Video games and consoles aren't games. At least, Best Buy doesn't think so. A customer recently tried to use a "toy" coupon to purchase an Xbox 360 and two games for the console, but according to Best Buy employees (and their corporate office), the items aren't categorized under "toys." Is there any clear cut distinction between toys and video games? What about the handhelds? Check out the story in the full article.

Capcom's Keiji Inafune, creator of Mega Man, firmly stated that the Blue Bomber is not planning to make an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii. However, he did express his interest and said he's waiting for Nintendo to do some talking. Details at the full article!

Master Chief ordering take out at Burger King? Solid Snake wearing Speedos? These are just some hypothetical plugs that gamers might be seeing in the near future with the way in-game advertising has grown into a phenomenal industry nowadays.

As far back as the early '90s, we've seen games that have plugged, advertised or even coerced gamers into taking a gander at their real-life sponsors, as well as the products tied-in with them. The full article awaits after the jump!

Us writers over here at QJ.NET dedicate ourselves to playing every game we could get our hands on - and we've had our share of ups and downs, likes and dislikes, loves and hates. We've played them to death, and now, we present to you our predictions for the most coveted title in this industry - Game of the Year.

Check out our choices at the full article.

In wars, it's the heroes that really count. It's not always about spears, shields, and catapults, most armies had to rely on their Achilles', Beowulfs, Leonidas' and Harry Potters. That's why PlayStation 3 has Solid Snake, Xbox 360 has Master Chief, and Wii has Mario. What happens then when Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo decide to swap heroes and place them in one of their consoles' biggest games?

Read more about this cross-console draft, after the jump!

(Editor's Note: It's a fresh issue of QuickPeek for a fresh new month. We've finally hit the big "One-Five" edition for our weekly updates, and if some of you've noticed, QuickPeek posts seem to get longer and bulkier with the updates! As always, we'd like to give everyone a resounding "Thanks!" for all the fun and the never ending support. This weekly update of updates is all for you!)

The 15th issue of QuickJump QuickPeek sees the start of a new month. We've got a couple of weeks ahead of us before Halloween finally hits, and even as early as now, there's been some hair-raising news that could leave some of you pale and ghastly (not to mention some toothache from all the sweet stuff going on around the gaming industry as well).

The previous edition of QuickPeek had its own fair share of enormous news - including, of course, the release of Halo 3. Today, we've got some weekly updates that have been specially carved right out of last week's pumpkin. It's big news on top of big news, with some bewitching brew being concocted from the cauldron of the homebrew community on the side.

This has got to be our biggest, meatiest, and most jam-packed issue yet, so you better tighten your bootstraps. You're in for one heck of a ride.

Check out the rest of this 15th issue right behind the Full Article link below!

Originally posted on October 6, 2007 at 2:20 PM.

(Editor's Note: After the TGS, you'd think that things would go back to their "normal" pace in the gaming industry, but see, the gaming industry isn't all that "normal" to begin with. Harhar. As the Chesire Cat once told Alice: "We're all mad here." Now, if you might remember, our 13th Issue of QuickJump QuickPeek rolled out early, which means this edition might cover some news from last week which weren't included in the previous issue. Yes, it's not "normal" procedure as QuickPeek posts go. And we're saying that with a disembodied Chesire grin.)

A few days ago, we ended the previous TGS Special Edition of QuickJump QuickPeek with a series of open questions. Well, if Master Yoda had anything to say about it, it'd go somewhere along the lines of "Rumors lead to questions. Questions lead to TGS. TGS leads to answers. And answers... lead to more questions... and the eventual Hamill-tendency to scream out 'Nooooo!'"

This week though, it's anything but a miserable negative outburst. We're getting some answers all right. With us having the tendency of screaming out '"Yeeeees!" instead. How so? Let's see, shall we? M33's identity (i.e. Dark AleX, Mathiuelh, et. al.) revealed, Halo 3 week, Folding@Home's ongoing success, building anticipation for the Wii Zapper... Let's not get ahead of ourselves here though! Get busy with your mouse and start scrolling down!


Hit the Full Article link below to see the rest of this week's issue!

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Entertainment Software Association (ESA) President Michael D. Gallagher revealed that one of the ESA's priorities is to infiltrate Washington.

The new ESA president noted that while the movie and music industries already have backers in Washington, the video game industry does not quite have the same privilege yet.

According to Gallagher, the main challenge lies in "connecting with decision makers and creating champions for the video game industry in the policy-making arena."

In addition to having a smaller budget, Gallagher also noted that the video game industry doesn't have the star power to seduce politicians.

"Washington is very enamored with glitz and the appeal of stars," said Gallagher. "Whenever Bono shows up he creates this bow wave as he comes through, and it's true that stars do help drive messages. And it is true that Master Chief and Mario are not yet household words on the Hill, but wait for the years ahead."

Gallagher also said that the ESA will be revealing its full agenda after E3.

This is excellent news. Our lawmakers make their decisions based on information. If that information only comes from anti-gaming lawyers and anti-gaming activists, then of course our lawmakers are going to develop an anti-gaming bias. So it's good that our industry strengthens its representation.

GameTrailer's montyoum was supposed to be working on the next episode of his own animated series. But things happened and instead he ended up working on a short CG animated film that involved Samus Aran, Spartan 458, The Covenant, and Matrix-esque feats of unnatural strength. Behold, "Haloid":

Yes. This is how Smash Brothers should've been.

For more detail on the creation of this film, and several other rants from the animator, feel free to click on our read link below. It should be helpful if for some unknown reason, the embed above decides to not load or something. It also has links to the guy's other stuff. Just in case you found this one cool.

This should be featured in The L Word or something like that. Sparking crotch armor! Oh the imagery!

The virtue vigilante is at it again. This time, he's decided on what to add to his list of new year's resolutions, and opted to share it with the public. You can guess what it's all about, we're sure.

Despite failed attempts to get video games labeled as public nuisances, Jack Thompson is vowing to do more of the same in 2007. A recent emailed press release assures us of his continuing efforts to target M-rated games, even going so far as to call his attempt to make Bully a public nuisance a practice run.

His email reads:

Thompson’s 2006 suit to stop the sale of Take-Two/Rockstar’s Columbine simulator Bully was just a practice run for what is to follow. The court’s order of the production of the Bully game prior to its commercial release sets the precedent for what Thompson will do again, but this time with Mature-rated titles that the Federal Trade Commission has recently found are being sold to children across America 42% of the time!

Since his continued legal presence against videogames is basically assured for next year, the only thing left to wonder about is what games he'll be suing for 2007. Our main predictions: the next Grand Theft Auto game from Take-Two Interactive, for obvious reasons, Halo 3, because Master Chief hides his genocide behind a mask, and Mario Mario, because he's a shroom-sniffing communist.