Magazine reveals Revolution details: Zelda, Super Smash Bros., Donkey Konga

While it's not exactly the kind of publication we thought would break all sorts of Revolution news, National Geographic Kids Magazine was invited by the Big N to test out the top-secret Revolution controller in Tokyo. They report, "The Revolution will be available later this year. You'll be able to use it with games you already have as well as with new games. Here are some old favorites and a few of the things you'll be able to do with this revolutionary new controller."

Wow! Let's break that down a bit:

The system will be out this year. You can believe they got this straight from Nintendo and it is consistent with earlier rumors. 2006. Done.
Backwards compatibility is of course something we've known about for awhile; however, the "old favorites" mention is so provocatively vague! They list The Legend of Zelda, Super Smash Brothers, and Donkey Konga. Question is, are they listing games or franchises? If they are listing games, does this mean the "old favorite" versions of these games (Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Melee) will use the Revolution controller to slash a sword or work as a shield? Nintendo recently said they "made no announcements" regarding such functionality. This of course does not mean there is no such functionality.
If they in fact meant "old favorite" franchises, can we infer there are next-generation versions in the works? Did they get hands-on time using the controller? Are all three games in active production, complete enough to be shown to the press?
Either possibility is far more than they've shown in earlier press demos, where they used simple gameplay demos with crude graphics to emphasize the interface. There is, of course, the possibility they were shown those same demos, and were told by Nintendo what they could expect, to snazz up the story a bit more... but why invite them out to Tokyo for just that?

Fine, we admit: Nintendo has us wrapped around their precious little finger, making us feel like awkward teenagers, gaping at a pinup of the Revolution controller in our proverbial high school locker, swooning over every little nugget of news, knees buckling whenever Shiggy or Reggie open their mouths... how much longer can we stand it?