It was a very pre-mature knock out for Britain's Ricky Hatton in his "fight" against the Pacman, Manny Pacquiao, and I say that's a darned good way to end this week in gaming news (the astounding fight, I mean, not Hatton's shocking cuddle time with the floor), which, in itself also saw an intense fight in and out of the ring. From big games' updates to last-minute reveals, this edition of the QuickJump QuickPeek is a definite winner. And we've got it all stored here for you. Quick as a flash, like the Pacman's deciding left hook.

Like they say, once you're at the top, there's nowhere to go but down. In Shigeru Miyamoto's case, he went down quite a bit. After being at the top of Time 100 last year, the Nintendo gaming mastermind drops to #42 of Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people from various fields and industries. So who else made it to the list? Find out after the jump.

And yet even more (online) publications are rolling out their "best of 2008" lists. Following the rather compromising list from Time Magazine comes another one from Seattle Times. Though the list seems questionable of their credibility in video games evaluation (well, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, right?), the awards they've given out are still well-deserved of the games they've listed.

With 2008 drawing to a close, it's that time of the year when publications roll out their very own "Top of 2008" lists. Enter Time magazine. Their "Top 10 Video Games of 2008" list is online, and the winners are... Wii Play, Wii Fit, Wii Music, Wii Sports, Wii Cooking, Wii Hair-dressing, Wii Pony-riding, Wii... naww, just kidding. See the top 10 list in the full article!

Hardcore gamers belong to an invisible subculture in America made of enthusiasts who love games with a lonely, alienated, unironic passion. Or at least, that's what you'll find out from a Time Magazine article with Bungie Studios' upcoming Xbox 360 game Halo 3 on its cover.

To be fair, the article gave praise to Halo for its story "worthy of note." Master Chief's exploits are defined as "rich and complicated in ways that we're not used to in video games." Since our Spartan guy isn't Donkey Kong or an Italian plumber trying to save his girlfriend, he's deep - enigmatic supersoldier guy behind a mask and battle armor kind of deep.

Such a bad-ass video game character managed to have his own following of fans, and Bungie's office is considered by Time as one of his followers' temples. Those who dwell in Master Chief's universe were considered "hard-core."

Even before the third installment's release, Halo 3 is expected to be the premier example of video games as art form with genuine emotional meaning. That art though, is "not shared by the world at large." Mainstream media still enjoys its Harry Potter and Star Wars, while Halo gamers are left in their so-called ghetto.

As Time Magazine's writer sees it, Bungie Studios is yet to break out of its "invisible geek ghetto" to join the popular kids. Master Chief is not considered mainstream yet, and Bungie hasn't legitimized Halo by associating it with more "respectable" media. To stress this point, the writer said that "It's doubtful that many people reading this could say exactly, or even approximately, what the Halo games are about."

Included in the 200 candidates for Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People of the Year" is one of gaming's very own icons, Shigeru Miyamoto. His page in their poll for the list describes him as such:

AGE: 54
OCCUPATION: Game Designer for Nintendo game systems
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0

PRO: Most successful game designer, creator of Super Mario, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda, whose new platform, the Wii, is currently the top-selling game console.

CON: His perfectionist tendencies often result in games being significantly delayed and, despite the Wii's gameplay innovation, its graphics are far behind the competition.

Console preferences aside, if you're a gamer, you'll definitely agree that it's time that this guy gets recognized by Time. Sure we could all name a whole other game designers that have made games that rival his, and we all have our personal favorites but we can all agree that this guy has something iconic about him.

Given his influence, and the inspiration he's given to the gaming industry and to gamers in general, we here at QJ really wish that that "Number of Time Covers", and that "Previous Appearances on the Time 100" figure be more than zero. We feel that he deserves the inclusion.

It may look like the antithesis of what a Video game of the Year recipient should be. The graphics, as Time Magazine describes it, looks like Colecovision, and yet Wii Sports bagged the title.

Yep, that's right. Time Magazine has awarded the top Video Game award of 2006 to Nintendo's Wii Sports for the Wii. According to Time, what's so good about this mini-sports anthology is that it does bring you right into the game, making it more fun. The power of the motion-sensing Wiimote makes it all the more enticing.

And it ain't so hard to imagine why. After all, the game does bring sports fun right in your own living room. Well, it does look like Nintendo's innovative marketing strategy did work after all. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that you don't have to pay a cent for the game as well, since it comes free with the console.

Gears of War for the Xbox 360 comes in at second place, while the New Super Mario Bros. checks in at third. To find out the rest of the top 10 winners, head on over to their site by clicking on the Read link below. See if any of your bets made it.

  

We don't mean to add to the agony of waiting all you Halo 3 fans are experiencing but we couldn't resist showing you a couple of screenshots featuring Master Chief gleaming like nobody's business in his full armored glory. These shots alone could convert non-Halo fans into die-hard believers - which is what Bill Gates wants.

While MS is still hush-hush on Halo 3's anticipated launch, Bill did mumble something to Time magazine that it would be ready by the time the rival Sony's PS3 becomes available. According to Time, Bill is "radiant with bloodlust" over the prospect of using Halo 3 to torpedo the upcoming PS3. He certainly has the (screen)shots to make, at the very least, a dent.