In a statement, its management board said it "took note of the friendly character of this offer" and would meet again to give its opinion, following a report on the bid by independent analysts.

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Navigating between the Scylla of Sony and the Charybdis of Microsoft and accused of relying too heavily on its stable of retro-friendly character franchises, Nintendo built upon its maverick strategy success with the Nintendo DS to buck the trend of the graphics wars.

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Could the Mini Cooper be such a success partly because its "face" reminds some people of a friendly cartoon character?

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Rooms are filled with local art collected by the current matriarch, Dagmar Meneghello, whose daughter Romina manages the property, and this pair of friendly eccentrics lend the place lots of character and soul.

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