As is now tradition, the Merriam-Webster dictionary has added to their list of words which give meaning to the latest lingo in pop culture, technology and current events.

No matter how odd the choice of adding ‘achievement whore’ may seem, the dictionary editors are adamant it shows promise for sticking around in everyday vocabulary, at least among the growing demographic of gamers.

“There will be linguistic prudes who will turn their nose up at a word like `achievement whore,”’ said Seth Gerstmann, Merriam-Webster’s president. “But it’s become a part of our language and lifestyle. It’s used by professional writers in mainstream publications. My son says it to me when I’m playing Avatar: The Last Airbender. I like it. With an attitude like that he’ll never have a higher gamerscore than me.”

One of those naysayers is Jack Abramowicz, a professor of English at the University of British Columbia, and the executive secretary of the Polish Dialect Society.

Sadly, for many gamers this achievement will always remain LOCKED

“I find the word to be grossly inappropriate and an unfitting addition to our society,” he said. “My son would be beaten severely for even thinking about using that word in my presence. I may just beat him anyway. Have you seen him?”

But Merriam-Webster traces achievement whore back to 2005 when Microsoft’s Xbox 360 unveiled a new achievement point system that tracks players “gamerscore” across all the games they play. The act of achievement whoring is defined as ‘playing games with the aim to unlock achievements rather than for pure enjoyment.’ For an example of achievement whoring at it’s worst have a look at the video below.

Today, the word shows up in countless articles, message board insults and everyday lingo. That’s all that’s required for a word to be considered for collegiate dictionary. If it become prevalent enough in society, it’s in.

But as president Gerstmann reminds us: “You never have to use the word ‘achievement whore’ unless you want to.”

For the record, he does.

More gamer pranks from around the interwebs:

• Companion Cube in God of War PSP (Ready at Dawn)
• Nintendo Demos Hardcore Smash Bros Wii (IGN)
• Hidden Characters in Killzone 2 Multiplayer (Killzone.com)
• My Wii Buddy ventriloquist game (GameStop)
• Microsoft Announces Alpine Legend (Xbox.com)
• Nintendo Announces Wii Height (i-mezzo.net)
• Dragon Quest IX on sale in Japan (Kotaku)
• Umbrella Corporation Requests Government Bailout (GameSpot)
• Konami Teases Next Metal Gear (Konami.jp)
• Razer and Valve Co-Developing Squad Shooter (RazerZone.com)
• World of Warcraft Introduces PvP Dance Battles (WorldOfWarcraft.com)
• Diablo 3 to Introduce Archivist Class (Blizzard.com)
• New StarCraft 2 Unit Announced: Terratron (StarCraft2.com)
• Cube of War gameplay video (YouTube)
• Capcom Shows Off Dark Void’s New Look (Capcom Unity)
• Bungie Introduces B.U.N.G.L.E. Pro Gaming League (Bungie.net)
• Valve Shows Sneak Peak at Next TF2 Update (TeamFortress.com)
• Crytek Announces CryENGINE 3.5 (MyCrisis)
• ThinkGeek Sells Functional Portal T-Shirts (Think Geek)
• Battlefield Heroes Partners with Swedish Company D?rk (Battlefield-Heroes.com)
• NCSoft Announces City of Heroes: Golden Age (Big Download Blog)
• The Witcher: Mysterious Secrets Announcement (Joystiq)
• id Presents World of Quake Live (QuakeLive.com)

BONUS – Japanese pranks:

• Join the Black Irem Troop, Earn Home Rewards (Irem)
• Evangelion Live Action TV Drama Announced (Yahoo! Japan)
• SNK Playmore Announces Star Radish For Famicom (SNK Playmore)
• THE TALESOFM@STER Location Test Report (Talesing)
• Lineage II Introduces New Afro Server (NCSoft)
• Final Fantasy Palace Completed In Yoyogi, Tours Offered To FFXI Players
  (Square Enix FFXI Blog)

The 100 date tour is in support of McGee’s first original song entitled “Change Spares Some”.  The song title is a clever play on words to Mcgee’s favorite saying, which is ‘spare some change’.  It is McGee’s first ever tour, and job.

McGee, who is no stranger to financial challenges, is making an extra effort to ensure all of his fans can afford to see him during these tough economic times.

“I’ve worked very hard to make sure that all Skippy McGee fans can see me for a reasonable price, with a guaranteed great view,” said McGee.  “In fact, the ticket price is up to the fans, but I recommend at least a dollar.  I gotsta eat.”

McGee has also decided not to sell tickets through Ticketmaster.  Instead, he’s going to bring along his dog, named ‘Mister Ticket’, who will wander through the crowds and bite anyone that doesn’t give McGee some money.

The opening act for the tour will be a guy named Steve.  He doesn’t play music, but he can climb trees and street-poles in addition to being able to do one-armed push-ups upon request.

The opening date for the tour is on a street corner in New Westminster sometime in June.  Get on your boots everyone, Skippy McGee is coming to a town near you.

But rest assured gentlemen, The Daily Seagull is here to help.

We’ve put together the most romantic song and video of all time that is guaranteed to sweep a woman off her feet.  This video has been proven to work magic in even the most difficult situations.  Steve, from Vancouver, wrote this after showing it to his girlfriend:

“The other night I completely forgot about our anniversary, which is also her birthday, and I went out and got plastered with the boys and watched the Canucks lose.  When I got home the next day she was pretty upset.  But then I showed her this video and suddenly we stared into eachother’s eyes and it felt like the first time we ever met, at the Roxy.  Thanks Daily Seagull!”

Charles, from Victoria, is also a successful user of this video.

“I had this crush on this girl for years, but I only ever got to see her in court when she was applying for the restraining order.  Then one day I created a fake email account and emailed this video link to her.  She replied to the email, “Who is this?”  But I know that she really meant to say “I love you”.  Thanks Daily Seagull.”

Try the video out below, and let us know how if you experience the same success!

The incident occurred when Jeremy Valker, a self-proclaimed ‘Goth’, was listening to music on a busy public bus in Downtown Vancouver. The bus was forced to stop quickly causing Valker’s headphones to fall off his head and his hand accidentally turned the volume to full blast. Everyone on the bus was expecting to hear Marilyn Manson, but instead they heard the sweet-and-sappy sounds of a Coldplay song

Barb Crawford, a passenger on the bus, saw the whole situation unfold.

“He was staring aimlessly into space, clearly pondering death, again, when all of a sudden the bus braked quickly and suddenly Chris Marten’s angelic voice swept a down the aisle. The kid was so embarrassed that his self-inflicted scars went red,” said Crawford.

Valker quickly turned down the volume of his iPod, but that damage to his reputation was already done.

“I don’t understand why he’s so embarrassed,” said Angie White, a 97 year great-grandmother. “I really love Coldplay. When I heard them playing on his stereo it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I just wanted to give the young gothic man a hug.”

Valker fled the scene and has not been heard from since.

Players will no longer be inconvenienced with such mundane tasks like pushing buttons or having to use a controller.  Once a game is loaded into the system the game will simply play itself.  All of the frustration and challenge that comes with using a motion sensing controller has been removed.

Wii Fit socks and towel!? Yes please!

The Daily Seagull was fortunate enough to be granted an interview with Nintendo overlord and reported hive mind President Satoru Iwata after we purchased 1000 Wii’s for our office in Vancouver.  While I was required to kneel and press my forehead against the floor for the duration of the interview I managed to come away not only with answers, but with some incredible Nintendo swag (pictured right and now available on eBay).

I began the interview with the hardest hitting questions.  Pointing out that this new technology would essentially take the gaming out of video games Nintendo President Satoru Iwata had this to say:

To be honest, this is the kind of radical thinking that won us the console war this generation.  Once our spies discovered what Microsoft and Sony would be bringing to the table we knew we didn’t have a chance.  They had created consoles with large hard drives, powerful CPU’s, online networks and high definition graphics.  How do you compete with that?  The answer is, you don’t.  At the time, we had an intern working in our head office named Jim Gerstmann from San Fransisco and he suggested we put some waggle in the Wii.  So, we developed some magic wands that made it seem like you were bowling and crap like that and we threw it on the market.  Who knew that people would actually love it?

However, that does not explain Nintendo’s radical move from a half-assed console to a full-assed console.  After sending our intern Guadalupe to look into the matter I spent 40 seconds reading through some website he found and came to my own conclusion.   As sales of the Wii have clearly demonstrated, the less skill and effort required to play a game the higher the sales and number of units sold.  For example, Wii Sports requires complex movement such as “swinging your arm” and progresses to more advanced moves such as “swinging your arm repeatedly.”   Thanks to millions of people around the world who have purchased the Nintendo Wii and to games such as “Wii Fit” and “Wii Music” the gaming giant is moving quickly to make gaming even more accessible.  According to Iwata it:

…was the next logical step for us.  Gamers voted with their dollars this generation and those dollars all say the same thing.  Take the game out of video games.  Why have an interactive experience when you can do nothing and still have a Nintendo experience?  What about that 1% of the market who can’t bowl a strike every time in Wii bowling?   Now everybody will be able to enjoy seeing Mario defeat Bowser and rescue the Princess.  Gamers are tired of hearing that “the princess is in another castle.”  Our AI will be able to complete every level of a game and our loyal fans will feel like they’ve really accomplished something because seeing is doing after all.

Iwata went on to describe the culture at Nintendo which provides some great insight into some of the decisions made by company over the past several years.

At Nintendo we have a word for gamers (or people as you may call them) who aren’t skilled enough to finish our games like Mario Galaxy or Zelda: The Twilight Princess.  We call them “disabled.”  Not disabled in the sense that George Bush is disabled.  Disabled in a gamer sense.  At Nintendo, we want to empower disabled people.  The Wii was the first step towards our goal of “putting the able back into disabled.”  Our goal is for all gamers to be “able” to win a game.

At this moment during the interview I managed to glance up past Mr. Iwata and see the golden mural behind his throne.  There it was, encrusted in diamonds, saphires and other precious gemstones.  “At Nintendo we put the able back in disabled.”   Unfortunately, a pressure sensitive sensor in the floor alerted the guards to my disobedience and I felt the cruel lash of a Wii Nunchuck across my back.  Before I could apologize for my carelessness I was peppered with turtle shells until I could no longer breathe.  Barely alive, Iwata placed a mushroom in my mouth and I instantly awoke to find my wounds healed and on a plane back to Canada with a bag of Nintendo swag at my feet.  I would like to sincerely thank Nintendo for their time and for giving me the fewest lashings to date during an interview.

The couple, who already have three adopted children and three biological children, are planning to travel to the Pacific Northwest this weekend to adopt the middle-aged man, named Greg Heally.

Greg is currently living in a bachelor suite on the east side of town and works in a local supermarket as an assistant manager.  He spends most of his time playing his X-Box.

The adoption insider claims that Brad and Angelina saw a picture of the 36 year old man and immediately fell in love with his round belly and receding hairline.

In the summer of 2008 both Brad and Angelina were quoted as saying ‘that their family would not be complete without a full grown man-child.  The other children need someone they can look up to.’

Greg’s biological parents, Susan and Michael Heally, were surprised to learn about the potential adoption. They found out by watching it on Entertainment Tonight while, ironically, they were having their regular Monday night meatloaf dinner with Greg, their only child.

“We were pretty surprised to see that our son was being adopted,” said Susan, and she spooned another slice of meatloaf onto Greg’s plate.  “We always dreamed that one day he would be successful, and since he’s not, we all know the next best thing is to be adopted by successful people.  It’s the Third World Country Dream”

When Brad and Angelina officially become Greg’s parents they plan on renaming him to ‘Grex’.

The movie centers around a single father of 12 children, named Giuceppe Vandeener (played by Van Damme), who falls on tough times while living in the ghettos of New York City.  After working for 15 hours straight at the docks on Christmas Eve, Giuceppe returns to his shanty house to find that his 12 children have been kidnapped and taken hostage by thugs who are seeking revenge for Giuceppe’s previous life as a street-fighting-con-artist in the streets of Guatemala.

“A Roundhouse Kick-mas” follows Giuceppe as he roundhouse kicks his children to freedom, while still maintaining the Christmas spirit.  The bad guy in the film, a robotic terrorist dressed in a Santa Claus costume, will be played by Samuel L. Jackson.

Van Damme was inspired to write the film after a recent family Christmas experience.

“Last year at Christmas my family was all enjoying a nice roundhouse kick-free dinner,” said Van Damme, with a thick accent.

“And then my Mother put broccoli on my plate when she knows that I don’t like broccoli.  So I had no choice but to give her a roundhouse kick.  When my Father went to help my Mother I had no choice but to give him a roundhouse kick too.  Then my wife Gladys looked at me, and well, you know the rest.  And if you don’t know the rest, I roundhouse kicked her in the face.”

“It was at that moment that I was inspired to write the film, A Roundhouse Kick-mas.”

Internet rumors are suggesting the final scene will involve a long-awaited showdown between Van Damme and Jackson.  Therefore, the movie is sure to provide lots of screaming, swearing and roundhouse kicks.

The expected release date is June 25, 2009.

Terrorawesomeistic.

You might ask, is that even a word?  You betcha!  And you’ll realize that when you see this movie!

Many of the cast members from the previous three films are returning for Jurassic Park 4.  They include Sam Neill (Alan Grant), Laura Dern (Ellie Sattler), Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcom), Julianna Moore (Sarah harding), Vince Vaughn (Nick Van Owen) and Ariana Richards (Lex Murphy).

Joseph Mazello was not able to reprise his role as Tim “Timmy” Murphy, and will instead be played by Anaheim Ducks defenceman Chris Pronger (see photo at bottom).  Pronger will play an awkwardly tall teenage version of Timmy.  He will still have tremendous enthusiasm for dinosaurs and lame jokes, but will also have a wicked slap shot.

Other surprise cast members include Samuel L. Jackson (Ray Arnold), and Wayne Knight (Dennis Nedry).  Both played characters that were believed to be dead in the original movie.  However, as Jackson points out, “There were no autopsies performed, and nobody actually saw my character die.  Just that his arm had fallen off, and was bloody.  You hear me?”

Jackson is taking the role very seriously, and has actually amputated his right arm to make the movie more realistic.  He will also continue his usual style of being an angry wisdom man who smokes cigarettes and says his catchphrase, “Hold on to your butts,” in every scene.  Somehow, Jackson makes it work, and the 2011 Oscar buzz has already started.

The story begins in Miami, where the characters meet for their annual “We Survived A Dinosaur Attack” picnic.  The air is filled with laughter, joy, and peanut butter sandwiches.  That is until Nedry makes his surprise appearance with the lost can of shaving cream that held the embryos from the first Jurassic Park.

Over the past 15 years, Nedry has been producing dinosaurs, and upgrading them to make them even more destructive.  Velociraptors will now carry machine guns, Tyrannosaurus Rex’s will have bazookas, and Brontosaurus’ will shoot grenades out of their necks.  There’s even a brand new dinosaur called the Terroristosaurus.

The result is total mayhem in downtown Miami.  To avoid ruining the movie, we won’t tell you that everyone dies at the end.

But they do.

This time, there are autopsies.  And … they’re performed by Horatio Caine.

This announcement comes as no surprise as The High School Musical franchise has been one of Disney’s most prolific money generators over the last 3 years.  High School Musical fever has swept across the nation and Disney is betting that it’s not going to diminish any time soon.

The star of the franchise, Zack Efron, was overjoyed to hear the news.  “I love playing the character Troy Bolton,” said Efron.  “I think that High School Musical is great representation of what life is really like in the real world.  I can’t even count how many times I’ve solved problems by singing and dancing.  It really is art imitating life.”

Disney has also released some of the names of the 25 sequels.  They are below:

High School Musical 4: College

High School Musical 6: College Dropout

High School Musical 9: Addiction

High School Musical 12: Parenthood

High School Musical 15: Relapse

High School Musical 17: Divorce

High School Musical 21: Jail-time

The Daily Seagull hit the streets to get fans’ reactions; which was overwhelmingly positive.  We asked one 13-year-old girl how excited she was and she just opened her mouth but didn’t say a word.  We assume she was screaming in a high pitch though, because every dog within a 5 kilometer radius started barking.

Parents are also excited about the sequels because the characters in High School Musical set such good examples.  “My daughters have seen the movies over 15,000 times,” said Bethany Grunden, mother of 3 young teenagers.  “I would much rather have my kids watch these movies and pretend to have real friends instead of going out and actually making real friends, cause that could be dangerous.”

Production for High School Musical 4 is set to start in the new year.