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This week’s Torch Newsletter (#899) has just been posted online for VIP members and was mailed to print-edition subscribers earlier today. This issue includes the first part of the 2006 Torch Awards including MVP, Best Wrestler, Best Heel, Best Babyface, Best Feud, Best PPV, and Best TV Series, featuring reader results, staff picks and comments, and Keller’s analysis of the results… The Specialists present their top picks for MVPs in each of their respective promotions… Wade Keller’s End Notes looks at the potential ramifications of the Vince McMahon tanning salon story… Plus WWE Newswire, TNA Newswire, ROH Newswire, On Point Interview with Austin Aries, Backtrack with quotes from Paul Heyman to the Torch, The Big Story on Raw, Smackdown and Impact, and more…

Following his loss to Chuck Liddell at UFC 57, Randy "The Natural" Coture retired from Mixed Martial Arts to pursue other goals and train the next generation of fighters. On the heels of the death of Carlson Gracie, this news makes for a sad…

FiReaNGeL writes “Researchers at the University of New South Wales are developing new coatings they hope will be used for self-cleaning surfaces in hospitals and the home. It’s made of a special nanoparticle coating that absorbs ultraviolet light below a certain wavelength and gives the particles an oxidizing quality stronger than any commercial bleach. Say goodbye to tedious bathroom cleaning!”

In this week’s “Real Deal with Pat McNeill” VIP Audio Update, the unveiling of the big “Real Deal” surprise segment Pat’s been teasing in the VIP forums. Plus this week’s Hot Five Stories including the accusations against Vince McMahon, Mick Foley’s online comments about Edge, Saturday’s big Ring of Honor surprise in Long Island and Sunday’s upcoming rematch between Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and A.J. Styles. Also, the day’s wrestling news, including another WrestleMania match leaked on television, WWE’s Hall of Fame plans for WrestleMania weekend…

Filed under: Culture, PlayStation 2

src="http://www.joystiq.com/media/2006/02/katamari_mega64_video.jpg" />
Anyone who’s played Katamari
Damacy has the same thought, at one point or another, "What must it look like to all these people to see a
short green guy rolling their friends–and cats–up onto a sticky ball?"

The pranksters at href="http://mega64.com">Mega64 apparently count themselves amongst that group, and they’ve decided to find out
what would happen. The cats? They don’t like it so much. Neither do baseball players; however, basketball players
understand the katamari! Who died and made that baseball field jerk the King of all Cosmos?

[Thanks,
Jason]

Read on for an embedded video, or check out their site for links
to this and plenty of other videos!

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· Never mind what we mused about earlier; Harrison Ford seems to believe his career is going to get a healthy dose of Indy 4 pretty soon.

· We knew there was something too perfect…

Rev. Joseph Lowery gave an impassioned eulogy at Coretta Scott’s funeral today. You can watch it here.

Four U.S. presidents were in attendance at the funeral, including President Bush. Among Reverand Lowery’s statements was this one, which was greeted with thunderous applause and a standing ovation:

We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. [Standing Ovation] But Coretta knew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor.

We’re not sure what it says about the state of your love life when you find yourself seeking advice in the form of an 8-part streaming video coaching session from a terrifying Star Jones homunculus,…

DEMO 2006: 70 companies gather at a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona to compete head on for our attention. $15,000 buys you 5 minutes in front of 700 people, and a chance to make history (which is not recorded real time because the wifi is crushed under the load and no one can get online). At […]

Filed under: Mac, PC, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Revolution, Xbox 360

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Though we’re bummed that Engadget didn’t engage in a little incest and create a "Best Gaming Blog"
category just for us, the 26-category span of the 2005 Engadget Awards is otherwise comprehensive and fun to read.

There’s plenty here for gamers. Engadget picked the Xbox 360 as the Gadget of the Year, though their readers–whom
we must assume have too little gaming joy in their lives–chose the Apple iPod. Engaget picked yet another
gaming device as the Worst Gadget of the Year. It shouldn’t take any of you two guesses to nail that one, especially
after this hint: it starts with "Gizm" (that’s a hard G sound, not a soft one) and ends with
a Homeric, forehead-slapping "do."

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Filed under: Xbox 360, Driving

src="http://www.adjab.com/media/2006/02/Test-Drive-Unlimited-9joy.jpg" alt="" />
Some new screens have
surfaced for Atari’s upcoming Xbox 360 racer, dubbed Test Drive Unlimited. In addition, the publisher has
released the following gameplay details:

• More than 125 licensed and customizable vehicles
• Massively Open Online Racing (M.O.O.R.) via Xbox Live
• Unlimited number of players can be on the same
  island at the same time
• Voice support for up to seven other players

With so many
"perty" racing games being made available on the 360, which one are you most looking forward to?

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E! Online - In the first showdown
between Survivor and Dancing with the Stars, the
franchises emerged unscathed, according to Nielsen Media Research's
ratings for the TV week ended Sunday.