Some gifts fall into the love-it-later category

NEW YORK (AP) — Have you ever said “thank you” through clenched teeth? The gift in that nicely wrapped box was so not what you wanted: comfy clothes instead of designer duds, or a kitchen gadget instead of a shiny piece of jewelry.

Sometimes, though, the best gifts are the ones you use, and, frankly, most of us probably wear hoodies more than haute couture.

With a closet full of beautiful boots and gravity-defying heels, flat-foot, furry Uggs weren’t at the top of celebrity stylist-designer Rachel Zoe‘s shopping list. They were OK for other people — she might even have suggested them — but she didn’t see them fitting into her closet until someone gave her a pair.

“Once you put them on, you can’t go back,” Zoe says. “In my house, it’s now the family at-home shoe. I wear them all the time. My son has 10 pairs and my husband has 10 pairs.”

Bradford Shellhammer, founder of Fab.com, which sells unusual items like canvas carryalls screen-printed with images of designer handbags, says gifts fit into three categories: the things everyone knows you want, the bad surprises and the amazing things that make you wonder, “How did I live without it?”

A. Mitra Morgan, founder and chief curator of decorative home-goods website Joss & Main, can’t imagine her busy life without the wallet-phone case wristlet her mother gave her last year.

Morgan has almost unlimited access to the pretty things on so many gift lists. Her mother, however, thought her daily necessities were too scattered. She didn’t know it at the time, Morgan admits, but mom was right.

Morgan received another love-it-later gift, this one from her husband. He gave her flat-bottomed pizza scissors.

“Coming from my husband, this was at the level of receiving a vacuum. I thought, ‘Really, this is what we’ve come to?’” Morgan says. “But it’s awesome!”

Christine Frietchen, a shopping expert who is advising TJ Maxx and Marshall’s this year on their gift-giving programs, says a gift is something you wouldn’t get for yourself. And the best way to know you’ve given a successful gift, she says, is if the receiver becomes an evangelist for it.

Adam Glassman, creative director at O, The Oprah magazine, was never at risk of buying the Patagonia fleece sweatpants his brother got for him a few years ago. “Never in my life did I think I’d need sweatpants, but I live in them,” he gushes. “When I come home from work, they are my go-to item. I wear them more than any other clothes in my closet.”

The only gift he might treasure more is the Eddie Bauer silk long johns his other brother gave him, something else he didn’t think he needed or wanted.

“Where was the Tom Ford, the Gucci?” Glassman says with a laugh.

But after a few winters of layering the long johns under his more fashionable pieces, he’s now buying them as gifts for other people.

Shellhammer says friends and family can’t ask for the items offered on Fab.com because the website sells things people don’t know exist. Items such as a shower curtain with a map of Paris (what enthusiastic traveler wouldn’t want one?) or a pug T-shirt for your favorite dog lover. (Shellhammer predicts the Mountain Pug Tee will be a top seller this season. The entire shirt becomes the face of a pug, wrinkles, jowls and all.)

And Shellhammer says it’s OK to be playful and show a little sense of humor when giving a gift. You’d be surprised how many positive comments the website has received about a hedgehog dish brush, he says. “It just gives you that crack of a smile.”

Brian Berger says the Yumaki toothbrush his business partner gave him is a present he’ll always remember — and appreciate. And, it’s something he uses every day.

His partner was trying to make a point as he and Berger recently launched a men’s undergarment and socks business called Mack Weldon that also is courting customers with the idea of “elevated basics,” Berger explains.

Some other gift ideas from the experts:

—Kitchen knives.

—Comfortable earbuds.

—Colorful tights and leggings.

—Berry bowls.

—Miniature flashlights that fit in pockets and purses.

—Pretty soaps.

—Personalized tote bags.

A lot of people do skimp on themselves, especially in a season where they are spending so much money, so an upgrade of something mundane to luxurious — or at least more fun — can be a very thoughtful gift, says gift advisor Frietchen.

“Have you ever had a really nice hairdryer, a REALLY good dryer? You think a hairdryer is a hairdryer until you have a good one in your hand. It can change your life,” Frietchen says.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Chevy Chase is leaving NBC's sitcom 'Community'

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NBC series "Community" will finish the season without Chevy Chase.

Sony Pictures Television said Wednesday that the actor is leaving the sitcom by mutual agreement with producers.

His immediate departure means he won't be included in the last episode or two of the show's 13-episode season, which is still in production.

Chase had a rocky tenure playing a bored and wealthy man who enrolls in community college. The actor publicly expressed unhappiness at working on a sitcom and feuded last year with the show's creator and former executive producer, Dan Harmon.

The fourth-season premiere of "Community" is Feb. 7, when it makes a delayed return to the 8 p.m. EST Thursday time slot. The show's ensemble cast includes Joel McHale and Donald Glover.

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Well: Officials Warn Against Baby Sleep Positioners

Health officials are warning parents not to use a special device designed to help keep babies in certain positions as they sleep. The device, called a sleep positioner, has been linked to at least 13 deaths in the last 15 years, officials with two federal agencies said on Wednesday.

“We urge parents and caregivers to take our warning seriously and stop using these sleep positioners,” Inez Tenenbaum, the chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said in a statement.

The sleep positioner devices come primarily in two forms. One is a flat mat with soft bolsters on each side. The other, known as a wedge-style positioner, looks very similar but has an incline, keeping a child in a very slight upright position.

Makers of the devices claim that by keeping infants in a specific position as they sleep, they can prevent several conditions, including acid reflux and flat head syndrome, a deformation caused by pressure on one part of the skull. Many are also marketed to parents as a way to help reduce a child’s risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, which kills thousands of babies every year, most between the ages of 2 months and 4 months.

But the devices have never been shown in studies to prevent SIDS, and they may actually raise the likelihood of sudden infant death, officials say. One of the leading risk factors for sudden infant death is placing a baby on his or her stomach at bedtime, and health officials have routinely warned parents to lay babies on their backs. They even initiated a “Back to Sleep” campaign in the 1990s, which led to a sharp reduction in sudden infant deaths.

With the positioner devices, if an infant rolls onto the stomach, the child’s mouth and nose can press up against a bolster or some other part of the device, leading to suffocation. Even if placed on the back, a child can move up or down in the positioner, “entrapping its face against a bolster or becoming trapped between the positioner and the crib side,” Gail Gantt, a nurse consultant with the Food and Drug Administration, said in an e-mail. Or the child might scoot down the wedge in a way that causes the child’s mouth and nose to press into the device.

“The baby’s movement may also cause the positioner to flip on top of the baby, trapping the baby underneath the positioner or between the positioner and the side of the crib,” she said.

Of the 13 babies known to have suffocated in a sleep positioner since 1997, most died after they rolled from their sides onto their stomachs. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has also received dozens of reports of babies who were placed on their sides or backs, “only to be found later in hazardous positions within or next to the product,” the F.D.A. said in a statement.

Many baby books for new parents specifically urge against using sleep positioners, and the American Academy of Pediatrics does not support their use for SIDS prevention. Though the F.D.A. has never approved the positioners for the prevention of SIDS, it has in the past approved a number of the devices for the prevention of gastroesophageal reflux disease and flat head syndrome. But the agency said that in light of the new safety data, it believed any benefits from using the devices were outweighed by the risk of suffocation.

As of Wednesday, the agency is explicitly advising parents to stop using sleep positioners, and it has asked manufacturers of the devices to submit clinical data showing that the benefits of their products outweigh the risk of serious harm. In addition to avoiding the devices, experts say, parents should keep things like pillows, comforters, quilts and bumpers away from their infants and their cribs. Soft bedding can increase the likelihood of a baby suffocating.

“The safest crib is a bare crib,” Dr. Susan Cummins, a pediatric expect with the F.D.A., said in a statement. “Always put your baby on his or her back to sleep. An easy way to remember this is to follow the ABC’s of safe sleep – Alone on the Back in a bare Crib.”

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Hostess wins court approval to shut down

Twinkies maker Hostess Brands Inc. won court approval to start shutting down operations, selling its assets and laying off its 18,500 workers, after the failure of an 11th-hour mediation to try to resolve a labor dispute.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain gave Hostess the go-ahead Wednesday to sell its plants and brands after he presided over the closed-door talks Tuesday with the company and the striking Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union, which represents about 5,000 Hostess workers.

Heather Lennox, a lawyer for Hostess, said in court that the company has received a "flood of inquiries" from potential suitors.

Among the possible bidders are Nature's Own parent Flowers Foods Inc., Sun Capital Partners Inc., Sara Lee owner Grupo Bimbo, Pabst Blue Ribbon owner C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. and investment firm Hurst Capital, according to reports and analysts.

An outpouring of concern and nostalgia broke out last week when Hostess said publicly that it would shut down. It held back to give mediation a try, but Wednesday's action kindled disappointment among workers' families.

"My uncle lost his job of 27 years working for Merita Bread (partnered with Hostess)," tweeted user @sunlightmocha. "He had only ever taken ONE sick day. It's so sad."

"I'm so sad Hostess went out of business," tweeted user @NikkiKiley1. "My dad lost his job and I will never get to eat a Twinkie again. What a bad day."

"This is truly a sad day for thousands of families," said Ken Hall, general secretary-treasurer of the non-striking Teamsters union, the largest at Hostess with 6,700 members.

The 82-year-old company said that it would shrink its head count to 3,200 workers in the coming months and that those remaining would stay until the liquidation is done, which it said would take a year.

Hostess, based in Irving, Texas, will end up closing 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers and 570 bakery outlet stores nationwide. In Southern California, the maker of Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, Dolly Madison Cakes, Wonder bread and other products employed more than 500 workers at the start of the year.

Hostess filed for bankruptcy in January for the second time in a decade.

It first moved to shut down its operations Friday, blaming the union for a strike that "crippled its operations at a time when the company lacked the financial resources to survive a significant labor action."

The baker said its "inflated cost structure," which it attributed primarily to its collective bargaining agreements, put it at a "profound competitive disadvantage."

Workers who walked off their jobs accused Hostess of awarding pay increases to executives while pillaging employee benefits and wages.

In court Wednesday, Drain noted that the failure of the talks was the result of disagreements and not the fault of either party. He allowed the company to remain in control of the liquidation, rejecting a request to turn the Chapter 11 proceeding into one overseen by the U.S. trustee's office under Chapter 7.

The company will return to court later to seek approval to sell off specific brands, which financial advisors testified could generate $1 billion in proceeds.

Last year, Hostess reported sales of $2.45 billion, down 2% from the year before, according to estimates from research group PrivCo. The company's net loss more than doubled to $341 million from $136 million, according to the report.

tiffany.hsu@latimes.com

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San Francisco officials wrap up public nudity debate with vote

SAN FRANCISCO — What started out as a discussion about whether people could stroll naked through this liberal city's storied streets ended up Tuesday as a discussion about the role of local government.

Faced with complaints about a band of so-called "Naked Guys" gathering daily in the Castro District, Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced legislation last month to ban public nudity citywide, except for at permitted festivals and parades.

"This legislation has strong support in the community," Wiener said to kick off the debate before Tuesday's vote. "I'm talking about support from everyday citizens who live and work in this wonderful neighborhood."

The stricture wasn't the brainchild of business owners, as some naturists have claimed. Nor did straight couples with children raise a fuss about freedom of expression — and freedom from clothing — in the heart of gay San Francisco.

"The dominant demographic expressing concern is gay men," Wiener told his colleagues as he implored them to expand on an earlier ordinance requiring clothing in restaurants and a barrier between naked bodies and public seating.

But the more progressive supervisors weren't buying it. Outgoing Supervisor Christina Olague called the proposal "a solution in search of a problem." Supervisor Eric Mar said the Naked Guys and the issue of public attire were well below the level of what the august body should be considering.

Supervisor John Avalos played a clip from the movie "Catch-22" of a soldier getting a medal while in the nude. He called the Naked Guys' daily strolls "inconsequential nudity" with meaningless effect.

Their point: that one neighborhood's problem was just that.

Opponents of the nudity ban cheered. But only briefly.

Because when the final vote was taken, the supervisors cast their ballots, 6 to 5, to require clothing under most circumstances on the streets of San Francisco.

The Naked Guys (and Gals) were not happy.

"It's not a legitimate government!" one shouted. "You're voting against the majority of the people," yelled another. "Shame!"

And with that, the Board of Supervisors took a 10-minute break.

maria.laganga@latimes.com

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Ex-'Price is Right' model wins suit against show

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jurors awarded nearly $777,000 Tuesday to a former "The Price is Right" model who claimed she was discriminated against by producers because of her pregnancy.

Brandi Cochran, 41, said she was rejected by the game show's producers when she tried to return to work in early 2010 after taking maternity leave.

The Superior Court jury determined her pregnancy was the reason she wasn't rehired and awarded Cochran $776,944 in the suit against producers FremantleMedia North America and The Price is Right Productions.

In their defense, producers said they were satisfied with the five models working on the show at the time Cochran sought to return.

A second phase of the trial will determine whether Cochran should be awarded punitive damages. Cochran's attorneys had asked for more than $8 million, City News Service reported.

Jurors began deliberations Thursday, telling Judge Kevin Brazile several times that they were deadlocked before reaching the verdict.

In a statement, FremantleMedia said it expects to be "fully vindicated" after an appeal, adding that it stands behind executive producer Mike Richards and the show's staff.

"We believe the verdict in this case was the result of a flawed process in which the court, among other things, refused to allow the jury to hear and consider that 40 percent of our models have been pregnant," and further "important" evidence, FremantleMedia said.

A call seeking comment from Cochran's attorney wasn't immediately returned Tuesday.

The verdict is a rare one for a program that has seen other lawsuits. Longtime host Bob Barker, who retired in 2007, was sued by some of the show's hostesses for sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

Most of the cases involving "Barker's Beauties" — the nickname given the gown-wearing women who presented prizes to contestants — ended with out-of-court settlements.

Comedian-actor Drew Carey followed Barker as the show's host.

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Ecstasy Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Shows Promise

Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times

ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which is financing research into the drug Ecstasy.

Hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress have recently contacted a husband-and-wife team who work in suburban South Carolina to seek help. Many are desperate, pleading for treatment and willing to travel to get it.

The soldiers have no interest in traditional talking cures or prescription drugs that have given them little relief. They are lining up to try an alternative: MDMA, better known as Ecstasy, a party drug that surfaced in the 1980s and ’90s that can induce pulses of euphoria and a radiating affection. Government regulators criminalized the drug in 1985, placing it on a list of prohibited substances that includes heroin and LSD. But in recent years, regulators have licensed a small number of labs to produce MDMA for research purposes.

“I feel survivor’s guilt, both for coming back from Iraq alive and now for having had a chance to do this therapy,” said Anthony, a 25-year-old living near Charleston, S.C., who asked that his last name not be used because of the stigma of taking the drug. “I’m a different person because of it.”

In a paper posted online Tuesday by the Journal of Psychopharmacology, Michael and Ann Mithoefer, the husband-and-wife team offering the treatment — which combines psychotherapy with a dose of MDMA — write that they found 15 of 21 people who recovered from severe post-traumatic stress in the therapy in the early 2000s reported minor to virtually no symptoms today. Many said they have received other kinds of therapy since then, but not with MDMA.

The Mithoefers — he is a psychiatrist and she is a nurse — collaborated on the study with researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina and the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

The patients in this group included mostly rape victims, and experts familiar with the work cautioned that it was preliminary, based on small numbers, and its applicability to war trauma entirely unknown. A spokeswoman for the Department of Defense said the military was not involved in any research of MDMA.

But given the scarcity of good treatments for post-traumatic stress, “there is a tremendous need to study novel medications,” including MDMA, said Dr. John H. Krystal, chairman of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine.

The study is the first long-term test to suggest that psychiatrists’ tentative interest in hallucinogens and other recreational drugs — which have been taboo since the 1960s — could pay off. And news that the Mithoefers are beginning to test the drug in veterans is out, in the military press and on veterans’ blogs. “We’ve had more than 250 vets call us,” Dr. Mithoefer said. “There’s a long waiting list, we wish we could enroll them all.”

The couple, working with other researchers, will treat no more than 24 veterans with the therapy, following Food and Drug Administration protocols for testing an experimental drug; MDMA is not approved for any medical uses.

A handful of similar experiments using MDMA, LSD or marijuana are now in the works in Switzerland, Israel and Britain, as well as in this country. Both military and civilian researchers are watching closely. So far, the research has been largely supported by nonprofit groups.

“When it comes to the health and well-being of those who serve, we should leave our politics at the door and not be afraid to follow the data,” said Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, a psychiatrist who recently retired from the Army. “There’s now an evidence base for this MDMA therapy and a plausible story about what may be going on in the brain to account for the effects.”

In interviews, two people who have had the therapy — one, Anthony, currently in the veterans study, and another who received the therapy independently — said that MDMA produced a mental sweet spot that allowed them to feel and talk about their trauma without being overwhelmed by it.

“It changed my perspective on the entire experience of working at ground zero,” said Patrick, a 46-year-old living in San Francisco, who worked long hours in the rubble after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks searching in vain for survivors, as desperate family members of the victims looked on, pleading for information. “At times I had this beautiful, peaceful feeling down in the pit, that I had a purpose, that I was doing what I needed to be doing. And I began in therapy to identify with that,” rather than the guilt and sadness.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 21, 2012

An article on Tuesday about using MDMA, or Ecstasy, in combination with psychotherapy to treat post-traumatic stress described incorrectly the office arrangement that a husband-and-wife team use to conduct therapy sessions using MDMA. The couple, Michael and Ann Mithoefer, hold the sessions in an office in a converted house; they do not conduct the sessions in their home office. And because of an editing error, an accompanying picture carried an incorrect credit. The photograph of the Mithoefers was taken by Hunter McRae, not by Gretchen Ertl.

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Hostess, union mediation fails; Twinkies return to chopping block

Looks like it'll be a bake sale after all.

Hostess Brands Inc. said Tuesday that mediation efforts with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union were unsuccessful, and that means the Twinkies maker will either liquidate or sell off its assets. The company will go before a bankruptcy judge in White Plains, N.Y., on Wednesday.

The company said it will have no further comment until after the hearing.

Quiz: How well do you know fast food?

The failed talks will likely be devastating news to legions of Americans who stockpiled Ding Dongs and Ho Ho's after Hostess said Friday that it was shutting down — then rejoiced a few days later when the company agreed to further negotiations with the union.

More than 18,000 workers could lose their jobs as Irving, Texas-based Hostess shuts down operations. The brand was powered by hundreds of distribution centers, bakeries and outlets spread around the country, including in Southern California.

The company blamed a strike by BCTGM union members for its decision to close; workers who walked off their jobs accused Hostess of boosting executive pay while plundering worker benefits and slashing wages.

The mediation, suggested by Judge Robert Drain, may have been doomed from the start, according to experts. A line of potential buyers has formed in the last few days, among them Hurst Capital and, according to reports, Nature's Own parent Flowers Foods, Sun Capital Partners, and Sara Lee and Entenmann's owner Bimbo Group.

tiffany.hsu@latimes.com

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Israel, Hamas keep up attacks as talks continue in Egypt

GAZA CITY — As negotiators worked on a tenuous cease-fire deal, Israel and Hamas pounded each other for a sixth day and anger rose in the Gaza Strip over the increasing number of casualties.

Hopes for a truce grew Monday night when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened Cabinet members to discuss the details of what was said to be a multiphase, multiyear cease-fire agreement.

Officials in Egypt, where the talks were underway, expressed cautious optimism. Arab League leaders and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was visiting the region, were trying to help negotiate a deal. The White House said President Obama, who is visiting Asia, called Netanyahu and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Monday.

Israel is seeking assurances from Egypt that Hamas will halt rocket fire into Israel and not be allowed to rebuild the weapon caches that Israel has destroyed in recent days. Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, wants an end to the land and sea blockade that has crippled its economy, and to targeted killings of its leaders by Israel.

Any sort of agreement must overcome huge obstacles. Israel views Hamas as a terrorist organization and the Islamist militant group refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist.

Even if the two don't alter those stances, any internationally endorsed truce would usher in a new phase in their relationship. Previously Israel and Hamas have refused direct negotiations, occasionally reaching informal agreements brokered through intermediaries, such as last year's deal to release captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

There are sizable risks for both sides, but also opportunities, said Doron Avital, a lawmaker with Israel's centrist Kadima party and a former commander of an elite military unit.

Hamas would win some of the international legitimacy it craves, but it would also need to moderate its behavior, just as the Palestine Liberation Organization did after signing the Oslo peace accords in 1993.

"It might elevate the status of Hamas, but that will also mean that Hamas will have to play realpolitik," Avital said. "It can't stay a terrorist organization forever. There's an interesting potential here."

Heated comments by Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal during a Cairo news conference Monday underscored the level of animosity. He called Netanyahu a "child killer" and "murderer."

"It is Netanyahu who asked for a truce," Meshaal said. "Gazans don't even want a truce."

For Israel, besides gaining an end to rocket attacks from Gaza, a deal might start the process of encouraging Hamas to become more moderate. And if Egypt guarantees an agreement, it would be directly invested in keeping Hamas unarmed.

With no cease-fire in place, Israel has massed soldiers and armor along the Gaza border in preparation for a possible invasion. But ground fighting would almost certainly lead to more Israeli and Palestinian casualties, and voices on both sides have cautioned against it.

Some said the negotiations may have led to an uptick in violence in recent days, as each side attempts to intimidate the other before a truce is called.

Palestinian casualties were relatively low in the first days of the conflict, but have increased as Israel's air campaign hit targets in more populated areas. On Monday, Israel attacked the Sharouk communications building in Gaza City where it said four senior members of the Islamic Jihad militant group were meeting.

Among the dead was Ramez Harb, a Palestinian journalist. Israel said he was a legitimate target because he served in the information department of Islamic Jihad.

Hamas' Health Ministry said 107 people had been killed in Gaza, including more than two dozen children. At least 850 people had been wounded.

Three Israelis have died in the barrage of rockets from Gaza and a dozen have been wounded, including three on Monday. An additional 135 rockets were fired Monday, pushing the total over the last week to more than 1,000. Hamas has fired rockets at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for the first time.

The White House said Obama, in his conversation with Morsi, emphasized that the rocket fire into Israel must end.

In a somber sign of the climbing death toll, hundreds of Gazans crowded around the Shifa Hospital morgue Monday morning in a familiar ritual: collecting the bodies of loved ones.

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Review: Wii U Filled With Potential

The Nintendo Wii turns six this month, making the video game system past its prime in console years. Nintendo and third-party developers have been slowly grinding Wii titles to a halt as all prepare for its successor, the $ 300 Wii U (say it with us, We-you), to launch today.

WATCH: Wii U Video Review

The latest Nintendo comes with a shiny new console and a shiny new GamePad tablet controller. (They may actually be a little too shiny, as the system and controller easily pick up smudges and fingerprints.) A mess of long cords also come with the system, including the Wii U’s power cord, the GamePad’s charger, the HDMI cord and the motion sensor’s long, thin cord.

The box is packed with contents, but also high expectations.

The Console
The GamePad controller, which we will get to in a second, is one of the biggest changes to the system, but there are a lot of other changes inside the actual console. With an IBM multi-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and an AMD Radeon graphics chip, a Nintendo console is capable for the first time of pushing along full HD, 1080p games on your HDTV. It connects to your HDTV via that aforementioned HDMI cord, which is kindly included in the box.

At least for a brief period we have a Nintendo with better internal organs than the Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation, though not many expect that to last.

Of note, the graphics processor on the Wii U is far more advanced than its competition, but the computer processor has been hinted to be a little less powerful than both rivals. This means stronger graphics, but potential processing issues when more moving items are presented on screen.

The GamePad
Back to the main event — the Wii U’s GamePad controller. Nintendo’s latest toy takes the best aspects of the company’s top-selling handheld, the Nintendo DS, and has supersized them, putting a larger, 6.2-inch touchscreen in your hands. But that’s not all that is found in the controller. It also has a front-facing camera, stylus, dual analog sticks, an accelerometer and a gyroscope.

At 1.1 pounds the controller is easy to hold and very light. And while it is a bit wide, it is durable enough to avoid much damage when in the hands of an enraged 7-year-old. Yes, I slammed it on a carpeted floor a few times and it withstood the abuse.

There is only one GamePad included in the box and you can expect there to be fighting over it. At the moment, Nintendo isn’t selling GamePads separately, but that’s intentional; there are no games that support dual GamePad experiences at the moment.

Nintendo calls its one-pad approach “asymmetric gameplay,” where the person using the GamePad has a different role in how games are played, equivalent to being “it” in tag or the dungeon master in “Dungeons & Dragons.” For this role, what they see on the controller’s screen is sometimes completely different than what others see on the TV.

For instance, in “Nintendo Land‘s Animal Crossing: Sweet Day,” the person with the GamePad controls two characters while the person with the extra non-GamePad controller controls just one. The person using the GamePad sees their characters on the touchscreen, while the non-GamePad player sees theirs on the TV.

Nintendo is releasing a Pro controller with the Wii U for an extra $ 50. The controller looks very similar to the Xbox 360 controller, and while we do wish it was included for the $ 300 price, you don’t have to buy that controller if you want to add more players. That’s because your original Wii games and Wiimote controllers will work with the new system.

Nintendo sold 97 million Wii consoles in six years and plenty of Nintendo fans have stashes of iconic white wands sitting around the house. All those still in love with motion controls can rest easy, this move means all your past, present and future arm flailing will endure.

Word to the wise: if you haven’t already purchased WiiMotion Plus add-on accessories for your old Wiimotes, now is the time, they’re crucial for games like Zelda Battle Quest in “Nintendo Land.”

Since the Gamepad is wireless, it can be used when away from the TV, but not too far away. You can play a game on it while in another room in the house, but it needs to be in close proximity to the console. You’ll want to make sure you’re in close proximity to the charger, too. All that technology inside the Gamepad takes a hit on battery life; after four hours of continuous gameplay it begins to warn you of its need for juice.

The Games
In 2006, the Wii launched with “Wii Sports,” a game included in the box and built to demonstrate the capabilities of the system. “Wii Sports” was big on simplicity, utilizing just a few buttons and bit of stick waving, making it the ultimate casual gaming experience.

Today’s Wii U’s launch is complimented by “Nintendo Land,” a world that contains 12 mini-games in one. (It comes in the box with the $ 350 Deluxe Wii U version and costs $ 60 on its own.) Some games take advantage of the stylus while others require a mix of the analog sticks, motion capabilities, and the actual touchscreen. The variety is a great showcase but lacks the level of simplicity that made “Wii Sports” an instant hit.

If anything, the Wii U’s sampling of gameplay varieties will get you excited thinking what might be possible with the new hardware. Drawing with the stylus on your GamePad and seeing the end result on a TV screen is extremely satisfying. A possible “Mario Paint” meets “Draw Something” could be gigantic. My colleague Joanna Stern couldn’t get enough of flicking stars on the touch screen in “Takamaru’s Ninja Castle,” I could see a full game centered around that mechanic doing very well.

At launch, there are almost two-dozen titles with various degrees of GamePad integration, spanning almost every genre. It feels like there should be more that directly take advantage of the touchscreen, however. We will be reviewing these over the course of the week, but I will say the $ 60 New Super Mario Bros. U seems like a must-have, just to experience Mario in HD for the first time.

The Social and Media Capabilities
With the Wii U comes a broadening of the Nintendo Network, the structure that has allowed Nintendo 3DS players to compete with each other online. On the Nintendo Network, video chat is now available through the GamePad‘s front-facing camera.

Mii avatars are being more integrated than ever into games, you can expect to be the star of the game more often and to see your Miis interacting with those of your friends, sharing screenshots, messages and accomplishments.

Even with more social networking and revamped cooperative play, the focus of this system is bringing back single players and defining Nintendo as a brand for both social gatherings and “me time,” hence the “U” in Wii U. More “hardcore” single player games will be in the mix as well, reflected at launch with “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2″ and “Batman: Arkham City” availability.

Like the competing consoles, Nintendo is also making moves to bring media capabilities to the console with YouTube, Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Video integration. Nintendo has also announced TVii, an interface that integrates with those Internet video services and your cable box, but it has been delayed until December.

The Bottom Line
On paper, the Wii U sounds like a simple win. Take Nintendo’s best-selling handheld, their best-selling system (Wii), the graphics of their competitors and mash that up with latest developments in tablet technology. And in many ways it is, combining the best of the last five years in an incredibly unique and well-designed package. That said, there’s a ways to go in terms of games that take advantage of the touchscreen, the GamePad’s battery life, and we really do wish another controller was included in the box.

Wii U has major potential and if Nintendo plays their cards right, the system can become a major player, especially once the media capabilities and game options are fully stocked. The second-generation Wii might not be as game-changing as the orginal, but it certainly is a lot of fun to play with.

Joanna Stern contributed to this review.

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