Atari reps screened over 100 applicants and thankfully only picked the 10 best to go head-to-head in front of the crowd. As you can imagine, they were all really terrible. I'd say maybe one or two even had voice, while the rest just went up there and screamed into the mic. The winner, a guy from Brooklyn with the words "I Drop Hot Shit" on the back of his shirt, received a Nintendo Wii, a copy of Ready 2 Rumble Revolution, and two tickets to see an upcoming fight at Madison Square Garden.

Pictures after the jump!

Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror is now available for purchase n the website, which offers DRM-free classic PC games at low, low prices - in this case only $5.99. Featuring a mad drug kingpin and the potential rebirth of a Mayan god, it's adventuring gaming at it's finest. For adventure gaming at its even more finest, stay tuned for Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon, which should also be added to the site shortly.

The two pay games come as part of a deal between Revolution and GoG that previously saw the release of two free games on the site - Beneath a Steel Sky and Lure of the Temptress. As I have planned, GoG.com is quickly becoming a haven for fans of old adventure titles. Except, of course, Blood Net. I shall not rest!

Broken Sword's Riddles can now be Solved at GOG.com

To ring in the New Year, GOG.com offers DRM-free versions of two entries in Revolution Software's adventure series

Warsaw, Poland – December 30 – Closing out 2008, GOG.com (http://www.gog.com), the digital distribution platform with DRM-free classic games, announced another new deal with Revolution Software. After releasing two of Revolution Software's classic point-and-click freebies just a week ago – Beneath a Steel Sky (http://www/gog.com/en/gamecard/beneath_a_steel_sky) and Lure of the Temptress (http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/lure_of_the_temptress) – GOG.com will soon expand its games catalogue with the additions of Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror (http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/broken_sword_the_smoking_mirror) and Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon (http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/broken_sword_the_sleeping_dragon).

The Broken Sword series introduces gamers to the adventures of George Stobbart and Nicole Collard, pushing players through gripping plots based on history and mythology. Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror uses an upgraded version of the renowned Virtual Theatre game engine developed by Revolution Software, and Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon is based on a 3D graphics engine using a direct control mechanism. Both games will be available at the incredibly low price of $5.99 – DRM-free and fully compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista.

“The Broken Sword series is another great addition to our ever growing games catalogue. The games offer beautiful graphics and, most of all, great stories that will keep you glued to your computer for hours,” said Adam Oldakowski, Managing Director of GOG.com. “We're very happy to welcome Revolution Software to our site. We're grateful they agreed to add their freeware games to our catalogue – which have done very well – and I believe that the Broken Sword series will be as popular on GOG.com as the two free games.”

Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror (http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/broken_sword_the_smoking_mirror) is now available at GOG.com with the release of Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon (http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/broken_sword_the_sleeping_dragon) planned in the near future. This announcement puts an official end to “GOG.com fever month,” but that doesn't mean we don’t have a few more things up our sleeves for all fans of gaming oldies.

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I thought it was weird Nintendo would go with that. I thought it sounded really gimmicky and too cutesy.

Now when he meets people, Wii says, "My name is Wii. I'm the original." And while he got pee-pee jokes as a kid, friends now ask him: "Oh, Wii, are you going to go home to play with yourself?" Oh, the hilarity.

A Man Named Wii Describes How Nintendo's Game Console Changed His Life [MTV News]

And if you're still pissy about having to refer to your new Nintendo console as the Wii, maybe this dull the pain of not owning a "Revolution."

Japanese people have a funny habit of abbreviating names. For instance if you have a "Family Computer," people call it "Famicom". We at Nintendo had thought of giving it a name that can not be abbreviated. It is a very short official name, and we wanted to add other words to create a new additional name. Such as "Wii Sports" "Wii Play" and so on. We debated how the Wii might be thought of in the English speaking countries. And we came to a conclusion that there is no other choice but to use this short, appealing name.

Feel better? I'm guessing "no." Michael McWhertor

Shigeru Miyamoto Talk Asia Interview [CNN]

Over at Game|Life, Chris Kohler has a rather hasty but somewhat interesting summary of a Nintendo.jp feature on the design philosophy and evolution of the Wii.

Nintendo chief hardware dude Genyo Takeda talks about how, as soon as GC was finished, they had to start thinking about the next hardware system. If they followed the accepted industry roadmap, they'd think about giving it better graphics and more power.

But then they started thinking, wait a minute, even if we do this, is it really going to have as much of an impact on players relative to the cost? If you give people 1, they want 2, give them that and they want 3. Where does it stop? 5, 10, 100...? This creates a sort of malaise because they'll never be satisfied.

So they figured they wanted to create something different. They started to wonder why video game systems couldn't be refined like other technology — like, rather than make a bigger, more powerful system, take what you have and make the chips smaller, make the box smaller, make it consume less power.

Ultimately, they decided they wanted to take the GameCube level hardware and make it so efficient that it would only use 1/3rd to 1/4th the power, while still maintaining high performance. Chris says this is only a partial summary — he'll post more tomorrow. Good, because that seems like pretty much the worst idea for a console ever, from a gamer's perspective. It's like reading about the design evolution of my utterly craptacular green-friendly Florian Eckhardt

Iwata Interviews Wii Developers [Game|Life]

The Nintendo Revolution.

It had a good ring to it. Maybe a little more longwinded than Nintendo usually is, maybe even a touch pretentious. But a good ring. The name of a new console. It sounded right.

And then shock, disbelief. Outrage, in some quarters. Laughter, certainly. I was absolutely convinced that "Wii" was a joke, and that we would get the punchline at E3. A giant "gotcha" after a hilarious media storm. But I was so wrong it hurt. And kept hurting. GayGamer's soothing balm is my only solace:

Sunday will mark the 4 month (1 year in gay relationship time) anniversary of the console formerly known as the Revolution being renamed the Wii.

At the time, wii all had some strong feelings about the name change. As clearly evidenced by the fan art you see. It was all so surreal.

In all honesty, I've ceased thinking about it. Wii is still a funny word, but the novelty is gone and I simply accept it now. Next shock, please. Eliza Gauger

"Wii" Forgive? [GayGamer]

I tend to dislike words that end with a squealing double e phoneme: I will take pains, for example, to avoid words like 'penny' or 'scrunchee', instead referring to them as 'one cent pieces' and 'that elastic sphincter trailer park tramps put in their hair', respectively. So it's surprising to me now that I can say 'Nintendo Wii' without finding myself giving an inadvertent, full body squirm.

I'm amazed by this: I would never have guessed it two months ago when the name change was announced. Don't get me wrong: named after a toddler's euphemism for his tiny, pre-pubescent penis, Wii is still the stupidest fucking name a console could possibly have. But the sexy hardware and the possibilities it represents have successfully brainwashed me into a Manchurian Candidate for Nintendo.

Still, I'm glad some people haven't sold out as quickly as I have: CNet has named the name change of the Revolution to the Wii as number 9 in their list of the 10 worst technology blunders in Q2 2006. "Nintendo Revolution sounds cool. Nintendo Wii sounds dumb. That's about all there is to say." I dunno, guys... I somehow managed to say some more! Florian Eckhardt

The 10 worst technologies in Q2 2006 [CNet]

For example:

Edinburgh International Games Festival 2006 21st - 22nd of August 2006

Description: The festival celebrates the best of the interactive entertainment industry and creates an environment where the development and publishing community can celebrate the latest creative milestones and look to future innovations.

Venues: Royal College of Physicians / Odeon, Edinburgh, UK

Notes: Co-located with the EIEF06 Edge Award. Nintendo is on the sponsors list.

Likelihood of Nintendo related news high.

By the powers invested in me, through the sole discretion of Gawker Media Inc., I hereby dub this the most useful Nintendo-related bit of news of the day... perhaps the week! Brian Crecente

Road to Release: All Major Gaming-Related Events Until the End of the Year [Nintendo Revolution]

Evil Avatar spotted a rumor as juicy as it is implausible about an upcoming PS3 peripheral designed by Primesense:

In conclusion, we have a very reliable source that claims Sony will have a PS3 peripheral which will recognize a user and his entire environment as well as his movements and will incorporate them into useful, in-console actions. The applications of this tech to gaming are obvious and if this story is proved right, Sony may yet manage to steal Nintendo's thunder in this generation of the console wars.

Ha ha. Yeah, right. Nintendo ON, anyone? Crecente thinks this could be for real — however, a shoddily designed site proclaiming a full virtual reality space for the PS3 is a bit hard to swallow, especially when even MIT grads who are merely the physical projections into our dimension of hovering astral brains have barely been able to get the tech to work right.Florian Eckhardt

PS3 Secret Hardware Revealed (via Evil Avatar)

Stop me if you've heard this one: A video games journalist and a Nintendo executive walk into a pub. The Nintendo executive slaps a poodle onto the bar, exposes himself, then blurts out the release date for the Wii.

Haven't heard that one? That's okay, we'll tell it to you sans the poodle: A French blogger is reporting that he had a drunken conversation with a Nintendo executive at an airport bar, during which conversation it was leaked that the Wii will be released on the 30th of October in Japan and only about a week later in the US or Europe.

The official Nintendo announcement about this should come in September, but it makes perfect sense from our perspective: Beat the PS3 out the door. And lest we forget, we've heard the early November rumor before. Florian Eckhardt

Novembre, Mois De La Wii? [Inpactvirtuel.com]

Regardless, I doubt highly that they would dare change it yet again, but the rumors are flowing like wine:

We have received over 200,000 e-mails with complaints about the Wii, and the console name has been commonly associated with urine. We have been the target of many jokes, and we strongly believe that it's a bad thing for the company's reputation.

This from a mysterious "Mike" at the Nintendo marketing department. Nintendo vehemently denies the mere suggestion that they are considering other names, and dares you to say that to their face.

I could not reach Nintendo for comment on this particular post, but as soon as I got tired of their hold music (a Limp Bizkit cover of the Yoshi's Island theme) and hung up, I got a text message from Joel that just said: "get laptop & leve hous now dnt look outsde gt out now!!1"

I started to hear scrabblings at my door, and recognized the potent aroma of Nintendo fanboy wafting up from the street. Thank god for my innate ability to scale vertical surface using an exuded sort of bio-glue on my fingertips, or I never would have escaped.

Thanks Joel for the warning, and for reminding me to bring my laptop so that even in terrified exile, I can update your goddamned site.

More here [GamesforWii, via NintendoGossip]

This clip's a few month's old and really short, but explains everything. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Studio Cook] Thanks, Andre!

New Zelda: Twilight Princess Screenshots [British Gaming Blog]

Wishful thinking or print game journalism's shortcomings? The June issue of Game Informer still refers to the Nintendo Wii as the "Revolution." This is from a monthly glossy that claims to be "The World's #1 Computer & Video Game Magazine." Ehem. Surely, the mag's nimble publishing wheels move fast enough to change stuff like this. The Wii has been named for what, over a month? That's like a year in blog dating. Brian Ashcraft

I Do Love Print [Game Informer] Thanks, Evan!

With the Revolution name dead and buried, Nintendo fans no longer have that electrifying image of a Soviet-themed fist clutching a controller and lifted defiantly into the sky to rally behind. Comparatively, the Wii brand name has no strong imagery associated with it. The new name is a small child's euphemism for the movement of his bladder, not particularly conducive to tasteful illustration.

Luckily, Huzzah Goods has come to the rescue with their handsome Jolly Roger themed Wii/Revolution/Whatever! shirts. Called 'Skull and Crossmotes', the shirt will set you back about 17 bones come May 29th. Thanks to everyone who sent this in! - Florian Eckhardt

Skull & Crossmotes [Huzzah Goods]

• $249 Price tag •Virtual Console (we knew this) • 3d Controller (we knew this) • ALWAYS online (console is always online, even when OFF) • Built in speaker on the controller • No improved graphics on Virtual Console (as in, they aren't redoing the models, doesn't talk about framerates and such). • TG16 will have it's 1st party games out at launch, 3rd party will come later as demand increases. • Estimated prices for the VC are "a few dollars for NES, $5 for SNES and $10 for N64 • VC games are pro-scan enabled. • $250 "seems appropriate" • More 3rd party exclusives than the Cube

Zelda details after the jump:

Zelda information:

•Zelda is 80% complete, delay was for graphic tweaks, wii functions and because they want the game to be measured on a scale of 1 to 120 instead of 1 to 100.
• NO SWINGING THE CONTROLLER for the sword, you just press a button. There are some cases where you will swing though. Reason = you'll get tired too fast
• Controller does sound effects
• Widescreen on the REV only!
• Navi is only when you play on the REV.
• Something with online is planned but no battle mode.
• More dungeons than OOT already
•More items too

$249? We're there.
EGM Spillin' Wii Beans - New Details. [4CR]

Kotaku reader Daniel K. sent us in this mysterious photograph of a flamboyant man dressed entirely in gaudy leopard print duds hanging out with Koji Kondo at E3. Do you recognize him? Who is he? One of our on-site editors probably knows, but they are all sucking their thumbs whilst embryonically nuzzled in a booth babe's tequila-filled womb right now.

Daniel's email is after the jump! We're sort of intrigued ourselves, if only because we've never seen anyone pull off head-to-toe leopard print before.

I know E3 must be going stupenderriffically for you guys (it sure is for me). I don't know if you guys know or not, but it seems Koji Kondo (the legendary composer of Mario and Zelda music) was in the Wii booth the past couple days, playing the conductor game (on that rotating platform thingo) - I took three shots of him playing before I recognized who he was, and then completely geeked out when I finally did realize...and got a pic with him. (I just happened to run into Reggis later and got a pic there too! But that's another story)

Anyways, here is the bit where I'm asking for help identifying someone (I have pics). I went back to that area of the Wii booth later, and found that there were two other gentlemen sitting with Mr. Kondo, one regular business-y lookin' dude (not sure who he was), and another fella....all in leopard print clothing. Now, I'd seen the leopard guy yesterday, and last year too, but who is he??? I asked the booth girl, and she said the dude made Kirby and Pokemon. Now, we're goin' off at least several degrees of misinformation here, because when I get home and look it up, nope, turns out that ain't him.

Well, I had ended up getting a picture with him (when the booth girl asked him about a pic, she even yelled out "Hey! Leopard!"), so I can provide some clues that would help an investigation.

1) He's gotta be high up in the ranks (last year, a friend saw him being shown around Nintendo's booth by some suits), especially if he's rubbing elbows with Kondo.
2) His Starbucks cup holder had the name "Ash" written on it.
3) He loves his leopard print (wears it every E3). It is EVERYwhere. His shades, jeans, shoes!
4) His nametag even has leopard print.

Who is this Leopard Nintendo Man???? It's like his identity is supposed to be secret, because his badge is constantly and conveniently obstructed from a clear view (in my pics anyways). I wonder if Shigeru ever hits up clubs in leopard print too.

I guess when you're a Big N big shot, you can dress in all the leopard you want.

IGN Wii: What is your plan for the Wi-Fi Connection and how might it compare to Xbox Live?

Takahashi Tezuka: Well, the Wii Wi-Fi Connection works the same as the Nintendo DS one. It's the three qualities that we emphasize. It's easy, safe and free.

IGN Wii: Will it have a central interface a la Live that all games will interact with, or will it be different on a game-by-game basis?

Tezuka: It'll be just like the DS so the interface will depend on the software.

IGN Wii: Will Wi-Fi Connection on Wii also use a Friends Code system?

Tezuka: Yes.

Sorry, Nintendo, that sucks. Most of us were happy to leave behind the entering of endless and easily fuddled cryptographic strings into our consoles when we stopped playing Castlevania 2. Although Tezuka emphasizes this is part of Nintendo's strategy to keep WiFi free, we'd be happy to pony up some cash as an option. Scrawling down a 16 character friend code and laboriously entering it just so our girlfriend can enter our Animal Crossing town is worth paying to avoid.

Wii Wi-Fi Just Like DS [IGN]

E3 '06 is also the debut stage for our latest collaboration with Nintendo: we've possibly hinted at it in the past, but then again we've also hinted at a lot of other things, because we're like that. Yes, Diddy Kong Racing is our first official DS project, and Nintendo are busily promoting it as part of their next wave of big DS offerings for late 2006. Based on the N64 classic but improved and expanded in ways that only the DS allows, you can see the first shot and movie snippet over on NCL's website if you haven't already.

A few tantalising DKR DS info-bites to keep you going: eight-player single-card and multi-card WiFi play, touch-screen and microphone compatibility, some familiar faces in newly playable form, remodelled and retextured tracks, customisable vehicles, new modes, weapons and challenges, a little something called TT's Wish Races where you can create your very own tracks... and it doesn't end there.

Rare did it's best work with Nintendo, so it's good to see them climb back into bed with them. Now let's see what they can do with a Perfect Dark secret on the Wii.

Rare Confirms Diddy Kong Racing Involvement

Asked about Super Mario Bros. Galaxy release date, Shigeru Miyamoto responded:

[Galaxy] is progressing along quite well, but it's often said that when I get involved in a project I upend the tea table. I don't want to promise anything yet. But if it's not a launch title it will definitely be there within the first six months.

That sounds to us like a very cautious way of saying that Super Mario Bros. Galaxy isn't nearly as far along as games that were already in the pipeline for the Gamecube and are merely being ported over to the Wii late in development. Is this the first Nintendo console launch without a Mario game?

Miyamoto on Super Mario Bros. Galaxy Release [IGN]