In the long run, whether or not the Wii is a fad really doesn't matter since it's still selling like hotcakes and still has the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 eating its dust. Peter Moore, former Microsoft exec and now head of EA Sports, believes that the Wii will win the console war. Details in the full article.

Microsoft has been asked some intriguing questions about their online service strategy involving Avatars and more. The software giant said that they're not taking ideas from Nintendo and they're not threatened by Sony's PlayStation Home. David Gosen speaks for the boys in green after the jump.

The Wii has the Mii, and the PlayStation 3 has Home. The Xbox 360 has... Avatars? Word has it that Microsoft will be introducing its own version of Miis (Yoo?) this holiday. More in the full article.

Variety is the spice of life, and in this industry, it's the rumors that mix it up a little for those of us on the pulse of video gaming news. And what better way to get things going than a round of rumors direct from the master himself, Electronic Gaming Monthly's (EGM) Quatermann. Check out what he has to say in the full article.

Big movies sell games. They may not necessarily be good games, but they sell. Some have chosen to avoid the genre altogether, choosing to stop buying video games based on movies. It spares them of potential heartache, but there are always exceptions to the rule.

Which of course begs the question: What movies have come and gone without getting themselves a video game?

(Editor's Note: Well... Gunpowder treason and plot aside, last week's QuickPeek was a bit of a riot - and had a lot of things not to be forgot. But hey! Today marks QuickPeek's 20th edition! Wohoo!)

Hellzyeah. It's QuickJump QuickPeek 20! The big Two-OH, baby! To celebrate, we're adding a whole new section to QuickPeek (sorry, no spoilers)! More on that and other industry news behind the jump!

Article originally posted on Nov 10, 2007 at 02:38 PM.

According to a report by The New York Times, Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime sees the Wii as not just another option to the more powerful Xbox 360 from Microsoft and PlayStation 3 from Sony. In fact, it appears the Japan-based gaming giant is actually not settling for thwarting hardcore gaming alone.

 

"We don't consider just Sony and Microsoft our main competitors," said Fils-Aime. Nintendo's Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aime are planning on taking on the mainstream entertainment market, using an affordable, family-friendly gaming console.

"If people decide to stay home on a Saturday night playing Wii bowling instead of going to the movies, we win. If people spend 22 minutes making their perfect Mii instead of watching a sitcom, we win," Fils-Aime continued.

One of the more common sentiments online (in forums, boards, etc.) holds that Sony's PlayStation 3 was designed from the start as an all-in-one multimedia entertainment package, while Microsoft's Xbox 360 serves "core" gamers who rely on bleeding edge graphics and visually stunning games. The Wii doesn't deliver on either of those fronts, focusing on what is more important than the latest in pixel-shader technology. Fils-Aime explained:

Both of our competitors have focused on an old paradigm. They focused on more technological horsepower as the path to success. They fell into a trap of just listening to their core user base rather than focusing on attracting new customers.

According to him, every household has a geek or techie that can set up their console or PC to an LCD TV or monitor. But when the geek isn't there, what the people eventually want is to simply attach the console to an average TV, switch it on and see it work instantly. Nintendo of America's president concluded:

That's what Apple got so right with the iPod. There were plenty of MP3 players out there, but Apple came along with a product you could just pick up and play. And that's what we think we got right with the Wii. I think the consumer electronics industry needs to recognize that.

Back in the day when the world was simple, gamers were pretty happy with what they played coming from the big publishers. All they had to do was buy a console, select a few initial games to play through, and when they finally get sick of their titles, they wait a few months until the developers release a new game and then pray real hard that they end up liking it.

That was the scenario in the last few generations of console gaming. Not until the 32-bit age was over did we see the first semblances of games created by gamers themselves on console platforms. Obviously, not a lot of people had the desire or know-how to create their own game cartridges, and even if they did, there was no internet to serve as the stage where they can rant and rave about their genius.

Gaming is a business. As a matter of fact, it's one of the biggest entertainment industries in the world and it grows as we speak. The production of games has always been based on studies where companies try to dig real deep in the hearts of target markets and try everything to appease the creative hunger of their patrons to ultimately get the market to buy the games that they put out.

In the documentary "The Architects of Cool" it was revealed that multinational brands, including game development outfits actually have entire departments who monitor, consult and analyze "cool kids." These are kids who are leaders in their peer groups and have the highest propensity to set trends because of their reputations. By basing their next product models on ideas of these trend-setters, they increase the chances that what they release will be the next big thing. (Though the concept behind fat plumbers in red jump suits fighting spiky reptiles may not have been a product of this method.)

Given the fact that cheerleaders and jocks have secretly been getting their way all along even with the games we play, the question now rises - what about the geek's ideas? Do they matter at all? Does anyone care what the fat kid thinks about Mortal Kombat? Fifteen years ago, the answer was no.

The full article awaits after the jump!

   

We literally do not know what to make out of this. The March edition of the Official Xbox Magazine (OXM) has revealed and shown a lot already: From Escape to Butcher Bay, to Rainbow Six Vegas, to Shivering Isles, and even Miis. Yeah, you read right. The cute and adorable (sorry) avatars for Nintendo's new console.

Accordingly, the normal shots for the magazine's editors were replaced with their Mii counterparts. One of the editors wrote, "We like our Wii-generated Mii portraits so much, we thought we'd run them two issues in a row. Next month, we'll go back to our ever-familiar photo."

Now, we don't want to hear flames from both Xbox and Wii fans or comments saying this isn't news. That's why it's posted under Off Topic.

It's thought-provoking and a bit striking as an example of cross-platform goodness; you don't have to just stick with one console, and even the OXM folks think so.

Apparently, people who own multiple consoles have been having a lot of fun by mixing and matching the features of each unit, and the results, you have to admit, are pretty darn cool.

It all started with the Mii figure of Gears of War star, Marcus Fenix. Now, using the face-mapping features of Rainbow Six: Vegas, we have people's Mii faces showing up (I bet the makers never saw THAT coming), as shown in this image which was taken by one of the guys from Kotaku.

Of course, some people have pointed out that the head size is too big and may just be the perfect target for a sniper, and that the "glow in the dark" look won't help when taking cover (though some have suggested that scanning a darker image may do the trick), but we don't really think that all this is going to stop the imminent flood of face-mapping experiments that are sure to follow.

As early as now, there have already been ideas floating around which include face-mapping pets, newspaper mugshots, celebrity Miis, and various household objects. So don't be surprised if one day, while playing Rainbow Six, you turn around to find yourself face to face with... I dunno... some anime character Mii? Gandhi Mii?