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)

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.