: Awakening--quick, but powerful. She has a number of dodges and strong sword-based attacks, but what will make her truly stand out in a roster that is now packed with blade-wielding characters. Also, we really hope that one of her alternate costumes for Smash has her wearing her mask from early in the game.
Well, this fighter was certainly unexpected, huh? Smash players have come to expect blade wielders from Fire Emblem like Marth and Ike, but not sarcastic mages like Robin. Introduced as the nameless player character in Awakening, Robin is the new title given to the protagonist of the game, and their combat style reflects the openness of the character. He/she can wield both swords and magic with ease, though magic attacks seem to be a consumable, limited use attack, because Robin tosses the book after a certain number of uses. (That's how magic works in Fire Emblem as well.)
Robin's history is hard to define, partially because multiple player choices can alter the course of the game, and also because we'd rather not spoil Awakening's awesome plot. The short version is that Robin--who's male or female based on player choice--is an amnesiac warrior that joins up with Chrom and his band of knights to defend the realm from evil. Robin is adept at both melee and magic, using both to protect his/her friends. Given the open nature of the character's gender in Awakening, it's great to see that you can choose it Smash battles too.
Captain Falcon
You didn't really expect a Smash Bros. game to come out without Captain Falcon in it, right? Of course not. Falcon is one of the original roster stars of the series, and any new entry would be severely lacking in Falcon Punch without the racer turned brawler. In fact, it's easy to say that Smash Bros. has made Captain Falcon a bigger star than F-Zero ever did.
Until the original Smash Bros. on N64, Captain Falcon was merely the unseen driver of the Blue Falcon in F-Zero (and he spends his time off the track as a bounty hunter). But since then he has become the hard fighting standby of many Smash Bros. fans. He's known for shouting Falcon Kick and Falcon Punch before delivering said moves, which has no doubt endeared him to players worldwide. But now that we know Falcon is in the game, will his clone character, Ganondorf, return as well? Director Sakurai has seemed very anti-clone of late.
We start with the most obvious one, Namco's happy, yellow, circular mascot Pac-Man. One of the most well-known characters in the world, Pac is synonymous with gaming to an entire generation. Though known for his arcade classic, he's also starred in dozens of other games for Namco, including the Pac-Man World platformers, kart racers and party games. He earned his spot on the roster a long time ago, and that's FINALLY becoming a reality.
It's enough of a treat to see Pac-Man, Sonic, and Mega Man all appear together in the same game, but Pac-Man also looks pretty fun to play too. His design is based on his older look (no kiddie redesign here), and he has multiple moves that change him into his more round look. Additionally, Pac-Man has multiple attacks that reference Namco classics like DigDug and Galaga. Honestly, the roster feels much more complete now that this little devil is back.
First appeared: Kid Icarus (1986)
After months of rumors, we now have confirmation: Kid Icarus mainstay Palutena is in the game. She looks and sounds very much like ker Kid Icarus: Uprising character, even making a number of references to the 3DS game multiple times. She is the same supportive Palutena we know from Uprising, only she somehow twists that into helping Pit by smashing him in the face.
This move totally makes sense, as Palutena topped several most wanted character polls in Japan, and director Sakurai is clearly a fan of the pseudo-Greek goddess after he directed Kid Icarus: Uprising. Will you be playing as the goddess when you get it?
Mii Brawler
You asked for Reggie Fils-Aime or Satoru Iwata to get added to Smash Bros., and youve got all that and more now. During E3 2014, Smash director Masahiro Sakurai announced that Miis were coming to the game, but not just one of them. A trio of different Miis were added to the game, each playing differently. For instance, the Brawler has open hand, martial arts attacks, like powerful uppercuts and flurry of kicks. So if youre looking to add Ken or Ryu Miis to the game, this looks to be the style to do it with.
Mii Gunner
Wish that you had Mega Mans buster cannon or Samus powerful shots? Well, the Mii Gunner, a ranged attacker with multiple explosive attacks. You no doubt have a Mii that will work great as a gunner, though I think the explosive attacks will work best with Pres. Lincoln, dont you think?
Mii Swordfighter
If you never had an interest in firearms or kung fu, then the Swordfighter is the one for you. This style focuses on heavy, up close and personal with strong sword-based attacks. If you always dreamed of fencing with Link or Marth, Smash Bros. can finally make that a reality.
Don't let the combination of blue hair and a red cape fool you; Ike is actually a bit different from Fire Emblem stablemate Marth. Instead of a royal lineage, Ike grew up as a rough and tumble soldier, eventually leading the Greil Mercenaries group in defense of his friends and family. He's a brave and humble warrior that leads by action, usually by quickly dispatching enemies with his divine sword, the Ragnell.
Ike joined Smash Bros. in Brawl, replacing Roy as the roster's second Fire Emblem character. Ike once again wields the Ragnell in the upcoming Smash Bros., and will likely also carry over the same heavy, strong, and gradual move set that he had before. Does his inclusion mean that all the Roy diehards should lose hope in a comeback?
Pokemon and Super Smash Bros. both hit it big with Nintendo fans in the late 1990s, so it isnt surprising to see so many Pocket Monsters as playable characters in the series. And given that two new generations of Pokemon have appeared in between Smash Bros. releases, so youd think at least one would be added, and were very pleased that, out of all the possibilities, Sakurai chose Greninja.
The amphibious Pokemon starts out all cute and friendly as Froakie, but soon he matures into Greninja, the badass shinobi of the Pokemon world. This guy has watery shurikens, agile moves, quick kicks, and more deadly moves. But will he be the only new playable mon in the game?
Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and more first generation Pokemon have been a part of the series for years, and that includes Charizard. He had been a powerful Pokeball item until he became a member of the Pokemon Trainers group in Brawl. Now Charizard has been set loose to smash all on his own in the 3DS and Wii U Smash titles.
Director Sakurai has really altered the series with his new rule of separating multiple characters like Charizard. That will hopefully make him a fuller fighter with even more diverse moves--we know he has a Mega Evolution--but does this mean the end of Pokemon Trainer? And what about his former friends Ivysaur and Squirtle?
Yoshi has been around for years and has become one of Nintendo's most popular characters. People know him all over the globe, both for his solo game, and for supporting Mario as one of his closest chums. The green dinosaur is known for his long tongue, spotted eggs, fluttery jump, and happy disposition, all of which appear in the Smash Bros. series, including the 3DS and Wii U editions.
What's different this time around? Yoshi certainly looks different, moving less like a reptile and more like the friendly guy we know from recent games. Sakurai also notes that Yoshi well be buffed up compared to his past self, making him more competitive than ever.
Princess Zelda had played the victim to many time already when the Ocarina of Time was blowing the minds of gamers in 1998. That landmark game saw the princess take on the mysterious Sheik personality, a fast, magical ninja type character that has been a Smash favorite since she first appeared tethered to Princess Zelda. No longer...
This time around, Sheik is a separate character from Zelda. Its a risky move, and one that, at the very least changes up Sheiks down B, and were betting some more subtle changes are in the works. This strengthens both characters, so matter who you played with, You should be happy.
Zero Suit Samus
Samus was introduced to the world in a hulking robotic suit that had the world fooled into thinking that the 8-bit hero was a man--at least until the shocking ending to the NES original. But we doubt Samus ever gets misgendered in the form fitting Zero Suit that first appeared as a new outfit in the GBA adventure, Zero Mission. And now this daring look is its own character in Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U.
Another in Sakurais new effort to separate alternate characters, Zero Suit is no longer Samus look after she uses her Final Smash. There are subtle changes to her look, including a new pair of jet boots that make her more mobile. What other fresh moves is the blonde bounty hunter blessed with?
Diddy Kong
A wise man once said, "He's back again and about time too, and this time he's in the mood! He can fly real high with his jetpack on. With his pistols out, he's one tough Kong! He'll make you smile when he plays his tune, but Kremlings beware 'cause he's after you!"
In other words: Yes, Diddy Kong is back in Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS. As the song says, he'll bring with him a jetpack and pistols, blasting apart enemies in his signature Nintendo hat. The screenshots show a very familiar Kong, but we're anticipating at least one or two changes to the character.
Princess Zelda
Another of Smash's fighting princesses has been confirmed to return, not that any of us are surprised. We could hardly accept the game without Zelda when she's proven to be one of the strongest fighters in the mix. Her mix of powerful magic, grace, and speed makes you wonder why she ever needs to be saved by Link.
Certainly the biggest change to Zelda is the removal of the Sheik transformation. As was evident in the first screens, Sheik and Zelda are now separate characters to choose from. This choice now opens up the royal fighter's Down B to put her in command of a Phantom Knight from the DS Zelda games. That's nice, but will some pro Smasher miss her former fluidity?
Little Mac
Smash Bros. is Nintendo's top fighting franchise, so it's about time for it to include Nintendo's top pugilist, Little Mac. The small fighter with big punches has long been requested for the game, and now he's added in his classic green gloved look from both the original and Wii reboot of the series.
Little Mac might be smaller than all his opponents, but he's got enough heart that he can take down behemoths like King Hippo, Bald Bull, and Tyson himself. He's got quick steps, speedy combos, and the support of Doc, his dedicated, chocolate-loving trainer. Is it too much to hope that we'll see Glass Joe in Mac's stage?
First appeared: Mario Bros. (1983)
2013 was the official Year of Luigi to celebrate the green man's 30th birthday, and everyone knew he'd be a part of Smash anyhow, so Sakurai celebrated by introducing him earlier than expected. The Year of Luigi may have ended, but we still love Luigi and can't wait to use him in the next Smash.
Weegee got his Smash Bros. start as an unlockable character in the very first game, and many players took to his comedic variations on Mario's move set. His moveset has since become a bit more unique, especially with the Luigi Missile move that could send him hurtling across the screen. Luigi has always been a fan favorite of the series, and we couldn't imagine the 3DS and Wii U games without him. Now we don't have to.
Princess Peach
First appeared: Super Mario Bros. (1985)
First introduced to the Smash series in Melee, Princess Peach took a break from being constantly kidnapped so she could kick Nintendo butt on the GameCube. Back again on Wii U and 3DS, she's once again ready to shed the "damsel in distress" motif and take on that dastardly Bowser herself.
Her first screens show that many of her famous moves have returned, including her hilarious use of Toad as a shield. We hope that she gets a new Final Smash though; dropping health items and putting everyone to sleep doesn't compare to other possibilities like Psych Bomb from Super Mario RPG. Peach is arguably Nintendo's most famous female character, so we're glad to see that her highness is getting back into the action.
Toon Link
First appeared: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003)
Some balked at the idea of replacing Young Link with this design early on, but "Toon Link" has become one of Nintendo's most popular incarnations of its legendary hero. First seen in Wind Waker, the GameCube gem that recently got an HD upgrade for Wii U, the wide-eyed hero swings the Sword of Time with the best of them.
As before, he'll offer a pint-sized version of the standard Link move set, this time looking better than ever with his newly HD polish. We hope that like Luigi, Toon Link's arsenal becomes a bit more unique to him instead of just a Link re-hash...we wonder if he incorporate the King of Red Lions somehow That'd be insane.
Sonic The Hedgehog
First appeared: Sonic The Hedgehog (1991)
Created as the anti-Mario, Sega's mascot Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most beloved icons in gaming, despite what Sega is currently doing with him (a scarf? A SCARF?!). Seeing Sonic in Smash Bros was a dream of many fans that finally came true in Brawl and is now continuing on the Wii U and 3DS sequel.
The Blue Blur's trademark spiny attacks all look to return in the initial footage, and he looks like he's faster than ever as he flies around the arena. Some of those combos are pretty flashy too, perhaps his moves have been tweaked a bit this time around. We just hope Super Sonic returns as his Final Smash; that move was beyond awesome every time we pulled it off.
Marth may be the original Fire Emblem hero, but for most fans outside Japan, his relevance starts with Smash Bros. For years Nintendo chose to not import Fire Emblem, but when Marth joined Melee he became one of the most popular characters on the roster, and Nintendo soon started localizing Fire Emblem games in the US. The series has since launched into ultra popularity, most recently with Awakening on the 3DS.
An adept swordsman, March swings his trusty Falchion with grace, cutting down every foe he sees with precision and strength. The tip of his blade has deducted many stocked lives from players all over the world, making Marth one of the top choices in every Smash he's in. We expect no different this time around.
Rosalina & Luma
Rosalina first appeared as a regal space princess helping Mario navigate the depths of the universe in Super Mario Galaxy, but lately she's joining in all the spin-off fun. Now she's taking her wand, summoning her trusty Luma helpers and joining the Smash roster, looking to kick some astral ass.
Rosalina appears to mainly use her magic wand and floating abilities for combat, but her main perk looks to be those Luma sidekicks. The chubby little star people apparently support Rosalina from all over the screen, mimicking her moves like a puppet for its master. Don't be surprised if that puppet stuff shoots her into the top tiers of competitive Smash, because it's that kind of unique trait that the pros are so good at perfecting.
King Dedede
Kibry's arch nemesis is set to return to Smash Bros, and he doesn't go anywhere without that massive mallet of his. The big, evil penguin has received a nice visual upgrade, meaning his signature coat has the fluffiest white cuffs we've ever seen. Seriously, look at those things--that's a photorealistic penguin coat if we've ever seen one.
Dedede's moves don't look all that different from when he appeared in Brawl (save the wacky facial animations), so expect a lot of power at the cost of speed. Dedede has a bit of pep in his step, but not enough to consider it in his strategy. Dedede's game is more about pulverizing opponents with that giant hammer, and with a weapon like that, why would we focus on anything else?
Like Pokemon? How about mystical ones the have spikes on their wrists and can manipulate auras for powerful attacks? Then Lucario is the pocket monster for you! Introduced as one of the key monsters in Diamond and Pearl, Lucario joined Smash Bros. in Brawl while he was fairly new to gamers. He's not so fresh anymore, but he's still plenty popular, so the Aura Pokemon is making a return.
Lucario's moves look like they're the same as they were in Brawl, but Sakurai has stated that his Aura buffs at high damage percentage are even higher now, making him the ultimate risk/reward character. Did you see the Aura Sphere in the Pic of the Day? It was HUGE! All of this is great, but here's what we're really wondering: because he replaced Mewtwo in Brawl, is it safe to assume the original psychic legendary is going to be left out of this entry as well?
Captain Olimar
First appeared: Pikmin (2001)
The intrepid (albeit miniature) hero of the Pikmin series is back in action, following his success in Smash Bros. Brawl. He will once again use his Pikmin army to his advantage, with his blue, yellow, red, purple, and white buddies all doing different damaging effects. No sign yet of the rock Pikmin we spotted in Pikmin 3, but here's to hoping.
As much as we love commanding Olimar's Pikmin around the Smash battlefield, we're hoping that he can be a more efficient fighter on his own. We know Pikmin have always been his saving grace, but gee whiz give the guy a chance if he should tragically lose them all in a tight spot! Ok, maybe it happens to us more than others, but still help a captain out!
Oh hey look Mario is in the Smash Brothers game, also breaking news the sky is blue and water is wet. Seriously though, there's no Nintendo without Mario, so there's no Smash Bros without the plucky plumber either.
As they've done with all their previous Smash Bros reveals, the first trailer started the appropriate way: with Mario as the first characer shown. Mr. Mustache seems to have all the same abilities from the previous games, which will once again make him the average all-around character beginners use to learn the game. Let's face it: most folks playing Smash for the first time are going to choose Mario anyway, so he should be the perfect character for learning the game.
The Animal Crossing series isn't known for its violence, so previous Smash appearances had been relegated to stages and trophies. No more! Now Villager is joining the fray, and if the internet is to be believed he's a raging, murderous psychopath bent on wanton destruction. Yeah.
Villager comes to Smash packing a vast arsenal of collection and town upkeep tools. Shovels, axes, plant buckets, slingshots, and even his pockets will serve him against the rest of Nintendo's best. We wonder though; will the Animal Crossing part of the roster be limited to him, or is it too much to hope the nefarious, capitalist tyrant Tom Nook will appear as well?
Mega Man
When that helmet appeared and those mega eyes lit up in Mega Man's reveal trailer, the reaction across the Internet can be summarized in one word: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Mega Man is FINALLY going to brawl against Mario, Link, and the rest of the gang! Happy days!
To be honest we were a little dumbstruck that ol Mega hadn't appeared in Brawl as one of the first ever third party fighters, but we don't need to worry about that anymore. The Blue Bomber is bringing plenty of his most famous moves with him. The Mega Buster, his slide, and a slew of abilities he copied from robot masters he's defeated in his various games, including the iconic Metal Man saw blades. It may have taken one game longer than we thought, but Mega Man is finally here. We can not wait to play as him!
It seems Mario's biggest has learned to stand a little taller since his last appearance in Brawl, as his new stance takes him away from the ground and makes him MUCH more intimidating. We don't expect his moveset to change much (and it doesn't look it has, either), but perhaps with a new stance comes some new abilities.
Poor Bowser didn't even get a formal reveal in the first trailer, but rest assured that Bowser is totally playable. The red-haired tyrant will once again try to teach Mario a lesson with fire, sharp claws, and hopefully a Giga Bowser transformation. We'd love to see that giant in full HD.
From day one Kirby was a shoo-in for Smash Bros, as he is a creation of Masahiro Sakurai himself. When the idea for Smash Bros came to Mr. Sakurai, he HAD to have been thinking about Mario vs Kirby, so he made sure the pink puffball got in. It's a good thing too, because leaving Kirby out would just be criminal.
We've haven't seen much in the way of moves for Kirby, but we can't imagine his moveset will be drastically different from every other game in the series. Although in the first trailer he turns into a Thwomp, we assume as part of his Down+B Stone attack, so maybe he'll transform into other famous rocks as well. Hopefully be brings some new Copy abilities too; we'd love seeing the Mike attack in a Smash battle.
First appeared: Pokemon Red/Green (1996)
If you thought the international icon of one of Nintendo's most popular franchises would be left out of Smash Bros, you're crazy. Pikachu has been around since the N64, so there's no way he's going anywhere now.
We assume Pikachu will bring the same lightning-quick moveset from the previous games into battle here, including that insane Quick Attack he uses to get across the screen in a hurry. How are we supposed to keep uo with ol' #25 if he keeps zipping around like that? Then he gets a Smash Ball and powers up Volt Tackle, and things just get way worse. Pikachu, you yellow devil, it's good to have you Smashing again, even if you are Pika-cheap.
First appeared: The Legend of Zelda (1987)
In a game of Nintendo icons, nothing outside of a red hat with an M on it is more iconic that the Master Sword, wielded by Link the Hylian. "Hero of Time" almost isn't a powerful enough title for someone as prolific as Link, as he's saved princesses, his world, other dimensions, and the very nature of time. It's no wonder he's back for more Smashing.
Link and his iconic set of weapons are a constant in Smash Bros., though the look has changed throughout the years. This time, Link looks to be taking on his Skyward Sword persona, which explains the more cartoonish look. Maybe he'll bring a Loftwing with him and zip around the battlefield bringing pain from above. We doubt it, but we'd sure like to see it!
First appeared: Kid Icarus (1986)
In the time between Melee and Brawl, one of the most requested character in Nintendo's stable was Pit, the angelic warrior of the goddess Palutena. Brawl fixed that omission from the jump, and now Pit returns for more action.
We know Pit's moveset has been altered, as he now incorporates the Upper Dash Arm from Kid Icarus: Uprising in his moveset. Sakurai worked on Uprising just before starting his work on this new Smash game, so we won't be surprised if more Uprising abilities make their way into Pit's arsenal. Also, will Dark Pit make an appearance after showing up in Uprising? Will another character represent the series at all?
First appeared: Metroid (1986)
Samus is one of the biggest badasses in gaming, and was the top space marine years before Master Chief or Marcus Fenix were even created. Her Varia is strong enough on its own, but it's almost unstoppable when fully powered up with bombs and electric whips. She's been blasting fools off screen since the first Smash outing, and will continue to do so on Wii U and 3DS.
Samus's appearance has been given an overhaul, exchanging the bulky-yet-serviceable Power Suit from Super Metroid for the sleeker, more maneuverable Other M version. We can only hope that the Samus under the hood is still the same Super Metroid badass and not the Other M teenager. We're not sure we want to hear that voice again.
Fox McCloud
First appeared: Star Fox (1993)
There will never be a Smash Bros game without FOx McCloud. Sure, he's been around since the N64, but since he's become a total powerhouse used by many of the top competitive Smash players in the world. He's agile, powerful, and the sight of him coming against you should strike fear in your heart. What does the fox say? This one says total domination.
Fox is bringing back his lasers, reflector shield, and general speed that will likely keep him as a favorite among fans and pros alike. What he hasn't brought back yet, though, are his compatriots Falco and Wolf. Will we be seeing more Star Fox characters in the future, or will Fox go it alone from here?
Donkey Kong
First appeared: Donkey Kong (1981)
He's the leader of the bunch, you know him well. He's finally back to kick some tail. This giant ape was Nintendo's first famous name in gaming, and his arcade hit launched Mario's career, and his appearance in Smash was expected the minute the game was announced.
We've seen that Donkey Kong will have his helicopter attack and a few other familiar moves, but we've yet to see how extensive his abilities will be. We hope his Final Smash is changed from the Jungle Beat bongos to something from Donkey Kong Country Returns...though we're not sure what that could be. That Final Smash really disappointed us; we thought this big ape deserved better than that.
Wii Fit Trainer
Nintendo has made it a point to try and help their consumers' overall quality of life, which has made this white-skinned warrior a household name for those with a Balance Board laying around. While the most hardcore of Nintendo fans might have skipped the game, the Wii Fit Trainer is absolutely deserving of a spot on the roster.
As we've seen so far, Wii Fit Trainer's moveset will incorporate many of the exercises and yoga poses we've be awkwardly trying to perform in the privacy of our homes. Tree, Warrior, we've seen a lot, especially in her screen-filling Wii Fit Final Smash. She certainly wasn't expected to be a part of Smash, but now that she is she totally fits in.
Mr. Game & Watch*
First appeared: Ball (1980)
Before Samus, before Link, even before Mario, there was Game & Watch, one of Nintendo's earliest forays into the video game market. The very simple games were the phone apps of their day, only they ran on repurposed LCD tech taken from calculators. These early handhelds often featured a little stick figure that could be seen juggling, or killing rats, or cooking sausage. This man would become Mr. Game & Watch, the mascot of this lost era of Nintendo, a man who joined the Smash Bros. cast with Melee.
Mr. Game & Watch is a fan favorite, with many loving his goofy moves and flat dimensions. He was confirmed for the newest Smash Bros. in typically weird form, by dropping in at the end of the Pac-Man reveal trailer to stand next to his fellow 1980 creation. No matter how it was revealed, fans can breathe easy knowing G&W will soon be in HD.*Game & Watch was shown in a trailer, but not technically 100% confirmed, but we believe he'll be included based on this.
Who else deserves to be in the game?
So that's every character that we currently know is in the game, but why stop there? We have dozens of characters we want to see added to the next Smash Bros, and we're sure you do too. What follows are a mix of our picks and reader choices for additions to the 3DS/Wii U smashers. If you have any more suggestions, let us know!
First appeared: Pushmo (2011)
Our potential Smash Bros. roster is in danger of having too many normal looking characters and could use more of the cartoony protagonists Nintendo loves. The squat Mallo looks a bit like a sumo wrestler, and he uses his low center of gravity to push blocks around to solve puzzles. His jumping abilities would translate well into Smash, though Mallo doesnt exhibit many offensive moves in Pushmo or Crashmo. Wed be fine with the devs simply ripping off the all the moves of E. Honda from Street Fighter.
Chance hell be in SSBWU: Nintendo has been extra focused lately on creating downloadable franchises, and Mallo is the star of one of the earliest hits on the 3DS eShop. If Nintendo wants to prove that its eShop franchises are on the level of its retail releases, putting Mallo in the Smash would go a long way. Pushmo has already had one sequel, so appearing in the next Smash would elevate both Mallo and the entire concept of eShop originals.
The Wonderful 101
First appeared: The Wonderful 101 (2013)
Platinum Games is one of the top independent developers in Japan, and the teams next franchise launches in September with Wii U exclusive The Wonderful 101. The game features an army of costumed heroes fending off an alien invasion, and the group consists of colorful, Power Ranger-style fighters as well as weird members made of sushi and washing machines. Together they can transform into various massive weapons like a sword or a fist, and if they were included in Smash, the Wonderful 101 would use those abilities to work similarly to the Pikmin in Brawl, but with 20-plus team members instead of four.
Chance hell be in SSBWU: Wonderful 101 was one of the earliest exclusive announced for the Wii U, and Nintendo has gotten pretty close with Platinum lately, agreeing to also exclusively publish Bayonetta 2. Nintendo would no doubt like to keep that friendship going by adding the the stars of 101 to Smash, and it would help establish the game as the start of a franchise, not just another one-off from Platinum.
First appeared: Bayonetta (2010)
Created by many of the developers behind the first Devil May Cry games, Bayonetta is a sassy witch that kills demons and angels with equal panache. She doesnt care what side of Heaven or Hell shes fighting, so long as shes paid. Bayonettas weapons of choice include her four favorite guns--two of which are attached to her heels--as well as her enchanted hair. Her flowing locks can transform into giant fists or gnashing fangs to destroy her enemies, and the rest of the time her mane takes the form of the clothes on her body. Like we said, sassy.
Chance shell be in SSBWU: Up until a few months ago Bayonetta seemed firmly established as a Sega franchise, but then came the shocking announcement that Bayonetta 2 is a Wii U exclusive. Now that Nintendo seems so firmly behind our favorite witch, the odds of her showing up in Smash Bros. have increased substantially. Yes, shed have to leave some of her more risqu moves at the door, but with the kind of arsenal shes packing, shed be a great addition.
First appeared: Star Fox Adventures (2002)
Fox and Falco are already part of Smash Bros., but there are other members of the Star Fox crew wed like to see in SSB, with Krystal at the top of the list. Krystal has proven herself to be more than capable, thanks in large part to her magical staff. Shes first introduced as the protector of a dinosaur planet Fox McCloud crashes on, and shes also blessed with telepathic abilities. Krystal joined the Star Fox team when she and Fox became an item, though in a later game Krystal left to be a part of the rival Star Wolf Team.
Chance shell be in SSBWU: Krystal may have been introduced in a game that was barely a Star Fox title, but at this point Nintendo has proven to be pretty committed to the character. In fact, given her melee skills, shes arguably the most fitting member of the Star Fox crew for a fighting game, and SSB could always use more ladies on the roster. Unless Nintendo has totally turned its back on the newer Star Fox characters, we think the odds are in her favor.
Son of the stars of the original Golden Sun for GBA, Matthew takes after his father Isaac a lot. Wielder of the famous Sol Blade, Matthew is a master of earth magic like his papa, often calling upon the ground in his mystical battles. Like most RPG protagonists, he teamed up with his childhood friends to save the world. Including him would not only add a newer character to the mix, but also finally give Golden Sun some real recognition in the SSB series.
How they should play: Given his potent mix of sword and sorcery, we see Isaac playing like a combination of characters. Obviously hed have sword-heavy attacks similar to Link and Marth, but based on the number of spells he knows, we could see him using area-effecting magic attacks ala Zelda or Gannon.
Since her first appearance as an egg spitting mid boss, Birdo has stuck in the minds of players everywhere. Though somewhat ignored directly after Mario 2, over the last decade or so, Birdo started popping up in Mario spin-offs until eventually she became a regular in most Mario sports and party games. Often used as the feminine counterpart to Yoshi, Birdos got a big enough fan base that she deserves to be playable in SSB instead of restricted to the cameo roles shes had to put up with. If nothing else, shed be a welcome female addition to a rather male-oriented roster.
How they should play: Since Birdo has been symbolically intertwined with Yoshi for years, why not use the green dino as a starting place for controls? She should have the flutter jump or a variation on it, though her egg attacks would obviously be a straight shot instead of Yoshis arc. Initially we thought you should be able to stand on her eggs if you time the jump right, but that seems like it might break the whole throw your opponent off the stage concept to the battles.
Professor Layton
First appeared: Professor Layton and the Curious Village (2007)>
Professor Hershel Layton is one of the most well-known characters introduced in the last five years, having starred in multiple hit puzzle games. Layton is famous for using his ample intelligence and good manners to solve ancient mysteries all over the world, often finding the logical explanation for some supernatural occurrence. And while Layton strives to be a gentleman at all times, if hes forced to defend himself, hes more than skilled at that too.
Chance hell be in SSBWU: Layton seems like a shoe-in given the brands closeness to Nintendo systems, SSBs Japanese development, and the fact that the next SSB will be on 3DS and needs guest characters famous on handhelds. Additionally, Layton just appeared in his first crossover game, Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney, a good sign developer Level-5 might share the character again in the future. The biggest strike against Hershel appearing is that his next game for 3DS is rumored to be his last, so if Level-5 is set on retiring him, its possible the publisher wont want Layton appearing in SSB so soon afterwards.
Midna and Wolf Link
If youre looking for a new form to give Link in the fourth Smash Bros, look no further than 2006s Twilight Princess. Every time Link entered the Twilight Realm, he was transformed into a wolf, controlling very differently than he did in human form with more ferocious attacks. His constant companion, whether he liked it or not, was Midna, an imp that wields powerful magic and holds a dark secret.
How they should play: Despite being two separate characters, this duo would be better off playing more like a single character and less like the Ice Climbers. The combination of the wolfs practical attacks (mostly involving biting jugulars) would mix with Midnas mysterious powers that could be used for ranged and defense. Obviously Midnas transformative abilities could come in handy too, especially with regards to a Final Smash.
Tom Nook
Super Smash Bros has always been light on your options to play as a bad guy, and few in the Nintendo pantheon are more evil than Tom Nook. Dont let his furriness fool you; this raccoon controls your life in Animal Crossing with an iron fist. Youre constantly pushing yourself to escape the grip of your many debts to Nook, and even when you finally do, he has a monopoly over your town's businesses, so you still have to give him your money. Truly one of Nintendos most evil characters.
How they should play: Probably working similar to Mr Game & Watch, Nooks moves would be based around his random uses of items from AC. A shovel here, an apple tree there, and his best power would be burying his enemies in crushing debt. Hed be a wonderful fighter in the joke character tradition of SSB.
The armless French creation is enjoying a renewed relevance these days. Following years of being upstaged by Rabbids, Rayman and his lovably goofy friends returned in the gorgeously 2D platformer Rayman Origins. Based on Raymans history with the Wii and 3DS, plus Ubisofts dedication to the Wii U, if any guest character would appear in the next Smash Bros, itd be Rayman.
How they should play: The Origins update to Rayman works almost perfectly for Smash. Hes got tons of different melee attacks, transformative powers, and can hover with his propeller head. As for his design, wed hope for a mash-up between his colorful 2D self in Origins and his 3D looks from Rayman 2 and 3.
Kazuya Mishima
Since way back when Soul Calibur II came out with the earth-shattering appearance of Link, Namco has been needing to return the favor by lending one of its characters to a Nintendo fighter, but at first it was tough to decide who. You might think Pac-Man, but traditionally he doesnt really have any arms or legs, and wed rather Nintendo ignore the middling Pac-Man Worlds of a few years ago. No, Namco should instead go with its premier fighting game, one that thats already appearing in another crossover, and was one of the few franchises to appear in the Wii U reveal trailer. Were obviously referring to Tekken, and Namcos got to go with the series anti-hero Kazuya.
How they should play: Obviously his move set will be simplified a little from the Tekken games, but all of his marquee attacks should be there. Perhaps the platforming aspects of the combat might seem odd at first, but wed get used to it. Plus he could have a Zelda/Sheik-type transformation into his Devil form. Perhaps his style would be a little too rough for the good-natured thrashing of Smash Bros, but itd certainly make him standout from the crowd.
Mascot of the now defunct Hudson, Bombermans a strange mix of cuteness with explosive death, which is why many love him. His adorable, modest design is fitting with his NES background, and the simple multiplayer joy of blowing people up in Bomberman games could translate to fun in Smash Bros. Wouldnt it be fitting if he appeared alongside his 8-bit mascot brothers?
How they should play: Like Banjo, Bomberman has been dormant the last couple years. Perhaps you can blame that on Konami purchasing Hudson and so far having little need for the cute powder keg, so he could use the kind of boost a Smash Bros cameo would provide. If Konami isnt into the character right now, who would it harm to lend him to Nintendo, especially given Nintendos history with Bomberman crossovers? (See Wario Blast)
Warning! New Challenger Approaching!
Of course, this is just the beginning. There will likely be characters we never would have suspected in the roster, as well as a few favorites (though we're not going to hold our breath for some of them). Is there anyone else you'd want to see added to Smash's roster?
And if you're looking for more Nintendo talk, check out our long list of Nintendo trivia and everything else we know about Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS.


text:
Why Alain Vigneault is a Milt
Thomas Drance
November 15 2011 09:09PM
Editors note: You may have noticed a strange group of Canucks fans on twitter who seem to use a foreign language while staying hyper-current about Canucks news. Sure most of the made-up words they use have deliriously filthy meanings according to the urbandictionary.com, but regardless, their schtick is funny and pervasive. They're known as the #shap crew, or the #shap bandits, and their strange lingo has been referenced by Dan Murphy during a Sportsnet broadcast, and has made it into the Vancouver Province as well. It's all very #shapocalytic (link very much NSFW). As I often defend the Canucks head-coach Alain Vigneault in this space, I figured I'd let the #shap bandits tell you why they disagree with me.
The Following is a Guest Post from the Shap Crew:
Recently, Alain Vigneault decided to start Roberto Luongo in 3 games in 4 nights. Today, we are hearing that Luongo is hurt and missed practice. Let's think about this for a moment...prior to these 3 games Luongo's play was typical of his career at this time of year, as he's been known as a slow starter. Granted, his form has been improving. The question is: What kind of coach plays his starter 3 games in 4 nights? Answer: Only a Milt.
What's a Milt? Well, if you really have to ask that question you're probably a Milt. A bit slow to laugh at a joke... your buddy's fiancé doesn't want you at their wedding... Milt. I digress...back to AV.
AV lacks one thing that every coach should possess: common sense. It's common sense to give your starter a rest when your team plays back to back, especially when you consider the fact you have a more than competent backup; or when you consider it's November; or when you remember the original plan to give Schneider 25+ starts that they trumpeted a few weeks ago; and when you keep in mind Luongo's history of injuries; and Luongo's being worn out in the playoffs.
This is the norm when it comes to AV's decision making. Think back to when AV asked Luongo whether he wanted to come out of a playoff game when getting shell-shocked. Let's explore this move: A coach is, in essence, a manager. When does your manager ask rather than tell you what to do? Typically, when they are out of their element. If you don't know what you're doing in your position, you start asking those around you.
Think of all the times the Canucks are being peppered with goals and you watch AV cling onto his timeouts as though they were linked to his bonus. Or think of when ever you heard AV take the blame for anything? There's always one of three things with AV: an excuse; a reason; or a scapegoat. As long as he has those three things he'll never have anything to worry about.
Consider this: AV had a career of 42 games over 2 years for the Blues as a professional hockey player, zero championships. As a coach he has been practicing the profession for 25 years now, zero championships, and by all accounts he's still figuring out what to do.
We could go on and debate questionable lines, the fact there's a revolving door of assistant coaches around him, yet he remains, the fact he acts like the Jack Adams is the same as a Stanley Cup, his lack of preparation, lack of motivation but it would take us pages and pages and you wouldn't read it all anyway, so we'll boil it down to winning.
There's something to be said about a winner. A winner has that special "IT" factor that can hardly be put into words. You either got it or you don't. A winner leads his team, a winner demands respect, a winner's team is prepared to go through any obstacle that stands before them, a winner motivates, a winner... wins! Does that mean AV is a loser? No... AV is a Milt.
Enough Said.
Follow us: @Vitamin_V12 & @MarioMontega
November 16 2011, 08:48AM
Yah, I'm not sure I agree with even one thing you've written here.
Yah, I'm not sure I agree with even one thing you've written here.
I agree with you, peanutflower.
November 16 2011, 10:29AM
We not asking for approval or for people to agree that is what the beauty of our shap is..
Great views guys, I do agree with the AV stuff. He has past expired here
Great read guys, something different and fun. Like it.
This is great stuff. Big respect to the 'Shap Crew' - legends to many on Twitter. Good shap on the article too, Alain's a big time Milt.
wow finally something that i can laugh to and yet they made some great points
kudos guys, i loved it. i didn't agree with it all but a lot of it i did.
thanks for making me laugh to
Good shap Shappenbloggers. Although AV did win once with Hull that was a long time ago. Since then 18 years as a head coach: 4 times no playoffs, 3 times out in 1st round, 8 times out in 2nd round, 2 losses in finals and once he was fired. That's a milt's record to me
November 16 2011, 11:24AM
Good shap Shappenbloggers. Although AV did win once with Hull that was a long time ago. Since then 18 years as a head coach: 4 times no playoffs, 3 times out in 1st round, 8 times out in 2nd round, 2 losses in finals and once he was fired. That's a milt's record to me
I agree Buz and thanks for the comments v12 and I just bring shap/blogs ina diff way..
We embrace the hate
This "shap" crap is ridiculous.
Alain will win, he does win. If you don't want to cheer on the wins, go be a leafs fan, I've noticed they're starting to head in their usual direction.
I find it great to read someone's views that aren't pro canuck or everything they do. It's a refreshing read to see that not all Canuck fans out there just agree with the Management team. I bet these gentlemen that SHAP critic them when playing well and when playing bad. So for the haters I ask if were .500 come mid Dec or Jan what do you do? Make a trade, so he couldn't do it with the President trophy winners and now you need to give him more?
Great read guys, I don't agree 100% but I do agree with a lot of it.
Thanks hope there's more
November 16 2011, 02:13PM
Thanks for the comments everyone! And a big shout out to Chubs for the opportunity to shap on his site! Thanks bru!
Loved it guys, and after tonights game jesus makes more sense. Cody on the fourth line?
I couldn't agree more
david booth a 4th liner come on av? truly a milt i totally agree.
Loved it guys, surprised after last nights game not more people posted on here agreeing. Av is a milt :)
November 17 2011, 02:36PM
Thanks for all the comments good or bad. We just want to thank Chubs for giving us the chance to post something.
Cheers @mariomontega
loved it.. thanks guys
Great work guys, I really am leaning towards you on this. Something has to give with AV and the team.
boys, finally got a chance to read this and loved it..well said (shapped)
Finally something fun to read, if I want to read hockey stuff I"ll read the province but this is different and good.
Love it V12 and Mario
Boys I just stumbled on this and love it. I have wanted AV out since 2009
Loved it, he is a milt a big milt
Great work on this piece guys, not saying the writing is perfect but I enjoyed it, laughed,and it you made some good points on this milt subject.
I agree that AV is a milt, but maybe Mike Gilis is slightly turning into one also.
Great shap, did I say that right


text:
France 1867 – 1947
The man and the woman
[L'homme et la femme] 1900
oil on canvas
canvas 115.0 (h) x 72.5 (w) cm
Musée d'Orsay, Paris , Purchase 1948
© RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Gérard Blot
This Bonnard work is often seen as a companion piece to his Woman dozing on a bed. Indeed, the pose of the woman, again Bonnard's partner Marthe Boursin, is so similar that there seems a narrative continuity with Woman dozing on a bed, the latter being a preamble to the erotic interlude which is to follow in The man and the woman. Marthe now waits, distractedly playing with her cats, while Bonnard undresses.
By 1900, Marthe had featured in many of Bonnard's works. From time to time his work featured both himself and Marthe, although this is the only painting in which he shows a full-length portrait of himself naked with her. Usually his presence is only indicated by an intimate fragment—an arm or a leg—or alluded to by other means, such as the smoke from his pipe.
What strikes us immediately about the painting is its audacious structure—the screen which separates the two figures divides the work into a kind of diptych. Bonnard was particularly interested in and influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e prints. Indeed his nickname amongst the Nabis was 'Le Nabi très japonard' ('the very Japanese Nabi'). Ukiyo-e prints often employ a diptych or triptych format, echoing a two- or three-part narrative structure—in one part something is going on, while in another something else is going on. In Bonnard's image, each side of the canvas is treated quite differently. In the left 'panel' Marthe is proportionally quite small. Emphasis is given to the subtle articulation of her skin tones, while there is a deliberate contrapuntal balancing of the massed base of the bed upon which the cats play, and the image of the painting above Marthe's head. On the right we have the elongated form of Bonnard himself, almost a transposed echo from one of Cézanne's many bather paintings—by 1900 Cézanne's work had become much better known. In any other painter, Edvard Munch for example, the compositional device of dividing a world could have indicated some form of emotional abyss separating the lovers. Here however there is a quiet, intimate harmony; a kind of anticipatory stillness based on the unhurried familiarity which exists between the two lovers, and which serves as a prelude to the sexual union we assume is to follow.
Bonnard used painting not just to register what was there, but to see what was there. Painting, for him, was as much a process of contemplation, of discovery, as it was an act of depiction. The fact that this painting bears the simple, reductive title The man and the woman universalises the eternal nature of the moment Bonnard chose to depict. Again, this work shows Bonnard at his Intimist best.
Mark Henshaw
Text © National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2009
From Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Cézanne, Gauguin and beyond Post-Impressionism from the Musée d'Orsay exhibition book, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2009


text:
> module Main where > > import Data.List > import Graphics.Rendering.Hieroglyph > import System.Environment (getArgs) > import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.Char8 as BStr >
This is a simple demonstration of Hieroglyph for a non-interactive application. The drawing is output directly to a PNG file of the specified width and height.
Formally, a visualization is a function from data to a Visual, where a Visual is an unstructured collection of Primitives. These Primitives are documented in the module Graphics.Rendering.Hieroglyph.Primitives. A purely functional framework such as this affords the programmer several advantages. Number one is that the drawing closely resembles the data — it is a straightforward
transformation, not unlike a stylesheet, and entirely without side effects or dependencies outside the drawing itself. Another advantage is that the drawing itself can be transformed and read by code. For example, the Visual can be indexed in an R-Tree or P-Tree and collision detection (mouse detection) becomes straightforward to implement. Another advantage is by knowing that
the drawing algorithm is a straightforward breadth first search without frills, it is easy to reason about why your drawing didn't come out the way you expected it to. A final advantage is that you can be lazy about what you draw. Being declarative instead of imperative about drawing means that you don't have to make breaks out of your code or write separate code to change level of detail, or to do off-screen culling. These become just a series of data transformations or a matter of how much of your Visual you pass to the renderer.
Alright. If I haven't convinced you by now you ought to be doing your 2D
drawing in a purely functional way, I'm not going to.
To create a visulization in Hieroglyph, we write a function or functions from our data to a Visual. Then we use a transfer operation to take the Visual and put it to the page in main.
Our first simple visualization will be a sparkline. Sparklines are inline unscaled line graphs meant to replace or accent a table in a block of text. Let's see how we do that. First of all, here's the type signature of our sparkline, so you can see that while we're defining a drawing, since there's no IO, we aren't actually doing the drawing yet.
> sparkline :: Point -> Double -> Double -> [Double] -> Primitive
Note that Point is a 2D point defined as two Doubles x and y by Hieroglyph. Primitive is the instance of Visual we're using, since a sparkline can be represented by a single path. Now, on to the code.
> sparkline (Point startx starty) width height values = path{ begin=point0, segments=map Line points }
That one line defines the drawing itself, a line beginning at the leftmost x whose segments are compressed horizontally into the space we define by "width" and whose y values are compressed to height and scaled according to the values we passed in. A sparkline. It took me four lines of text, but it takes Hieroglyph and Haskell one line of code, with a bit of addenda.
> where (point0:points) = zipWith Point xvals yvals > xvals = iterate (+(width/n)) startx > yvals = map (remap mx mn starty (starty+height)) values > (mx,mn,_,_,_,n) = stats values
Here we define our points in terms of x values and y values. The x values are in turn defined by a list of doubles starting with the leftmost point, startx and continuing on by increments of our defined width divided by the number of data points we're trying to compress into that space. The y values are defined by re-mapping the range of values from its natural range, defined by mx and mn, to the geometry of our drawing, defined by height and starty. We define the stats function shortly and the remap function only a little further down. Note briefly, though, the underscores. Those mean that stats returns more values that we're actually going to use, and we're ignoring them. Now, due to the magic of laziness in Haskell, those values and their dependents are never actually calculated, saving us potentially a fair bit of performance.
I'm going to go ahead and define main for you before I define anything else, because then you can see how we go from a Visual, which is an abstract and purely functional entity to drawing on paper, which is not. Here goes.
> main = do
This line grabs the program arguments in the order we expect them. It's not generally condoned to do things this way, but it prevents us from littering our example with bulky parameter checking code and from littering our import list with other modules for you to find and compile.
> [dataset,widthAsc,heightAsc,outputfile] <- getArgs
There's a lot going on in the next line. We map the function to the left of `fmap` over the values on the right, which are of type "IO BStr.ByteString" (appropriately, since they come from disc). Reading from right to left, the left side splits the string into lines, unpacks each line from our lazy representation to indivdual Haskell Strings, and then reads those Strings into Doubles.
> values <- (map (read . BStr.unpack) . BStr.lines) `fmap` BStr.readFile dataset
Now, we briefly read our PNG width and height from the arguments, and then progress to the visualization.
> let width = read widthAsc > height = read heightAsc > visualization = (sparkline origin width height values){ attribs = whiteStroke } > whiteStroke = plain{ strokeRGBA=white }
Here. These two short lines create our sparkline and set it to be black when we show it.
The next line is the main action of the program and transfers the drawing we've done to the physical drawing on disc.
> renderToPNG outputfile (round width) (round height) visualization
And that's it for main. Now to define the stats function as a function from a list of doubles to a tuple of crunched math:
> stats :: [Double] -> (Double,Double,Double,Double,Double,Double)
First define the finished product. The function foldl' takes an initial value and folds the list into it, like one might fold egg-whites into a cake batter. The (x,x,x,x*x,1) is the initial value, defined by the first value in the list of data.
> stats (x:xs) = finish . foldl' stats' (x,x,x,x*x,1) $ xs
Now we define stats', our folding function, which calculates the global extrema, list length, sum, and sum of squares all at once. Why, when Haskell defines for us so conveniently functions for maximum, minimum, sum, and length, would we want to do this? Simple. This is done in one list traversal instead of several. One for loop as opposed to five.
> stats' (mx,mn,s,ss,n) x = ( max x mx > , min x mn > , s + x > , ss + x*x > , n+1 )
Now we get to the finish. We've calculated the sum and sum of squares, but not the mean or standard deviation. We replace those now, and the task of computing summary stats is finished.
> finish (mx,mn,s,ss,n) = (mx,mn,av,va,stdev,n) > where av = s/n > va = ss/(n-1) - n*av*av/(n-1) > stdev = sqrt va
One last function to define before we're done. Remap takes a value in the range [a,b] and remaps it to the range [c,d]
> remap :: Double -> Double -> Double -> Double -> Double -> Double > remap mx mn mx' mn' x = (x-mn) / (mx-mn) * (mx'-mn') + mn'
That simple, and in a very few lines of code, and with no modules imported other than Hieroglyph, we've created a sparkline!
Hieroglyph contains primitives for lines, splines, arcs, quads, text, and loading and placing images. These can be used as we've seen in this module, in static images, or they can be used in interactive, dynamic visualizations by adding the Interactive scaffolding module.


text:
NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of Tropical Cyclone Ita as it bore down on Australia's Cook Peninsula in April 2014. About 30,000 residents of Cairns were asked to evacuate in advance of the storm, and storm surge and wind damage alerts were issued across northern Queensland.
The image was acquired by Aqua's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) at 2 p.m. local time (0400 Universal Time) on April 11. About two hours later, according to Unisys Weather, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 232 kilometers (144 miles) per hour, a category 4 cyclone.
Ita later made landfall near Cape Flattery, north of Cooktown, around 9 p.m. on April 11. By 4 a.m. local time on April 12, meteorologists reported that the storm was moving south-southwest through the state of Queensland with sustained winds at roughly 140 kilometers (90 miles) per hour. Ita was predicted to remain at least a category 1 cyclone though late afternoon on April 12.
In the days before arriving in Queensland, the tropical weather system that became Ita dumped intense rain on the Solomon Islands, leading to flash floods and landslides that killed at least 20 people and affected at least 50,000. It also brought flooding and power outages to eastern Papua New Guinea and nearby islands.
MODIS captured earlier images of Ita on April 6, April 8, and April 10.
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2014, April 12) Cyclone Ita: live coverage as storm hits far north Queensland. Accessed April 11, 2014.
- Australian Bureau of Meteorology (2014) Current Tropical Cyclones. Accessed April 11, 2014.
- The Guardian (2014, April 11) Cyclone Ita expected to make landfall on Friday night near Cooktown. Accessed April 11, 2014.
- ReliefWeb (2014, April) Solomon Islands: Flash Floods Situation Report. Accessed April 11, 2014.
- U.S. Naval Observatory (2014) Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Accessed April 11, 2014.
- Instrument(s):
- Aqua - MODIS
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Mike Carlowicz.


text:
Beach team wins gold at NORCECA tournament
MANZANILLO, Mexico – Melissa Humana-Paredes of Toronto and Taylor Pischke of Winnipeg won the gold medal Sunday in women's competition at the fourth stop on the NORCECA beach volleyball circuit.
"It was a huge, exciting win for us," said Humana-Paredes. "We played some really strong teams and had a tough pool so getting out of the pool was a feat in itself. I'm really happy with how we're improving and performing. Definitely excited for the rest of the summer."
The Canadians defeated Allison Daley and Kendra Vanzwieten of the U.S. 21-18, 15-21, 15-13 in the final. Humana-Paredes and Pischke won a silver on the circuit earlier this season.
"Our goal was to win, so it is such a great feeling that we played the way we know we can," said Pischke. "Mel and I made it through a very tough pool, the quarters, semis and finals with consistent play. This is so awesome."
Claudia Séguin of Saint-Pascal Baylon, Ont. and Brandie Wilkerson of Toronto, lost to Humana-Paredes and Taylor in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
On the men's side, Josh Binstock and Samuel Schachter of Toronto earned the bronze medal defeating Derek Olson and Kevin McColloch of USA1 (21-17, 21-17) in the third place match.
Simon Fecteau-Boutin (Lévis, QC) and James Battiston (Malton, ON) were eliminated in the quarterfinals.


text:
Puma Whirlwind V Girls' Infant & Toddler Sneaker
Sorry, this item is sold out!
Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
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- Imported
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By: Rararara
Location: California
May 16, 2012
so cute
"This shoes is so cute and adorable!Easy to wear. Love it"
Click anywhere to close this.


text:
By Brendan Conway
Matthew Tuttle is one of the advisers who's been publicly criticizing Fidelity Investments' early-redemption exchange-traded fund fees. Barrons.com asked him on Friday to elaborate.
"It smells like something the retail guys cooked up without talking to the institutional side," Tuttle said of the Fidelity plan. If you're new to the subject, here's the synopsis: Fidelity is imposing $7.95 fees on advisers who hold commission-free ETFs for less than 60 days, in an attempt to deter excessive trading. Have a read of why I think you should inquire more if your adviser objects to the penalties, which Tuttle certainly does.
It shouldn't be a problem for most investors. But the sheer math will tell you that these trading fees matter most for those who trade a lot in small accounts. As I asked this morning: If you have a small account, why are you churning through ETFs so fast?
But put all that aside for a moment. Tuttle, an adherent of "tactical" investing, views matters very differently. His approach is to try to sidestep steep selloffs for every type of client, including the small ones. This requires more trading. "You're not getting out at the top, and you're not getting in at the bottom. But you're avoiding the big loss, and you're participating in the upside," Tuttle explains. "I believe passionately that tactical is right for everybody."
(On the subject of trying to convince a buy-and-hold purist: "It's a lot like Democrats versus Republicans. Both sides passionately believe that they're right, and believe they're right for everyone.")
Stamford, Conn.-based Tuttle Tactical Management has $115 million in assets under management, including a number of client accounts in the $5,000 range. When you tack on early-redemption fees, the fees incurred by extra trading are problematic.
But what may be more interesting is how this problem combines with a shakeup in Fidelity's commission-free BlackRock (BLK) iShares ETF lineup to make Tuttle's job harder.
Tuttle explains that about one a month or once every two months, he would move $20 million or so in or out of the smallcap iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM), one of the most heavily traded securities in the entire U.S. market. But IWM was replaced on Fidelity's commission-free platform with iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR). Even though the latter has $10 billion in assets, it isn't the same trading powerhouse. "I'm going to be a significant amount of that trading volume when I move in," he says.
So besides the fees — which Tuttle said will be assessed on a per-account basis, hurting his smaller clients — Tuttle has to pay closer attention to slippage, or the impact of his own trading upon the market.
None of this will be a problem for most investors. But for active traders in small accounts, it's worth noting. And the more active sort of financial adviser who has small client accounts will see an impact.
Also worth noting: Since Tuttle's viewpoint aired in the Wall Street Journal this morning, Charles Schwab (SCHW) has already called to try to get his business.


text:
Top Definition
when talking to/about someone you dislike, similar to 'motherfucker'
by banmaz May 29, 2011
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