title: Wii U

text: The Wii U is the first Nintendo console to support HD graphics. The system's primary controller is the Wii U GamePad, which features an embedded touchscreen, directional buttons, analog sticks, and action buttons. The screen can be used either as a supplement to the main display or in supported games to play the game directly on the GamePad. The Wii U Pro Controller can be used in its place as a more traditional alternative. The Wii U is backward compatible with all Wii software and accessories. Games can support any combination of the GamePad, Wii Remote, Nunchuk, Balance Board, or Nintendo's Classic Controller or Wii U Pro Controller. Online functionality centers around the Nintendo Network platform and Miiverse, an integrated social networking service which allowed users to share content in game-specific communities.


title: Wii U

text: Response to the Wii U was mixed. It was praised for its innovative GamePad controller, improvements to online functionality over the Wii, backwards compatibility with Wii software and peripherals, and price; however, it was criticized for its user interface and functionality, and the GamePad's short battery life. It had low sales, primarily credited to a weak lineup of launch games, limited third-party support, and poor marketing including the lack of distinguishing the unique functionality of the GamePad from just being a tablet device for the Wii. Wii U production ended in January 2017. On March 3, 2017, Nintendo released its successor, the Nintendo Switch, which retained and refined concepts introduced with the Wii U.


title: Wii U

text: The system was first conceived in 2008 after Nintendo recognized several limitations and challenges with the Wii, such as the general public's perception that the system catered primarily to a casual audience. With the Wii U, Nintendo wished to bring back core gamers. Game designer Shigeru Miyamoto admitted that the lack of HD and limited network infrastructure for Wii also contributed to the system being regarded in a separate class to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the Wii's competitors. It was clear that a new console would have to be developed to accommodate significant structural changes, but ideas on which direction to take for the new console led to a lot of debate within the company, and the project started over from scratch on several occasions. The concept of a touchscreen embedded within the controller was originally inspired by the blue light on the Wii disc tray that illuminates to indicate new messages. Miyamoto and his team wanted to include a small screen to provide game feedback and status messages to players (similar to the VMU for Sega's Dreamcast). Much later in development, this was expanded to a full screen that could display the game being played in its entirety, a concept that was suggested but not financially viable earlier in the project.


title: Wii U

text: Public rumors surrounding the console began to appear in 2010, with speculation of an upcoming revision of the Wii scheduled for 2011 known as the "Wii HD", that would support high definition video and have a Blu-ray drive. However, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata later stated that he saw "no significant reason" to include HD into the Wii and that such an addition would be better suited for a successor. Miyamoto also expressed Nintendo's interest in working with HD graphics, but clarified that the company is primarily focused on gameplay. In October 2009, Miyamoto said that Nintendo had no concrete plans about its next console, but thought that the new system would continue to feature motion controls and also expected its interface to be "more compact" and cheaper. Iwata also mentioned that the Wii's successor might be 3D-compatible but concluded that the adoption rates of 3D televisions should increase to at least 30% first. In 2010, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé commented that he felt "confident the Wii home entertainment console has a very long life in front of it" and declared that a successor would not be launched in the near future.


title: Wii U

text: After its E3 2010 presentation, Iwata revealed to the BBC that Nintendo would begin announcing a new console once it ran "out of ideas with the current hardware and cannot give users any more meaningful surprises with the technology". Later, at an investor's meeting, he disclosed that Nintendo was "of course studying and developing the next console to Wii", but it was simultaneously keeping its concepts secret because it was "really important for [Nintendo's] business to positively surprise people." Fils-Aimé also stated that Nintendo's next home console would likely not feature stereoscopic 3D, based on the 3D technology Nintendo had experimented with.


title: Wii U

text: In April 2011, an uncredited source indicated that Nintendo was planning to unveil a successor to the Wii known as "Project Café" at its E3 2011 presentation. Café was claimed to be a high definition console, and to also have backward compatibility with Wii software. Conflicting reports also surrounded the console's new controller, with reports suggesting a tablet-like device with an embedded touchscreen and the ability to stream games from the console directly to the screen, while others reported that the controller would be similar to the GameCube controller and feature dual analog sticks, shoulder buttons, and triggers.


title: Wii U

text: On April 25, 2011, Nintendo released an official statement announcing a system to succeed the Wii to be released during 2012, and that playable console units would be present at E3 2011. Speaking at an investor's conference, Iwata stated the Wii successor would "offer something new for home game systems." He also confirmed that the device would not launch in fiscal year 2012, meaning that it would release after April 2012. In early June, Nikkei issued a report confirming earlier rumors that the new console would feature a controller with a 6-inch touchscreen that would give tablet-like controls to games, as well as a rechargeable battery and camera. Project Café was officially unveiled as the Wii U during Nintendo's press conference at E3 2011 by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé; he explained that the Wii U would be "a system we will all enjoy together, but also one that's tailor-made for you". The rumored tablet controller was also shown at this time. No first-party games for the Wii U were announced during the presentation, but several major third-party studios announced games for Wii U in a pre-recorded video, the possibility of a new "Super Smash Bros." game was teased, and Electronic Arts' then-CEO John Riccitiello appeared on-stage to discuss the company's prospective plans for products on the Wii U. Prototype hardware and a series of tech demos were available to attendees, showcasing gameplay concepts and the technological capabilities of the console—including a "The Legend of Zelda"-themed graphics demo, and "New Super Mario Bros. Mii".


title: Wii U

text: In the two days following the unveiling of the Wii U, Nintendo's stock fell nearly 10% to levels not seen since 2006. Some analysts expressed skepticism in regards to the addition of a touch-screen, expressing concern that the controller would be less affordable and less innovative than the original Wii Remote. When asked about whether or not the Wii U was going to support stereographic 3D via 3D televisions, Iwata stated that it was "not the area we are focusing on." On January 26, 2012, Iwata announced that the Wii U would be launched by the end of the 2012 shopping season in all major regions and that its final specifications would be revealed at E3 2012. He also stated that the console would feature a unified online system known as Nintendo Network, which would feature user account support as opposed to the use of friend codes. Nintendo Network would also provide the framework for online multiplayer interactions, add-on content, as well as online distribution of applications and video games. Iwata mentioned that the Wii U GamePad would support NFC, which would allow the system to wirelessly interact with figurines and cards. It would also allow for microtransactions to take place wirelessly using credit cards with NFC support.


title: Wii U

text: On September 13, 2012, Nintendo announced that the Wii U would launch in Japan on December 8, 2012. Later that day, Nintendo announced that the North American launch date would be November 18, 2012. Nintendo of Europe and Nintendo Australia also announced that the Wii U would be released in both regions on November 30, 2012. In an interview with "GameSpot" the next day, Nintendo of America's Senior Product Marketing Manager Bill Trinen admitted that Nintendo's pre-launch marketing and presentations of the Wii U had focused too much on the GamePad, to the extent that some consumers mistook the device as an accessory for the existing Wii rather than a component of an entirely new platform. Trinen ensured that future promotional material for the console, including its packaging, would emphasize both the Wii U console and GamePad.


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U was originally released in two bundles: the Basic bundle and the Deluxe / Premium bundle. The Basic bundle contains a white Wii U with 8 GB of storage, a white Wii U GamePad, stylus and an HDMI cable, while the Deluxe / Premium contains a black Wii U with 32 GB of storage, a black GamePad and stylus, an HDMI cable, and adds a Nintendo Network Premium subscription, the "Nintendo Land" game (except Japan), as well as stands for the console and controller and the Sensor Bar (except Japan). The Wii U launched in North America priced at US$299.99 for the Basic Set and US$349.99 for the Deluxe Set. The system launched in Europe, Australia and South Africa, with European pricing set by retailers. The system launched in Japan priced at ¥26,250 for the Basic Set and ¥31,500 for the Premium Set.


title: Wii U

text: On July 13, 2013, Nintendo released a white version of the Premium Pack in Japan, as well as an official battery pack and charger dock for the Wii Remote. The battery pack is capable of about 3 hours of gameplay before needing to be recharged. On July 25, the company released an improved battery pack for the Wii U GamePad. In contrast to the standard 1500mAh battery bundled with the console, the new 2550mAh battery pack increases longevity to between five and eight hours before needing to be recharged. On August 28, 2013, Nintendo announced that the Deluxe / Premium 32 GB model would drop in price from US$349.99 to US$299.99 in North America. The price drop took effect on September 20, 2013. In Europe, Nintendo didn't confirm a formal price cut since individual retailers set their own prices. However, starting October 4, 2013, the company reduced the wholesale price of the system to retailers. Coinciding with the system's price cut, Nintendo released a limited edition "" Wii U Deluxe Set bundle. The bundle included a black Wii U console with 32 GB of storage, a black Wii U GamePad decorated with a golden Triforce and other thematic symbols, a download code for the game and, in North America, a digital copy of "", a collector's book about "The Legend of Zelda" series. In Europe, Nintendo also released a limited edition "Lego City Undercover" Wii U Premium Pack bundle. Both European bundles featured a 7-day trial of the "Wii Karaoke U" service. Nintendo did not cut the price of the Wii U in Australia or New Zealand nor did it release any of the previous bundles in the regions.


title: Wii U

text: On October 31, 2013, Nintendo introduced two new Wii U Premium Pack bundles in Japan, called the Family Set. The first included either a black or white Wii U console with 32 GB of storage, a black or white Wii U GamePad, "New Super Mario Bros. U" and "Wii Party U" preloaded, a black or white Wii Remote, a Wii Sensor Bar, and a 30-day trial of the "Wii Karaoke U" service. The second bundle included all of the previous one's contents, additionally preloaded with "Wii Fit U" and including Nintendo's official Fit Meter pedometer (with the Wii Balance Board available separately). On November 1, 2013, Nintendo released a Mario & Luigi Deluxe Set in North America with the intention of replacing the original Wii U Deluxe Set, which included a copy of "Nintendo Land". The Mario & Luigi bundle contains both "New Super Mario Bros. U" and "New Super Luigi U" packaged as a "2 in 1" disc alongside a black Wii U console with 32 GB of storage and black Wii U GamePad controller. The bundle was later released in Europe on November 8. On November 14, Nintendo released a "Just Dance 2014" Basic Pack bundle in Australia and New Zealand. It contains a white Wii U console with 8 GB of storage, a white Wii U GamePad and Wii Remote Plus controllers, a Sensor Bar, and disc versions of both Ubisoft's "Just Dance 2014" and "Nintendo Land". The bundle was later released in Europe on November 22. On November 15, Nintendo released a "Wii Party U" Wii U Basic Pack bundle in Europe. It features a white Wii U console with 8 GB of storage, a white Wii U GamePad and Wii Remote Plus controllers, a Sensor Bar, and disc versions of both "Wii Party U" and "Nintendo Land". On November 15, Nintendo also released a "" Wii U Basic Set bundle in North America. It contains white Wii U with 8 GB of storage, Activision's "Skylanders Swap Force" game, a Portal of Power, three Skylanders figures, a collector poster, trading cards and sticker sheets, and a "Nintendo Land" game disc. The bundle was released in Australia and New Zealand on November 21.


title: Wii U

text: On November 26, 2013, the Wii U was released in Brazil. However, the system is only available in the black Deluxe Set in the region. On January 10, 2015, Nintendo announced that it would cease selling consoles and games in Brazil due to the high cost of doing business in the country. On May 30, 2014, Nintendo released a "Mario Kart 8" Deluxe / Premium Set bundle in Europe and North America. It features a black Wii U console with 32 GB of storage, a black Wii U GamePad, a copy of "Mario Kart 8", a Sensor Bar, and special edition red Wii Wheel (North America only). Additionally, registering the game on Club Nintendo before July 31, 2014 presents the buyer a free Wii U game from a selection of four in North America and ten in Europe. The bundle was released in Australia and New Zealand on May 31.


title: Wii U

text: In June 2015, the basic Wii U was discontinued in Japan, and replaced by a 32 GB "Premium" set that includes white hardware and a Wii Remote Plus.


title: Wii U

text: Nintendo had planned to diminish production of the Wii U ahead of the release of the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo formally announced the end of its production on January 31, 2017.


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U uses a custom multi-chip module (MCM) developed by AMD, IBM and Renesas in co-operation with Nintendo IRD and Nintendo Technology Development. The MCM combines an "Espresso" central processing unit (CPU) and a "Latte" graphics chip (GPU), as well as a SEEPROM memory chip. The Espresso CPU, designed by IBM, consists of a PowerPC 750-based tri-core processor with 3 MB of shared L2 cache memory and clocked at approximately 1.24 GHz. Despite being based on the PowerPC 750, the Espresso also shares some architectural concepts with the POWER7 architecture, such as the use of eDRAM cache and being manufactured at a 45 nm node. The Latte graphics chip contains both a "GX2" GPGPU, which runs Wii U applications, and a "GX" GPU, which enables backward compatibility with Wii games. The GX2, designed by AMD, is based on the Radeon R600/R700 architecture and is clocked at approximately 550 MHz. It contains 32 MB of eDRAM cache memory, which can also act as L3 cache for the CPU. The GX, originally designed by ArtX, contains a 1 MB and a 2 MB bank of eSRAM cache memory. The Latte chip also includes a secondary custom ARM9 processor with 96 KB of SRAM memory that handles system tasks in the background during gameplay or while the system is in sleep mode, and dedicated hardware audio DSP module.The console contains 2 GB of DDR3 system memory consisting of four 512 MB DRAM chips with a maximum bandwidth of 12.8 GB/s. This is 20 times the amount found in the Wii. Of this, 1 GB is reserved for the operating system and is unavailable to games. The memory architecture allows the CPU and GPU to access both the main DDR3 memory pool and the eDRAM cache memory pool on the GPU, removing the need for separate, dedicated memory pools. The console includes either an 8 GB (Basic) or 32 GB (Deluxe / Premium ) internal eMMC flash memory, expandable via SD memory cards up to 32 GB and USB external hard disk drives up to 2 TB. The Nintendo Wii U can also use DVD-RAM for extended storage over USB.


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U features 802.11 b/g /n wireless network connectivity and support for Fast Ethernet with an accessory, Bluetooth 4.0, a total of four USB 2.0 ports, and an SD/SDHC memory card slot. An additional power port is also included to power the Wii Sensor Bar, an auxiliary infrared emitter used by Wii Remote peripherals for motion tracking. Video output options include 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 576i, 480p and 480i, through HDMI 1.4 and component video or 576i, 480i anamorphic widescreen through composite video . Audio output options include six-channel 5.1 linear PCM surround sound and analog stereo. The console also supports stereoscopic (3D) images and video.


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U GamePad is the console's primary controller: its main feature is a built-in 6.2 inch (15.7 cm) resistive touchscreen, which can be used as a companion to games being played on a television, or as a means of playing games on the GamePad itself without a television. The GamePad is designed to enable a concept referred to by Nintendo as "asymmetric gaming": in multiplayer games, a player using the GamePad may have a different gameplay objective and experience than other players.


title: Wii U

text: The GamePad's display contents are rendered on the Wii U itself, and streamed wirelessly as video to the GamePad. The GamePad also supports near field communications; cards and specially-designed figurines, such as Nintendo's Amiibo line, can be used with the GamePad to interact with games. In Japan, it can also be used for contactless payments from eShop with Suica cards.


title: Wii U

text: A new Wii U Pro Controller was released alongside the Wii U. The Wii U Pro Controller is an updated version of the Wii's Classic Controller that is designed to appeal to "hardcore" players, with a more traditional gamepad design that resembles those used by the PlayStation and Xbox lines (and in particular, the Xbox 360's controller), and a claimed 80-hour battery life. The Wii U Pro Controller is compatible with supported Wii U games, but is not supported by Wii games.


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U is compatible with existing Wii Remote and Wii Remote Plus controllers, along with their Nunchuk and Classic Controller attachments. A combination of up to four Wii Remotes or Pro Controllers can be used simultaneously, and the console can theoretically support up to two GamePads. Most software requires a Wii Sensor Bar in order to use Wii Remotes with the system, though some aspects, such as Off-TV Play and the Wii Mode, allow the Wii U GamePad to detect Wii Remotes. The Wii U does not support GameCube controllers – while a USB adapter accessory allows GameCube controllers to be used on the console in "Super Smash Bros. for Wii U", it is not compatible with any other software.


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U's main menu has two main components: by default, the GamePad displays a home screen consisting of a grid with shortcuts to games and apps, while the television screen displays a lobby (WaraWara Plaza) populated by other users' Miis. The two displays can be switched between the television screen and GamePad.


title: Wii U

text: Pressing the controller's "Home" button suspends the current game or app and opens the Home Menu: it shows basic information (such as the current time, controller battery levels, and notifications), and allows access to several "multitasking" functions, including the Nintendo eShop, Miiverse, download manager, a web browser, and the user's friends list. To play Wii games, the user must enter "Wii Mode", a legacy mode that emulates the Wii's system software and Wii Menu interface. Initially, Wii Mode could only be used on the television screen, but the October 2013 firmware update enables Wii Mode to be used off-TV. Either way, Wii controllers must be used.


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U uses the Nintendo Network platform for online services (replacing the friend code system of the Wii), enabling online multiplayer, downloading and purchasing games or apps via Nintendo eShop, video chat using the GamePad's camera and the Wii U Chat service, and other services. Up to twelve accounts can be created per console.


title: Wii U

text: A social networking service known as Miiverse is integrated into the Wii U's system software; it allows players to interact and share content in game-specific communities using their Mii as an avatar. Miiverse allows users to share accomplishments, screenshots, drawings and hand-written notes. Select games are integrated with Miiverse, where social interactions can also occur within the game, or appear within their content (such as in "Splatoon", where drawn posts can appear as graffiti on walls in its settings). Miiverse is moderated through software filtering as well as a human resource team in order to ensure that the content shared by users is appropriate and that no spoilers are shared. In order to facilitate this, it was initially stated that comments posted could take up to 30 minutes to appear on Miiverse.


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U supports online video services through apps, such as Amazon Video, Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube. The Wii U does not support playback of DVDs or Blu-rays; Iwata explained that the decision to exclude these formats was motivated primarily by patent licensing fees, and the fact that such functionality would be redundant to DVD and Blu-ray players that users may already own.


title: Wii U

text: The Nintendo TVii service allowed program listings from a user's television provider to be aggregated with online video on demand services into an electronic program guide with recommendations and search functionality, and the ability to use the GamePad's infrared functionality to tune a set-top box to a particular program. The app also provided integration with IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Wikipedia to provide additional information, and social connectivity through Facebook, Twitter, or Miiverse. TVii was made available with the Wii U's release in Japan on December 8, 2012, and in North America on December 20, 2012. Following delays, a European launch was cancelled.


title: Wii U

text: TVii was discontinued in North America on August 11, 2015 and was discontinued in Japan on November 8, 2017. The Netflix app was discontinued on July 1, 2021.


title: Wii U

text: Wii U games can be downloaded digitally through Nintendo eShop, or at retail on physical media. Retail copies of Wii U games are distributed on Wii U Optical Disc, a proprietary high-density optical disc format co-developed with Panasonic. The format is similar in design and specifications to a Blu-ray, with a capacity of 25 GB per layer, but the discs themselves have a soft, rounded rim. Unlike previous Nintendo consoles, game manuals are only available digitally. The console is region locked; software purchased in a region can be only played on that region's hardware. New games in Nintendo's flagship franchises (including Super Mario, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda), as well as several "Wii series" games (including "Wii Sports Club", "Wii Fit U" and "Wii Party U") have been released, in addition to many original games and third-party-developed games. Nintendo has received third-party support from companies such as Ubisoft, Sega, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Activision Blizzard and Capcom, and various independent developers such as Two Tribes. As of late July 2016, there have been 39 first-party and 118 third-party Wii U games physically released in the United States; both figures are the lowest for any Nintendo console.


title: Wii U

text: A total of 103.53 million Wii U games have been sold worldwide , with ten games surpassing the million-unit mark. The highest selling game is "Mario Kart 8" at 8.46 million units, followed by "Super Mario 3D World" at 5.88 million units, and "New Super Mario Bros. U" at 5.82 million units. "Super Smash Bros. for Wii U" was the fastest selling Wii U game .


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U was launched with 23 games in North America, 26 games in Europe, 25 games in Australia, and 11 games in Japan. Some download-only games were also available on launch day for the Wii U via Nintendo eShop. An additional 30 games were announced for release during the system's launch window, which included the three months after the system's launch date.


title: Wii U

text: In January 2013, Nintendo announced that NES and Super NES games would be made available for the Virtual Console service on the Wii U in April 2013 and would include the option to use Off-TV Play on the GamePad. On March 26, 2014, Game Boy Advance games were confirmed and started to appear on the eShop the following month. Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS games were added in April 2015.


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U is compatible with all Wii games and Wii accessories such as the Wii Remote (Plus), Wii Nunchuk, and the Wii Balance Board. It is possible to migrate most downloaded software and save files from a Wii to a Wii U. Although Wii games can be displayed on the GamePad's screen, they can only be controlled using a Wii controller, and not the GamePad's controller.


title: Wii U

text: The Wii U is not compatible with GameCube discs or accessories, although a homebrew application for Wii Mode exists that enables GameCube hardware and GameCube controller support. A USB GameCube controller adapter with four ports was released exclusively for use with "Super Smash Bros. for Wii U" and does not support any other Wii or Wii U games.


title: Wii U

text: The Nintendo Web Framework, unveiled in 2013, is a toolset that uses modern web technology (WebKit, HTML5, and JavaScript) to simplify the process of porting games to the Wii U's GamePad and TV. It was designed to make web-based games easier to port to the system than it would to code specifically for the Wii U. Nintendo also released a custom Unity package to allow game developers to quickly make games on Unity for the Wii U. These tools are no longer available on the Nintendo Developer Portal, however users who have these tools downloaded are still able to use them.


title: Wii U

text: John Teti of "The A.V. Club"s Gameological Society considers the Wii U a compelling video game system which lacks focus, citing "Nintendo Land" as "ideas act[ing] in service of the technology". Ben Gilbert of Engadget states that Nintendo delivers on its promise of releasing "a modern HD gaming console" but notes that "there are also some major missteps and half-baked ideas: a befuddling Friends List/Miiverse connection, a complete lack of many system-wide console standards (group chat, achievements, the ability to play non-game disc-based media) and a game controller that lasts only 3.5 hours", and stated that he could not give a complete assessment of the console with online components such as Nintendo TVii missing at launch. Similarly, "TechRadar" praised the system's GamePad functionality and HD graphics, but criticized the limited battery power on the GamePad, and the insufficient number of top-tier launch games. Some industry figures do not consider the Wii U to be an eighth-generation console, with many citing the hardware's processing speed. However, Fils-Aimé has noted that similar comments were made in 2006 when the Wii first launched. Following the launch of other eighth-generation consoles, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, in November 2013, some critics suggested that the Wii U would continue to struggle as it lacked the third-party support of its rivals. In a December 2013 article, Chris Suellentrop of "The New York Times" argued that the Wii U was the only new console with a video game worth playing—"Super Mario 3D World"—which he described as being "the best "Mario" game in years". Despite the praise, he noted that "one great game won't save a console", and although other games exist on the Wii U, he admitted that its original lineup "was still pretty thin". "Time" writer Matt Peckham said that the Wii U was the system of choice to pick up during that Christmas season, praising the console's game lineup, affordable price, Off-TV Play, the absence of subscription fees for its online services, backward compatibility and media features. However, he noted that the system still needs a price cut and an improved first and third-party software lineup. CNET also noted that the Wii U had a better lineup of games and lower price in comparison to its competitors, mainly due to its one-year head start.


title: Wii U

text: By December 2019, Nintendo reported life-time sales of 13.56 million Wii U console units and by September 2022 103.53 million software units worldwide.


title: Wii U

text: During its first week of release in the United States, Nintendo sold its entire allotment of over 400,000 units and sold a total of 425,000 units for the month of November, according to the NPD Group. It also sold over 40,000 consoles in the UK in its first weekend. In Japan, over 600,000 Wii U units were sold during December 2012. Nearly 890,000 Wii U units were sold in the United States after 41 days on the market. From the Wii U's launch till December 31, 2012, Nintendo reported that 3.06 million consoles and 11.69 million software units had been shipped worldwide.In January 2013, Nintendo sold 57,000 Wii U units in the US. By comparison, the original Wii sold 435,000 in January 2007, also two months after launch. Initial sales numbers in the U.S. and other territories were lower than expected, resulting in Nintendo cutting sales projections for fiscal year 2013 by 17%, from 5.5 million to 4 million; the system actually ended up selling 3.5 million units. During the first quarter of 2013, Nintendo reported that 390,000 consoles and 1.73 million software units were shipped worldwide. From March to June 2013, the system sold approximately 160,000 units, which was down 51% from the three months prior. During the second quarter of 2013, Nintendo reported that 160,000 consoles and 1.03 million software units were shipped worldwide.


title: Wii U

text: In May 2013, Electronic Arts announced that it was reducing support for the Wii U and had no games in development for it, but then partially reconsidered this decision a few days later, with EA's CFO announcing that "We are building titles for the Nintendo console, but not anywhere near as many as we are for PlayStation or Xbox". At E3 2013, Ubisoft revealed that it was not going to make any more exclusives for the Wii U until sales of the console improved, though it stated shortly thereafter that it was still a "big supporter" of the Wii U, and planned to release as many Wii U games in 2013 as it did in 2012. In July 2013, Bethesda Softworks announced that it had no games in development for the Wii U, with Bethesda VP of PR and marketing Pete Hines explaining: "It depends on the games that we are making and how we think it aligns with that console, and how the hardware aligns with the other stuff we are making". This explanation was later refined to being largely due to the hardware. Contrarily, Activision has stated that it will "do everything they can" to support the system. At the end of July 2013, Asda, the second-largest supermarket chain in the UK, confirmed that it had no plans to stock the Wii U, but would still stock games "on a title by title merit basis". Despite this, many specialist retailers continued to emphasize their support, with Game CEO Martyn Gibbs saying "We fully support all Nintendo products, including Wii U."


title: Wii U

text: Following the system's $50 price cut and the release of "" on September 20, 2013, Wii U sales in North America saw a 200% rise over August. From July to September 2013, the system sold approximately 300,000 units, which was up 87% from the three months prior. Despite only having sold 460,000 consoles since April, Nintendo maintained its 9 million Wii U sales forecast for the fiscal year through March 2014. Wii U software showed improvement in the Q2 period, reaching 5.27 million units, a 400% jump on the previous quarter. Nintendo credited the software growth to key first-party releases like "Pikmin 3" and "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD". During the third quarter of 2013, Nintendo reported that 300,000 consoles and 5.27 million software units were shipped worldwide. In October 2013, online retailer "Play.com" announced that its Wii U sales saw a 75% sales increase. The company also predicted that the Wii U would be more popular than its competition, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, among children during the holiday season. Following the release of "Wii Party U" on October 31 in Japan, weekly Wii U sales spiked to 38,802 units sold. On November 29, 2013, Nintendo of France deputy general manager Philippe Lavoué announced that the Wii U had sold approximately 175,000 units in France since launch. During the first two weeks of December, the Wii U was the top performing home console in Japan, with 123,665 units sold. After one year in the market, the Wii U had sold approximately 150,000 units in the United Kingdom. According to the NPD Group, Wii U sales in November increased by 340% over sales in October in North America, selling approximately 220,700 units sold in that month. According to several publications, including NPD Group, December 2013 was the best-selling Wii U month in the US since its launch, selling around 481,000 units. Independent estimates put the number of Wii U consoles sold by the end of 2013 between 4.5 and 5.2 million. During the fourth quarter of 2013, Nintendo reported that 1.95 million consoles and 9.96 million software units were shipped worldwide.


title: Wii U

text: In January 2014, citing lower-than-expected sales during the 2013 holiday season, Nintendo announced that Wii U sales forecasts for fiscal year 2014 had been cut from 9 million units to 2.8 million. In light of this announcement, the Wii U's long-term viability had been called into question. In February 2014, Nintendo revealed that the Wii U had improved about 180% in year-over-year sales in the United States due to the launch of "", which sold 130,000 copies. By February 26, Wii U sales had surpassed those of the Xbox 360 in Japan. In March 2014, Nintendo sold just over 70,000 Wii U units, tracking it down 50% less than the GameCube and 90% less than the Wii during equivalent time periods. During the month, total worldwide sales of the PlayStation 4 surpassed those of the Wii U. During the first quarter of 2014, Nintendo reported that 310,000 consoles and 2.91 million software units were shipped worldwide.During an annual investors' meeting, Satoru Iwata revealed Nintendo's projection of 3.6 million Wii U unit sales during the fiscal year ending . On May 22, 2014, Nintendo France announced that sales were 50% higher compared to the last year. With "Mario Kart 8" being Nintendo's biggest game launch, Wii U console sales reportedly increased by 666% in the United Kingdom, with the "Mario Kart 8" console bundle representing 82% of the region's Wii U console sales for the week. NPD Group reported that in the United States, when comparing the month of June 2013 to the same month in 2014, Wii U software sales were up 373% and console sales were up 233%.


title: Wii U

text: The record would be surpassed in November 2014 by "Super Smash Bros. for Wii U", which sold 490,000 copies in the United States during its first three days of availability. According to Nintendo of America, December 2014 was Wii U's biggest month in terms of sales in the United States. Hardware sales increased 29%, and software sales increased 75% in comparison to December 2013.


title: Wii U

text: In July 2015, Nintendo announced that as of the end of fiscal third quarter 2015, and nearly three years following its launch, it had shipped over ten million Wii U units worldwide. However, sales of Wii U units during this quarter were down in comparison to the same quarter in 2014, with 470,000 units sold (in comparison to 510,000 in 2014). In comparison, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One had each yielded sales of ten million units after approximately one year from their respective launches.


title: Wii U

text: The future of the Wii U was left unclear with Nintendo's announcement of a new console platform codenamed NX, which was scheduled to be launched worldwide in March 2017. Nintendo stated that NX would have a "brand-new concept", and not be a direct successor to the Wii U or 3DS product lines; in an interview with the "Asahi Shimbun", company president Tatsumi Kimishima reiterated this position and stated that while he thinks that the Wii U business would "slow" after the release of NX, he felt that the console would "have a larger impact than the Wii U". The announcement that "" was in development for both Wii U and NX further supported Nintendo's view of the console as being a new product line, rather than a replacement for its existing hardware. In a shareholders report in July 2016, Kimishima and Miyamoto stated that they had expected the Wii U to sell one hundred million units, comparable to the success of the Wii, but with only thirteen million units sold worldwide, they would now need to rely on NX to make up for losses on Wii U sales.


title: Wii U

text: The new platform, now known as the Nintendo Switch, was officially announced on October 20, 2016; it is a tablet-like hybrid video game console with detachable controllers, and the ability to be placed in a docking station with an output to allow games to be played on a television. Although it is a hybrid device capable of being used as both a portable and home console, Nintendo officially positioned the platform as "a home gaming system first and foremost". Following the unveiling, a Nintendo spokesperson confirmed that the company would slow production of Wii U hardware, stating that "as we prepare for the launch of Nintendo Switch in March of 2017, Nintendo will ship 800,000 Wii U hardware units to the global market for this fiscal year." In mid-November 2016, Nintendo announced that Japanese production of the Wii U would be ending "in the near future", and that shipments to the North American and European markets for the year had already been sent out.


title: Wii U

text: In an interview with "Time Magazine" in January 2017, Reggie Fils-Aimé commented that the system was "a necessary step, in order to get to Nintendo Switch." Fils-Aimé also compared the system to the GameCube, claiming that the Wii U will be remembered fondly despite its relatively poor sales. Fils-Aimé stated that the commercial failure of the Wii U, specifically the lack of clarity of the Wii U GamePad's function, and the lack of support from third-party publishers to build out its software library, led to how they changed the marketing and promotion for the Switch. He said the Switch's promotion was developed "to make it crystal clear what the proposition is" for the systems, and that they had "strong support" from large and small software developers and publishers to support the new console.


title: Wii U

text: In mid-January 2017, Fils-Aimé told "Polygon" that "Breath of the Wild", which would ship at launch with the Switch in March 2017, would be Nintendo's final first-party game for the Wii U. Nintendo formally announced that production of the Wii U had ended worldwide on January 31, 2017. Despite this, the console had third party releases until 2020. Most of the Wii U's popular exclusive games have been re-released on the Nintendo Switch.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the seventh and final novel of the main "Harry Potter" series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publishing, in the United States by Scholastic, and in Canada by Raincoast Books. The novel chronicles the events directly following "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (2005) and the final confrontation between the wizards Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: "Deathly Hallows" shattered sales records upon release, surpassing marks set by previous titles of the "Harry Potter" series. It holds the Guinness World Record for most novels sold within 24 hours of release, with 8.3 million sold in the US and 2.65 million in the UK. Reception to the book was generally positive, and the book won the 2008 Colorado Blue Spruce Book Award, and the American Library Association named it the "Best Book for Young Adults". A film adaptation of the novel was released in two parts: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1" in November 2010 and "Part 2" in July 2011.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Throughout the six previous novels in the series, the main character Harry Potter has struggled with the difficulties of adolescence along with being famous as the only person ever to survive the Killing Curse. The curse was cast by Tom Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort, a powerful evil wizard who murdered Harry's parents and attempted to kill Harry as a baby, due to a prophecy which claimed Harry would be able to stop him. As an orphan, Harry was placed in the care of his Muggle (non-magical) relatives Petunia Dursley and Vernon Dursley, with their son Dudley Dursley.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: In "The Philosopher's Stone", Harry re-enters the wizarding world at age 11 and enrols in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He befriends fellow students Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and is mentored by the school's headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. He also meets Professor Severus Snape, who dislikes and bullies him. Harry fights Voldemort several times while at school as the wizard tries to regain a physical form. In "Goblet of Fire", Harry is mysteriously entered in the Triwizard Tournament, which he discovers is a trap designed to allow the return of Lord Voldemort to full strength. In "Order of the Phoenix", Harry and several of his friends face off against Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters. In "Half-Blood Prince", Harry learns that Voldemort has divided his soul into several parts, creating "Horcruxes" from various unknown objects to contain them. In this way, he has ensured his immortality as long as at least one of the Horcruxes still exists. Two of these had already been destroyed: a diary destroyed by Harry in "Chamber of Secrets" and a ring destroyed by Dumbledore shortly before the events of "Half-Blood Prince". Dumbledore takes Harry along in an attempt to destroy a third Horcrux, Slytherin's locket. However, the Horcrux had been taken by an unknown wizard, and upon their return, Dumbledore is ambushed and disarmed by Draco Malfoy. Draco cannot bring himself to kill Dumbledore, so Snape kills him instead.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Following Dumbledore's death, Voldemort has taken effective control of the Ministry of Magic. Meanwhile, Harry is about to turn seventeen and will lose his deceased mother's protection. Members of the Order of the Phoenix relocate the Dursleys, and prepare to move Harry to the Burrow by flying him there, using Harry's friends as decoys. Death Eaters attack them upon departure, and in the ensuing battle, "Mad-Eye" Moody and Hedwig are killed while George Weasley is wounded. Voldemort arrives to kill Harry, but Harry's wand fends him off on its own.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Harry, Ron, and Hermione prepare to hunt down Voldemort's four remaining Horcruxes. They each are given an object in Dumbledore's will: a Golden Snitch for Harry, a Deluminator for Ron, and "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", for Hermione. They are also bequeathed the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, but the Ministry prevents them from receiving it. During Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding, the Ministry falls to Voldemort; Death Eaters attack the wedding reception. The trio flee to 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius Black's family home he left to Harry.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: They learn that Sirius's late brother, Regulus, stole the Horcrux locket and hid it in the house. It was later stolen by Mundungus Fletcher. House-elf Kreacher locates Fletcher, who says the locket was taken by Dolores Umbridge. The trio infiltrate the Ministry and steal the locket from Umbridge, but Grimmauld Place is compromised in their escape. They hide in the forest, unable to destroy the locket and with no further leads. The locket's dark nature affects Ron, and he abandons the group. Harry and Hermione learn about Dumbledore's past with dark wizard, Gellert Grindelwald. They travel to Godric's Hollow, Harry's birthplace, where they are attacked by Nagini. They escape, but Harry's wand is damaged. One night, a doe Patronus guides Harry to a pond containing Gryffindor's sword. When Harry tries to recover it, the locket around his neck nearly kills him. Ron, guided back by the Deluminator, saves him and destroys the locket with the sword.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: In Dumbledore's book, Hermione identifies a symbol also worn by Luna Lovegood's father Xenophilius Lovegood. When they visit him, he tells them of the mythical Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand, an unbeatable wand; the Resurrection Stone, which can summon the dead; and an infallible Invisibility Cloak. Xenophilius acts strangely, and the trio realize Luna has been captured. Xenophillius summons Death Eaters to catch them in exchange for Luna's freedom, but the three escape. Harry deduces that Voldemort is hunting the Elder Wand, which had passed to Dumbledore after he defeated Grindelwald. Harry also deduces that his Invisibility Cloak is the third Hallow, and his Snitch contains the Resurrection Stone.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: The trio are captured and taken to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix tortures Hermione, believing they stole Gryffindor's sword from her Gringotts vault. With help from Dobby the house-elf, they escape to Bill and Fleur's cottage along with fellow prisoners, including the goblin Griphook. During the escape, Bellatrix kills Dobby. Harry has a vision of Voldemort stealing the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb. The trio decide to break into Bellatrix's vault, believing another Horcrux is there. With Griphook's help, they break in, retrieve Hufflepuff's cup, and escape, though Griphook steals Gryffindor's sword in the process. Harry has a vision of Voldemort being informed of the heist and deciding to check his Horcruxes, thus revealing the remaining ones to Harry: Nagini, and one hidden at Hogwarts.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: The trio enter Hogwarts with help from Dumbledore's brother Aberforth. Voldemort, alerted to Harry's whereabouts, mounts an assault on Hogwarts. The teachers and students mobilize to defend the school. Ron and Hermione destroy Hufflepuff's cup with basilisk fangs from the Chamber of Secrets. Harry discovers that Ravenclaw's diadem is the Horcrux. The trio find the diadem in the Room of Requirement but are ambushed by Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. Crabbe attacks them using a cursed fire, but fails to control it; the fire kills him and destroys the diadem. Meanwhile, many are killed in Voldemort's assault, including Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and Fred Weasley.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Voldemort feels the Elder Wand is not performing as expected. Believing that Snape, having killed Dumbledore, is its true master, Voldemort murders Snape. Harry arrives as Snape dies, and Snape passes him memories to view in the Pensieve. They reveal Snape loved Harry's mother and acted as a double agent against Voldemort. He had watched over the trio, conjuring the doe Patronus. It is also revealed that Dumbledore was dying after mishandling the ring Horcrux, and had planned his "murder" at Snape's hands. Harry also learns that he is an unintentional Horcrux, unbeknownst to Voldemort, and must die at Voldemort's hands to render him mortal. Harry gives himself up, instructing Neville Longbottom to kill Nagini. On the way, he uses the Resurrection Stone within the Snitch to reunite with his parents and other deceased loved ones. He drops the stone as he meets Voldemort, who casts the Killing Curse on him.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Harry awakens in a dreamlike location resembling King's Cross and is greeted by Dumbledore. He explains that Voldemort's original Killing Curse left a fragment of his soul in Harry, causing their connection. The latest Killing Curse destroyed that soul fragment, allowing Harry to return to life or to "go on". Harry returns to life and feigns death. Voldemort calls for a truce at Hogwarts and demands their surrender. Neville, however, pulls Gryffindor's sword from the Sorting Hat and kills Nagini.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: The battle resumes, with Molly Weasley killing Bellatrix, and Harry revealing himself to Voldemort and engages him in final battle. He explains that the Elder Wand's loyalty transfers upon the defeat, not the killing, of its former master. Draco, not Snape, had been the Elder Wand's master, having disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed him. Having disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor, Harry now commands the Elder Wand. Voldemort casts the Killing Curse at Harry, but the spell rebounds, killing Voldemort. Harry then uses the Elder Wand to repair his original wand before returning the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's tomb. He keeps his Invisibility Cloak, and lets the Resurrection Stone remain lost. The Wizarding World returns to peace.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Nineteen years later, the main characters are seeing their children off to Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny have three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna. Ron and Hermione have two children, Rose and Hugo. Harry's godson Teddy Lupin is found kissing Bill and Fleur's daughter Victoire; Draco and his wife are sending off their son Scorpius. Albus is departing for his first year, and worries he will be placed in Slytherin. Harry reassures him, telling his son of Snape's bravery, and that the Sorting Hat could account for his wishes. As his scar has not hurt in 19 years, the narrator concludes that "all was well".


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", the first book in the series, was published by Bloomsbury on 30 June 1997. The second book, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" was published on 2 July 1998. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was then published a year later on 8 July 1999. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was published on 8 July 2000. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was published on 21 June 2003. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was published on 16 July 2005, and sold 9 million copies in the first 24 hours of its worldwide release.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: The title of the book refers to three mythical objects featured in the story, collectively known as the "Deathly Hallows"—an unbeatable wand (the Elder Wand), a stone to bring the dead to life (the Resurrection Stone), and a cloak of invisibility. Shortly before releasing the title, J. K. Rowling announced that she had considered three titles for the book. The final title was released to the public on 21 December 2006, via a special Christmas-themed hangman puzzle on Rowling's website, confirmed shortly afterwards by the book's publishers. When asked during a live chat about the other titles she had been considering, Rowling mentioned "Harry Potter and the Elder Wand" and "Harry Potter and the Peverell Quest".


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Rowling completed the book while staying at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh in January 2007, leaving a signed statement on a marble bust of Hermes in her room that reads "J. K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (552) on 11 January 2007". In a statement on her website, she said, "I've never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric." She compared her mixed feelings to those expressed by Charles Dickens in the preface of the 1850 edition of "David Copperfield", "a two-years' imaginative task". "To which," she added, "I can only sigh, try seventeen years, Charles". She ended her message by saying ""Deathly Hallows" is my favourite, and that is the most wonderful way to finish the series".


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: When asked before publication about the forthcoming book, Rowling stated that she could not change the ending even if she wanted. "These books have been plotted for such a long time, and for six books now, that they're all leading a certain direction. So, I really can't". She also commented that the final volume related closely to the previous book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", "almost as though they are two-halves of the same novel". She has said that the last chapter of the book was written "in something like 1990", as part of her earliest work on the series. Rowling also revealed she originally wrote the last words to be something like: 'Only those who he loved could see his lightning scar. Rowling changed this because she did not want people to think Voldemort would rise again and to say that Harry's mission was over.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: In a 2006 interview, J. K. Rowling said that the main theme of the series is Harry dealing with death, which was influenced by her mother's death in 1990, from multiple sclerosis. Lev Grossman of "Time" stated that the main theme of the series was the overwhelming importance of continuing to love in the face of death.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Academics and journalists have developed many other interpretations of themes in the books, some more complex than others, and some including political subtexts. Themes such as normality, oppression, survival, and overcoming imposing odds have all been considered as prevalent throughout the series. Similarly, the theme of making one's way through adolescence and "going over one's most harrowing ordeals—and thus coming to terms with them" has also been considered. Rowling has stated that the books comprise "a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to bigotry" and that also pass on a message to "question authority and ... not assume that the establishment or the press tells you all of the truth".


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Some political commentators have seen J. K. Rowling's portrayal of the bureaucratised Ministry of Magic and the oppressive measures taken by the Ministry in the later books (like making attendance at Hogwarts School compulsory and the "registration of Mudbloods" with the Ministry) as an allegory criticising the state.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: The "Harry Potter" series has been criticised for supposedly supporting witchcraft and the occult. Before publication of "Deathly Hallows", Rowling refused to speak out about her religion, stating, "If I talk too freely, every reader, whether 10 or 60, will be able to guess what's coming in the books". However, many have commented on Christian allegories that appear in "Deathly Hallows". For example, Harry dies and then comes back to life to save mankind, like Christ. The location where this occurs is King's Cross. Rowling also stated that "my belief and my struggling with religious belief ... I think is quite apparent in this book", which is shown as Harry struggles with his faith in Dumbledore.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: "Deathly Hallows" begins with a pair of epigraphs, one by Quaker leader William Penn and one from Aeschylus' "The Libation Bearers". Of this, Rowling said "I really enjoyed choosing those two quotations because one is pagan, of course, and one is from a Christian tradition. I'd known it was going to be those two passages since "Chamber" was published. I always knew [that] if I could use them at the beginning of book seven then I'd cued up the ending perfectly. If they were relevant, then I went where I needed to go. They just say it all to me, they really do".


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: When Harry visits his parents' grave, the biblical reference "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" () is inscribed on the grave. The Dumbledores' family tomb also holds a biblical quote: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also", which is from . Rowling states, "They're very British books, so on a very practical note Harry was going to find biblical quotations on tombstones ... [but] I think those two particular quotations he finds on the tombstones at Godric's Hollow, they sum up – they almost epitomise the whole series".


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: "Harry Potter" pundit John Granger additionally noted that one of the reasons the "Harry Potter" books were so popular is their use of literary alchemy (similar to "Romeo and Juliet", C. S. Lewis's "Perelandra" and Charles Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities") and vision symbolism. In this model, authors weave allegorical tales along the alchemical magnum opus. Since the medieval period, alchemical allegory has mirrored the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. While the entire series utilises symbols common in alchemy, the "Deathly Hallows" completes this cycle, tying themes of death, rebirth, and the Resurrection Stone to the principal motif of alchemical allegory, and topics presented in the first book of the series.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: The launch was celebrated by an all-night book signing and reading at the Natural History Museum in London, which Rowling attended along with 1,700 guests chosen by ballot. Rowling toured the US in October 2007, where another event was held at Carnegie Hall in New York City with tickets allocated by sweepstake.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Scholastic, the American publisher of the Harry Potter series, launched a multimillion-dollar "There will soon be 7" marketing campaign with a "Knight Bus" travelling to 40 libraries across the United States, online fan discussions and competitions, collectible bookmarks, tattoos, and the staged release of seven "Deathly Hallows" questions most debated by fans. In the build-up to the book's release, Scholastic released seven questions that fans would find answered in the final book:


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: J. K. Rowling arranged with her publishers for a poster bearing the face of the missing British child Madeleine McCann to be made available to book sellers when "Deathly Hallows" was launched on 21 July 2007, and said that she hoped that the posters would be displayed prominently in shops all over the world.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: After it was announced that the novel would be released on 21 July 2007, Warner Bros. soon said that the film adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" would come out shortly before the novel's release, on 13 July 2007, making many people proclaim that July 2007, was the month of "Harry Potter".


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Bloomsbury invested £10 million in an attempt to keep the book's contents secure until 21 July, the release date. Arthur Levine, US editor of the "Harry Potter" series, denied distributing any copies of "Deathly Hallows" in advance for press review, but two US papers published early reviews anyway. There was speculation that some shops would break the embargo and distribute copies of the book early, as the penalty imposed for previous instalments—that the distributor would not be supplied with any further copies of the series—would no longer be a deterrent.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: In the week before its release, a number of texts purporting to be genuine leaks appeared in various forms. On 16 July, a set of photographs representing all 759 pages of the US edition was leaked and was fully transcribed prior to the official release date. The photographs later appeared on websites and peer-to-peer networks, leading Scholastic to seek a subpoena in order to identify one source. This represented the most serious security breach in the Harry Potter series' history. Rowling and her lawyer confirmed that there were genuine online leaks. Reviews published in both "The Baltimore Sun" and "The New York Times" on 18 July 2007, corroborated many of the plot elements from this leak, and about one day prior to release, "The New York Times" confirmed that the main circulating leak was real.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Scholastic announced that approximately one-ten-thousandth (0.0001) of the US supply had been shipped early — interpreted to mean about 1,200 copies. One reader in Maryland received a copy of the book in the mail from DeepDiscount.com four days before it was launched, which evoked incredulous responses from both Scholastic and DeepDiscount. Scholastic initially reported that they were satisfied it had been a "human error" and would not discuss possible penalties; however, the following day Scholastic announced that it would be launching legal action against DeepDiscount.com and its distributor, Levy Home Entertainment. Scholastic filed for damages in Chicago's Circuit Court of Cook County, claiming that DeepDiscount engaged in a "complete and flagrant violation of the agreements that they knew were part of the carefully constructed release of this eagerly awaited book." Some of the early-release books soon appeared on eBay, in one case being sold to "Publishers Weekly" for US$250 from an initial price of US$18.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Asda, along with several other UK supermarkets, having already taken pre-orders for the book at a heavily discounted price, sparked a price war two days before the book's launch by announcing they would sell it for just £5 a copy. Other retail chains then also offered the book at discounted prices. At these prices the book became a loss leader. This caused uproar from traditional UK booksellers who argued they had no hope of competing in those conditions. Independent shops protested loudest, but even Waterstone's, the UK's largest dedicated chain bookstore, could not compete with the supermarket price. Some small bookstores hit back by buying their stock from the supermarkets rather than their wholesalers. Asda attempted to counter this by imposing a limit of two copies per customer to prevent bulk purchases. Philip Wicks, a spokesman for the UK Booksellers Association, said, "It is a war we can't even participate in. We think it's a crying shame that the supermarkets have decided to treat it as a loss-leader, like a can of baked beans." Michael Norris, an analyst at Simba Information, said: "You are not only lowering the price of the book. At this point, you are lowering the value of reading."


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: In Malaysia, a similar price war caused controversy regarding sales of the book. Four of the biggest bookstore chains in Malaysia, MPH Bookstores, Popular Bookstores, Times and Harris, decided to pull "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" off their shelves as a protest against Tesco and Carrefour hypermarkets. The retail price of the book in Malaysia was MYR 109.90, while the hypermarkets Tesco and Carrefour sold the book at MYR 69.90. The move by the bookstores was seen as an attempt to pressure the distributor Penguin Books to remove the books from the hypermarkets. However, as of 24 July 2007, the price war had ended, with the four bookstores involved resuming selling the books in their stores with discount. Penguin Books has also confirmed that Tesco and Carrefour were selling the book at a loss, urging them to practice good business sense and fair trade.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: The book's early Saturday morning release in Israel was criticised for violating Shabbat. Trade and Industry Minister Eli Yishai commented "It is forbidden, according to Jewish values and Jewish culture, that a thing like this should take place at 2 am on Saturday. Let them do it on another day." Yishai indicated that he would issue indictments and fines based on the Hours of Work and Rest Law.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was released in hardcover on 21 July 2007 and in paperback in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2008 and the United States on 7 July 2009. In SoHo, New York, there was a release party for the American paperback edition, with many games and activities. An "Adult Edition" with a different cover illustration was released by Bloomsbury on 21 July 2007. To be released simultaneously with the original US hardcover on 21 July with only 100,000 copies was a Scholastic deluxe edition, highlighting a new cover illustration by Mary GrandPré. In October 2010, Bloomsbury released a "Celebratory" paperback edition, which featured a foiled and starred cover. Lastly, on 1 November 2010, a "Signature" edition of the novel was released in paperback by Bloomsbury.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: As with previous books in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" has been translated into many languages. The first translation to be released was the Ukrainian translation, on 25 September 2007 (as "Гаррі Поттер і смертельні реліквії" – "Harry Potter i smertel'ni relikviji"). The Swedish title of the book was revealed by Rowling as "Harry Potter and the Relics of Death" ("Harry Potter och Dödsrelikerna"), following a pre-release question from the Swedish publisher about the difficulty of translating the two words ""Deathly Hallows"" without having read the book. This is also the title used for the French translation ("Harry Potter et les reliques de la mort"), the Spanish translation ("Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte"), the Dutch translation ("Harry Potter en de Relieken van de Dood"), the Serbian translation ("Хари Потер и реликвије смрти" – " Hari Poter i relikvije smrti") and the Brazilian Portuguese translation ("Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte"). The first Polish translation was released with a new title: "Harry Potter i Insygnia Śmierci" – "Harry Potter and the Insignia of Death". The Hindi translation "Harry Potter aur Maut ke Tohfe" (), which means "Harry Potter and the Gifts of Death", was released by Manjul Publication in India on 27 June 2008. The Romanian version was released on 1 December 2007 using the title ("Harry Potter și Talismanele Morții").


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: "The Baltimore Sun" critic, Mary Carole McCauley, noted that the book was more serious than the previous novels in the series and had more straightforward prose. Furthermore, reviewer Alice Fordham from "The Times" wrote that "Rowling's genius is not just her total realisation of a fantasy world, but the quieter skill of creating characters that bounce off the page, real and flawed and brave and lovable". Fordham concluded, "We have been a long way together, and neither Rowling nor Harry let us down in the end". "The New York Times" writer Michiko Kakutani agreed, praising Rowling's ability to make Harry both a hero and a character that can be related to.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: "Time" magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the Top 10 Fiction Books of 2007, ranking it at No. 8, and praised Rowling for proving that books can still be a global mass medium. Novelist Elizabeth Hand criticised that "... the spectacularly complex interplay of narrative and character often reads as though an entire trilogy's worth of summing-up has been crammed into one volume." In a starred review from "Kirkus Reviews", the reviewer said, "Rowling has shown uncommon skill in playing them with and against each other, and also woven them into a darn good bildungsroman, populated by memorable characters and infused with a saving, irrepressible sense of fun". They also praised the second half of the novel, but criticised the epilogue, calling it "provocatively sketchy". In another review from "The Times", reviewer Amanda Craig said that while Rowling was "not an original, high-concept author", she was "right up there with other greats of children's fiction". Craig went on to say that the novel was "beautifully judged, and a triumphant return to form", and that Rowling's imagination changed the perception of an entire generation, which "is more than all but a handful of living authors, in any genre, have achieved in the past half-century".


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: In contrast, Jenny Sawyer of "The Christian Science Monitor" said that, "There is much to love about the Harry Potter series, from its brilliantly realised magical world to its multilayered narrative", however, "A story is about someone who changes. And, puberty aside, Harry doesn't change much. As envisioned by Rowling, he walks the path of good so unwaveringly that his final victory over Voldemort feels, not just inevitable, but hollow". In "The New York Times", Christopher Hitchens compared the series to World War Two-era English boarding school stories, and while he wrote that "Rowling has won imperishable renown" for the series as a whole, he also stated that he disliked Rowling's use of deus ex machina, that the mid-book camping chapters are "abysmally long", and Voldemort "becomes more tiresome than an Ian Fleming villain". Catherine Bennett of "The Guardian" praised Rowling for putting small details from the previous books and making them large in "Deathly Hallows", such as Grindelwald being mentioned on a Chocolate Frog Card in the first book. While she points out "as her critics say, Rowling is no Dickens", she says that Rowling "has willed into a fictional being, in every book, legions of new characters, places, spells, rules and scores of unimagined twists and subplots".


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Stephen King criticised the reactions of some reviewers to the books, including McCauley, for jumping too quickly to surface conclusions of the work. He felt this was inevitable, because of the extreme secrecy before launch which did not allow reviewers time to read and consider the book, but meant that many early reviews lacked depth. Rather than finding the writing style disappointing, he felt it had matured and improved. He acknowledged that the subject matter of the books had become more adult, and that Rowling had clearly been writing with the adult audience firmly in mind since the middle of the series. He compared the works in this respect to "Huckleberry Finn" and "Alice in Wonderland" which achieved success and have become established classics, in part by appealing to the adult audience as well as children.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Sales for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" were record-setting. The initial US print run for "Deathly Hallows" was 12 million copies, and more than a million were pre-ordered through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, 500 percent higher than pre-sales had been for "Half-Blood Prince". On 12 April 2007, Barnes & Noble declared that "Deathly Hallows" had broken its pre-order record, with more than 500,000 copies pre-ordered through its site. On opening day, a record 8.3 million copies were sold in the United States (over 96 per second), and 2.65 million copies in the United Kingdom. It holds the Guinness World record for fastest selling book of fiction in 24 hours for US sales. At WH Smith, sales reportedly reached a rate of 15 books sold per second. By June 2008, nearly a year after it was published, worldwide sales were reportedly around 44 million.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" has won several awards. In 2007, the book was named one of "The New York Times" 100 Notable Books, and one of its Notable Children's Books. The novel was named the best book of 2007, by "Newsweek" critic Malcolm Jones. "Publishers Weekly" also listed "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" among their Best Books of 2007. Also in 2007 the book received the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy at the Nebula Awards. In 2008, the American Library Association named the novel one of its Best Books for Young Adults, and also listed it as a Notable Children's Book. Furthermore, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" received the 2008 Colorado Blue Spruce Book Award.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: The two-part film adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was directed by David Yates, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman, David Barron and J. K. Rowling. Part 1 was released on 19 November 2010, and Part 2 on 15 July 2011. Filming began in February 2009, and ended on 12 June 2010. However, the cast confirmed they would reshoot the epilogue scene as they only had two days to shoot the original. Reshoots ended around December 2010. "Part 1" ended at Chapter 24 of the book, when Voldemort regained the Elder Wand. However, there were a few omissions, such as the appearances of Dean Thomas and Viktor Krum, and Peter Pettigrew's death. James Bernadelli of "Reelviews" said that the script stuck closest to the text since "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", yet this was met with negativity from some audiences as the film inherited "the book's own problems".


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was released simultaneously on 21 July 2007, in both the UK and the United States. The UK edition features the voice of Stephen Fry and runs about 24 hours while the US edition features the voice of Jim Dale and runs about 21 hours. Both Fry and Dale recorded 146 different and distinguishable character voices, and was the most recorded by an individual on an audiobook at the time.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: For his work on "Deathly Hallows", Dale won the 2008 Grammy Award for the Best Spoken Word Album for Children. He also was awarded an Earphone Award by "AudioFile", who claimed, "Dale has raised the bar on audiobook interpretation so high it's hard to imagine any narrator vaulting over it."


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Two action-adventure video games were produced by Electronic Arts (EA) to coincide with the release of the film adaptations, as with each of the previous "Harry Potter" films. Part 1 was released on 16 November 2010, and Part 2 on 12 July 2011. Both games received a mixed to negative reaction from critics.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: On 4 December 2008, Rowling released "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" both in the UK and US. "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" is a spin-off of "Deathly Hallows" and contains fairy tales that are told to children in the "Wizarding World". The book includes five short stories, including "The Tale of the Three Brothers" which is the story of the Deathly Hallows.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Amazon released an exclusive collector's edition of the book which is a replica of the book that Amazon purchased at auction in December 2007.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Seven copies were auctioned off in London by Sotheby's. Each was illustrated and handwritten by Rowling and is 157 pages. It was bound in brown Moroccan leather and embellished with five hand-chased hallmarked sterling silver ornaments and mounted moonstones.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: In 2016, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" was released, a two-part play written by Jack Thorne based on an original story by Rowling, Thorne, and John Tiffany. Billed as the eighth story in the "Harry Potter" series, it picks up where the epilogue of "Deathly Hallows" left off, following an adult Harry Potter and his son, Albus Severus Potter. Previews of the play began at the Palace Theatre, London, on 7 June 2016, and it premiered on 30 July 2016. The play opened on Broadway on 21 April 2018 at the Lyric Theatre, with previews starting on 16 March 2018.


title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

text: Both parts of the stage play's script have been released in print and digital formats as "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II". The first edition, the Special Rehearsal Edition, corresponded to the script used in the preview shows and was published on 31 July 2016, the date of Harry's birthday in the series and Rowling's birthday, as well. Since revisions to the script continued after the book was printed, an edited version was released on 25 July 2017, as the "Definitive Collector's Edition". According to CNN, this was the most preordered book of 2016.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Gabriel Teodoro Martinelli Silva (born 18 June 2001), known as Gabriel Martinelli, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Arsenal and the Brazil national team.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Born and raised in Guarulhos, Martinelli began his senior club career playing for Ituano, prior to signing for Arsenal in July 2019, aged 18.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: At international level, Martinelli represents the Brazil under-23s. He helped Brazil win an Olympic Gold in men's football at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He made his senior debut in 2022, and was part of Brazil's squad at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Born in Guarulhos, São Paulo, Martinelli started his career in 2010, playing for Corinthians' futsal team. After making the breakthrough in football fields, he moved to Ituano in 2015, having subsequent trials at Manchester United and Barcelona.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: On 4 November 2017, Martinelli signed his first professional contract until October 2022. He made his professional debut the following 17 March, coming on as a late substitute for goalscorer Claudinho in a 2–1 Campeonato Paulista away win against São Bento; at the age of 16 years and nine months, he became the youngest player to play for the club in the century.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Martinelli scored his first senior goal on 8 September 2018, netting the second in a 4–1 win over Taboão da Serra, for the year's Copa Paulista. Definitively promoted to the first team for the 2019 Campeonato Paulista, he scored six goals during the competition, being the club's top goalscorer as they reached the quarterfinals; highlights included a brace in a 3–0 away win against Bragantino on 15 March 2019.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Martinelli was reportedly subject to interest from a number of clubs, but signed a long term contract with Premier League club Arsenal on 2 July 2019, for a reported fee of £6 million (R$46.9 million). Holding an Italian passport, Martinelli was not subject to the scrutinized criteria required for English clubs to sign South American players. He travelled with the Arsenal first team to their pre-season tour in the United States. He scored a goal on his non-competitive debut, in a 3–0 pre-season win against Colorado Rapids on 16 July. The originally agreed plan for Martinelli was for him to play for the reserve squad & academy in his first season, then slowly be integrated from Hale End into the first-team setup later in his career. However, Martinelli's impressive pre-season & quality in training encouraged Arsenal that he may be ready for immediate first-team integration.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Martinelli made his Premier League debut on 11 August 2019 in a 1–0 win against Newcastle United, coming on in the 84th minute as a substitute for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. On 24 September, Martinelli scored a brace in his first competitive start for the club in a 5–0 victory over Championship side Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup. His performance received praise from head coach Unai Emery, who said: "He's hungry to have that opportunity to help us, he is very humble, he fights. I told him to have some patience for his opportunity to do like he was doing. He did that. He deserved it".


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Martinelli made his second start for Arsenal in a 4–0 home win over Standard Liège in the UEFA Europa League on 4 October, in which he scored another brace. Martinelli kept up his goal scoring form, netting the equalizer in a 3–2 home win over Vitória Guimarães on 24 October, with another header. In the League Cup fourth round on 30 October, Martinelli registered another brace in a 5–5 draw with Liverpool, and also scored his penalty in the penalty shootout, which Arsenal eventually lost. As a result, he became the first player to score four times in his first four starts since Ian Wright. Martinelli's performance received praise from Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, who labelled him "[the] talent of the century".


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Martinelli's performances led to him being awarded the Arsenal 'Player of the Month' award for October, receiving 75% of the total votes cast, beating out Mattéo Guendouzi and Nicolas Pépé. After the appointment of interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg, Martinelli started his first Premier League game, scoring Arsenal's equaliser in an eventual 1–3 win over West Ham United on 9 December. On 21 January 2020, Martinelli scored in a 2–2 away draw at Chelsea on 21 January, making him the first teenager to reach double figures in a season for Arsenal since Nicolas Anelka. The goal was later voted as Arsenal's Goal of the Season by the club's fans.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: On 3 July, Martinelli signed a new four-year contract, with a team option for an extra year, until 2025. Shortly after, Martinelli was ruled out until the end of 2020, undergoing surgery to repair a lesion in the cartilage of his knee following an injury in training on 21 June. He made his return on 19 December, coming off the bench to play 19 minutes in a 2–1 away defeat to Everton. During the warmup against Newcastle United in the FA Cup on 9 January 2021, he sustained a minor ankle injury and was replaced in the lineup by Reiss Nelson. Martinelli returned to playing in European competition on 18 February, making a 13 minute cameo appearance off the bench in a 1–1 draw against Benfica. He scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 away victory against Sheffield United on 11 April.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Martinelli scored his first goal (a volley with his second touch of the game) of the 2021–22 season against Newcastle United on 27 November. This goal of his was eventually ranked 3rd in the official Goal of the Season poll held by the club at the end of the season.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: On 18 December, he scored twice against Leeds United three days later, marking his first Premier League brace, with his first goal marking Arsenal's 7,000th scored in top-division English football. On 10 February 2022, Martinelli was sent off for two yellow cards in the space of four seconds against Wolves. It was his first red card in his career. The red card gained some controversy as he was given 2 yellow cards in one passage of play, starting off with pushing Daniel Podence after a throw in, and then a foul against Nélson Semedo.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: On 5 August 2022, Martinelli scored for Arsenal in their 2–0 away win at Crystal Palace, becoming the first Brazilian to net a season-opening goal of a Premier League campaign.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Martinelli was born in Brazil, and is of Italian descent through his father; he holds dual Brazilian-Italian citizenship. On 20 May 2019, Martinelli was called up by Brazil national team manager Tite to complete preparatory training for the 2019 Copa América. In November 2019, Martinelli appeared for Brazil's under-23 side at the United International Football Festival in Spain.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: On 2 July 2021, Martinelli was named in the Brazil squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics. On 3 August, Martinelli scored Brazil's second penalty to help defeat Mexico in the Olympic semi-final, before becoming a gold medallist after Brazil defeated Spain in the final four days later.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: He was named in the 25-man senior Brazil squad on 11 March 2022 for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Bolivia. Martinelli made his international debut when he came off the bench for Vinícius Júnior to play the last 14 minutes of Brazil's 4−0 win over Chile at the Maracana Stadium.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: A dynamic and explosive wide forward known for his agile and effective movement, Martinelli is capable of dribbling past multiple opponents to create or score goals.


title: Gabriel Martinelli

text: Martinelli was involved in the Amazon Original sports docuseries "", which documented the club by spending time with the coaching staff and players behind the scenes both on and off the field throughout their 2021–22 season.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: John Dezso Ratzenberger (born April 6, 1947) is an American actor, comedian and director. He is best known for playing the character Cliff Clavin on the comedy series "Cheers", for which he earned two Primetime Emmy nominations. He also played the role in the short-lived spin-off "The Tortellis" and in an episode of "Wings", which was made by the same creators. Ratzenberger voiced various characters in Pixar Animation Studios' feature films, including Hamm in the "Toy Story" franchise, The Abominable Snowman in the "Monsters, Inc." franchise, Mack in the "Cars" franchise, The Underminer in "The Incredibles" franchise, and many others.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: Ratzenberger began his entertainment career while living in London in the 1970s. He acted in and wrote film and television through the 1970s and early 1980s before returning to America. At an audition for a role in a new sitcom, Ratzenberger created the character of know-it-all mailman Cliff Clavin. "Cheers" (1982–1993) was a success and went on to run for 11 years. After "Cheers", he began acting in voice roles for Pixar; his first role was as Hamm in Pixar's first feature film "Toy Story" (1995), and voiced other Pixar characters in every film and video game until 2020.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: John Ratzenberger was born on Easter Sunday, April 6, 1947, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Bertha Veronica ("née" Grochowski), and Dezső Alexander Ratzenberger, a WWII veteran who had been a combat engineer in the Philippines. John's father, Dezso, was of Austrian and Hungarian descent, and John's mother was of Polish ancestry. John Ratzenberger attended St. Ann's School in Bridgeport and then Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. In 1969, Ratzenberger worked at the Woodstock Festival, as a heavy equipment operator and as part of the crew building the stage. John moved to London in 1971 where he began his acting, writing, and directing career.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: John Ratzenberger began his career in the performing arts while living in London, England. Through the 1970s, he performed with Ray Hassett as the comedic theatrical duo Sal's Meat Market, which toured throughout Europe for eight years. Sal's Meat Market heavily influenced Peter Richardson and Nigel Planer as a duo in "The Outer Limits" and in "The Comic Strip". His first role in a major feature film was as a patron in "The Ritz" (1976). Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ratzenberger appeared in various roles in feature films throughout Europe including: "A Bridge Too Far", filmed in Holland, as Lieutenant James Megellas; "Superman", as a missile controller; "Superman II", as the NASA control man; "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" as Major Derlin; "Outland" as a doomed mine worker named Tarlow; and "Gandhi," filmed in India, playing an American lieutenant.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: John Ratzenberger played mail carrier Cliff Clavin on the sitcom "Cheers". As an improv artist, he asked the producers if they had written a bar know-it-all character; the producers decided it was a great idea, and the character of Cliff Clavin was born. Ratzenberger also came up with the idea for Cliff's trademark white socks, which he wore as a tribute to French comedian Jacques Tati. Cliff became known for his outlandish stories, trivia, and his trademarked (and oft repeated), "It's a little known fact..." Cliff and Norm, the primary customer characters of the iconic bar, Cheers, played buddies who met at Cheers to talk about the day or nothing in particular. Ratzenberger was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1985 and again in 1986. Ratzenberger provided the voice for an animated version of Cliff on "The Simpsons" sixth-season episode "Fear of Flying". He also played the role in the short-lived spin-off "The Tortellis" and in an episode of "Wings", which was made by the same creators.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: John Ratzenberger's tenure at Pixar was parodied during the end credits of "Cars", where his character, Mack, watches car-themed versions of Pixar films ("Toy Car Story", "Monster Trucks, Inc.", and "A Bug's Life", the latter of which references the Volkswagen Beetle). Mack notes that all the characters that John Ratzenberger has played had excellent voice actors until he realizes that they are performed by the same actor, at which point he remarks, "They're just using the same actor over and over," and asks, "What kind of cut-rate production is this?!"


title: John Ratzenberger

text: Ratzenberger said that his favorite Pixar character was P.T. Flea, because "...in real life, I always get a kick out of those kinds of characters, people who just go into a rage for [no] explicable reason. He was always on edge. His blood pressure was always way over the top, and everything that he did was done in a panicked state. So it was a lot of fun to play him." John Ratzenberger voiced characters for other studios as well; he played Harland the Jet Tug in Disneytoon Studios' "Planes" (2013) and a mustached plane named Brodi in its sequel, "" (2014), Additionally, Ratzenberger reprised his role as the Abominable Snowman in the Disney+-exclusive series "Monsters at Work", which is set after the events of "Monsters, Inc." Ratzenberger has also voiced a character named Rootie in Skydance Animation's first film, "Luck", which continues his collaboration in animation with former Pixar filmmaker John Lasseter.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: "Soul", Pixar's 23rd feature film, was the first Pixar film not to include Ratzenberger's voice or personal involvement.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: Ratzenberger lived in London for 10 years. Since 1994, he has lived in Vashon, Washington. He married Georgia Stiny in 1984; during their 19 year marriage they had two children together before divorcing in 2004. He then married Julie Blichfeldt in November 2012.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: He developed a packaging-alternatives product made from biodegradable and non-toxic recycled paper as a safe alternative to foam peanuts and plastic bubble wrap. This product, SizzlePak, was manufactured by his company Eco-Pak Industries, which he co-founded in 1989.<ref name="Chicago Trib 11/10/92"></ref> In 1992 he sold Eco-Pack to Ranpak Corp.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: Ratzenberger is a Republican. During the 2008 presidential race, Ratzenberger campaigned for John McCain, appearing with former "Cheers" co-star Kelsey Grammer at several Republican party events. He was outspoken in opposition of the 2010 health care reform bill, referring to it as socialism. On January 17, 2010, he appeared and endorsed Scott Brown for the United States Senate at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. Ratzenberger campaigned for Republican Josh Mandel of Ohio for state treasurer in 2010 and served as master of ceremonies for Mandel's inauguration into the position in 2011. He considered running for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut in 2012.


title: John Ratzenberger

text: Ratzenberger endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012. He appeared on "Your World with Neil Cavuto" to support Donald Trump's candidacy during the 2016 presidential race, shortly after Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee. He praised his performance as president in 2017, saying he had done "a wonderful job as far as manufacturing is concerned."


title: John Ratzenberger

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ratzenberger expressed his support for the United States Postal Service (USPS) in 2020 via Cameo and suggested people who wished to help them donate and buy presents for Christmas early.


title: Rubber Soul

text: Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom, on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out". The original North American release, issued by Capitol Records, contains ten of the fourteen songs and two tracks withheld from the band's "Help!" album. "Rubber Soul" was met with a highly favourable critical response and topped sales charts in Britain and the United States for several weeks.


title: Rubber Soul

text: The recording sessions took place in London over a four-week period beginning in October 1965. For the first time in their career, the Beatles were able to record an album free of concert, radio or film commitments. Often referred to as a folk rock album, particularly in its Capitol configuration, "Rubber Soul" incorporates a mix of pop, soul and folk musical styles. The title derives from the colloquialism "plastic soul" and was the Beatles' way of acknowledging their lack of authenticity compared to the African-American soul artists they admired. After "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964, it was the second Beatles LP to contain only original material.


title: Rubber Soul

text: The songs demonstrate the Beatles' increasing maturity as lyricists, and in their incorporation of brighter guitar tones and new instrumentation such as sitar, harmonium and fuzz bass, the group striving for more expressive sounds and arrangements for their music. The project marked a progression in the band's treatment of the album format as an artistic platform, an approach they continued to develop with "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". The four songs omitted by Capitol, including the February 1966 single "Nowhere Man", later appeared on the North American release "Yesterday and Today".


title: Rubber Soul

text: "Rubber Soul" was highly influential on the Beatles' peers, leading to a widespread focus away from singles and onto creating albums of consistently high-quality songs. It has been recognised by music critics as an album that opened up the possibilities of pop music in terms of lyrical and musical scope, and as a key work in the creation of styles such as psychedelia and progressive rock. Among its many appearances on critics' best-album lists, "Rolling Stone" ranked it fifth on the magazine's 2012 list "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2000, it was voted at number 34 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's book "All Time Top 1000 Albums". The album was certified 6× platinum by the RIAA in 1997, indicating shipments of at least six million copies in the US. In 2013, "Rubber Soul" was certified platinum by the BPI for UK sales since 1994.


title: Rubber Soul

text: Most of the songs on "Rubber Soul" were composed soon after the Beatles' return to London following their August 1965 North American tour. The album reflects the influence of their month in America.<ref name="Lewisohn/MojoSpecial">Lewisohn, Mark. "High Times". In: .</ref> Aside from setting a new attendance record when they played to over 55,000 at Shea Stadium on 15 August, the tour allowed the band to meet with Bob Dylan in New York and their longtime hero Elvis Presley in Los Angeles. Although the Beatles had released their album "Help!" that same month, the requirement for a new album in time for Christmas was in keeping with the schedule established with EMI in 1963 by Brian Epstein, the group's manager, and George Martin, their record producer.


title: Rubber Soul

text: In their new songs, the Beatles drew inspiration from soul music acts signed to the Motown and Stax record labels, particularly the singles they heard on US radio that summer, and from the contemporary folk rock of Dylan and the Byrds. Author Robert Rodriguez highlights the Byrds as having achieved "special notice as an American act that had taken something from the Brits, added to it, then sent it back". In doing so, Rodriguez continues, the Byrds had joined the Beatles and Dylan in "a common pool of influence exchange, where each act gave and took from the other in equal measure". According to music critic Tim Riley, "Rubber Soul" served as a "step toward a greater synthesis" of all the elements that throughout 1965 represented a "major "rock 'n' roll" explosion", rather than just the emergence of folk rock. Citing Dylan and the Rolling Stones as the Beatles' artistic peers during this period, he says that on "Rubber Soul" these two acts "inspire rather than influence their sound".


title: Rubber Soul

text: Two years after the start of Beatlemania, the band were open to exploring new themes in their music through a combination of their tiring of playing to audiences full of screaming fans, their commercial power, a shared curiosity gained through literature and experimentation with hallucinogenic drugs, and their interest in the potential of the recording studio. According to Ringo Starr, "Rubber Soul" was the Beatles' "departure record", written and recorded during a period when, largely through the influence of marijuana, "We were expanding in all areas of our lives, opening up to a lot of different attitudes." The album was especially reflective of John Lennon's maturation as a songwriter, as he was encouraged to address wider-ranging issues than before through Dylan's example. George Harrison's outlook had been transformed by his and Lennon's experiences with the hallucinogenic drug LSD; he said the drug had revealed to him the futility of the band's widespread fame by "open[ing] up this whole other consciousness".