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.

There's still some time left before Sony PlayStation 3 owners will get to experience the PlayStation Home virtual community in its full version, but as long as it comes out smoothly, waiting shouldn't be so bad. There's been a dozen screens leaked and they look nice even at the early stages of development. Have a look:

  

In the screens, you can see that the PlayStation Home can be a great way to socialize with your platform comrades and find friends you can play with in the online games. We all know how multiplayer action raises the replay value of games, and we're happy to see that Sony is pulling out the stops to make its fans happy.

There's a lot more where those screens came from. Follow the jump and see them all!

After the recently-concluded GDC, the freshly-announced PlayStation Home has caught the attention of many, turning heads and raising eyebrows of even the gaming community's bigwigs.

Sony has drawn attention because of the similarity of its Home to Nintendo's Mii concept, where players can build avatars and interact with people online for social or competitive reasons. Nintendo of America PR director Beth Llewelyn commented "I think Home is very interesting, it looks like Sony is trying to figure out where their niche is.

"I saw things in there that reminded me of products that we've done and things we've done. It didn't seem something wholly revolutionary," she added.

The PR chief went on to say that on a deeper analysis, Home is pretty different from what Nintendo has been working on. "It would be something I would never do" she says.

So is Home a Mii rip-off or not? A closer look at forum posts from last year suggest that Sony might have been working on the concept a lot earlier than we all thought. You can find the link to the post in the Read link below.

There's been a lot of talk surrounding Sony's new PlayStation Home service ever since Phil Harrison demoed it at GDC. Well, actually, the talk started even before that with Kotaku's Brian Crecente breaking the news all over the Intertubes, but that's neither here or now.

Anyway, quite a few people have already gone and labeled the PlayStation Home as a rip off of Nintendo's Mii system, including a Ninty spokesperson who said that it's "an example of Sony's 'Mii-too' approach." While the two do share a few similarities, Sony's PlayStation Home does have a few aces up its sleeve, most obviously its more advanced online world and avatar creation features.

Before we all go and pass judgment on the PlayStation Home, though, maybe we should all just sit tight and wait for it to actually go live. Or, if you're impatient, you could just click on the "play" button in the embedded GameVideos video below and check it out for yourself.

According to one Nintendo representative, the up and coming PlayStation Network service PlayStation Home is nothing but Wii's Mii system. The spokesperson remarked, "This is an example of Sony's 'Mii-too' approach. But as Mr. Miyamoto states, Nintendo years ago considered and rejected the type of approach Sony is now taking."

Some may argue now that the PlayStation 3's 3D avatar system, or the whole online world for that matter, is much, much complicated than that of the Nintendo Miis. After all, some of the few criticisms that Nintendo's online community service has been getting is that it lacks customization options and that it is very basic.

The Nintendo representative remained defiant though and explained that that is not news at all. The spokesperson even went on and defend the Mii. According to the official, "Miis have become a cultural phenomenon in their own right, appealing well beyond the traditional core gamer audience, and the process of populating them across the Wii universe is just beginning."

Regardless, it is now clear that the newly released consoles are offering an online community service with the help of 3D avatars. On the other hand, Microsoft's Xbox Live, even though it started this whole online thingamajig for this round of console war, is somewhat lacking. We wonder if Microsoft has something up its sleeves.

The "semi official" entity that is Three Speech gives the lowdown on all things found within Sony's planned PlayStation Home. First up, below are a few bullet points that should give you folks an idea of what Home is all about:

• Is the first of its kind on a computer entertainment console
• A unique blend of community, user-generated content, collaboration and commerce that is the future of computer entertainment.
• Will broaden the online community market in the same way that the PlayStation brand has broadened the gaming market
• Will take the mystery and the geekiness out of online interaction, and make it as easy as text messaging or picking up the phone
• Is inclusive and welcoming, not exclusive and daunting like current offerings
• Is the gateway and start point for a whole raft of future PlayStation Network services

A Q and A section follows in the Three Speech press rel ...er, primer. We'll skip a few questions. Just give you folks info on the answers that got our interest.

More on PlayStation Home by clicking on 'Full Article'!

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!