(Editor's Note: What with controversies last week, the gaming industry's Batmobile might've lost its wheel - while the Joker got away - but that doesn't mean this sleigh ride will be stopping any time soon.)

G'day Christmas shoppers! This week in the gaming industry, we get to see the birth of a new umbrella corporation (sans the bio-engineered zombies) and a whole slew of issues to settle. QuickJump QuickPeek 24 is here to pop open a bottle of eggnog and more updates!

Somehow, there's a mysterious entity in the Internet whose rumors are being quoted by several gaming blogs. SurferGirl's rumors are too juicy to pass up, so here they are.

One of the juiciest is the rumor about multiple Zelda titles coming for the Wii, with a major one to be released in two months time. Another Wii-related gossip fodder is word of Nintendo already working on 30 WiiWare games, with a few Zelda and Mario titles.

SurferGirl also talks about a possible Shenmue game for the Wii, but she is mostly uncertain about the rumor herself, saying that Shenmue Online for the PC is the only Shenmue game in development. There are also some other small tidbits, such as Transformer's director Michael Bay not being tasked to direct the Prince of Persia film, but will possibly serve as producer.

Will the mysterious SurferGirl prove to be another Michael Pachter? Let's wait this one out.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot today reaffirmed at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival that his company is intent on entering the film industry and has made big strides towards the attainment of that goal.

Guillemot calls the move as the next logical step for the French-based firm, saying that it's the best way to take advantage of the next-generation of technology. "We will start making movies not because we want to, but because this is what we have to do," he declared.

Ubisoft is already one of the biggest and most reputable game publishers in the business, and they still plan to expand on a global basis with the creation of big investments in North America and Asia. The company has set up a CGI studio in Montreal, Canada recently and is looking at China as the venue of its next stronghold. The company hires about 500 people a year.

No mention of the upcoming Prince of Persia movie was made, but it was reiterated that an Assassin's Creed flick was a very feasible project. "Prince of Persia" will be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Michael Bay.

Guillemot says that Ubisoft knows exactly what it takes to come up big in the entertainment industry, and he enumerates them as "AAA blockbuster titles, a family portfolio, and capitalizing on the Internet."

  

With several days left before the new Transformers flick hits town, QJ.NET caught up with Activision Producer Callum Godfrey for an exclusive interview regarding their Transformers: The Game project. Callum reveals what's in store for the next-generation consoles as well as some of the things they've accomplished that he's really proud of.

Callum faces more QJ questions after the jump. Transform and roll out the full article!

Hollywood Studio Digital Domain is planning to get some U.S. directors involved in the video gaming scene. How? They're planning to open an in-house games unit and "acquire" some game developing firms.

Digital Domain is a special effects studio by directors Michael Bay (co-chairman), James Cameron (Titanic), and others. You might have seen their work on the special effects in "The Day After Tomorrow" and the Gears of War TV commercial. Reportedly, Digital Domain - and Michael Bay in particular - plans to get directors involved in the video games industry. This is so they'll have the option of being at the helm of the game creation as well, as opposed to the usual practice of licensing franchises to third party game devs.

Digital Domain plans to release the four to five titles in the next two years.

As gamers and faithful fans to our video game heroes, we often shiver at the news of a movie adaptions of our favorite franchises (and/or movies turned into video games). We've been disappointed so many times that we've learned to pray for the best but expect the worse. We'll see how this goes in the long run and we'll keep you posted on what sort of titles Digital Domain and Michael Bay plans to make. Stay tuned.

The last time we reported about the Prince of Persia movie, "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", we said that Jerry Bruckheimer had the movie franchise under his wing for quite some time now and that the movie is well on its way to 2008. Now, although the producer has been busy with his Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, he was still able to secure a director and a release date for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Bruckheimer has teamed up with the director of Bad Boys I and II, The Rock, and Pearl Harbor - none other than Michael Bay. And if before, we mentioned that the movie based on the game would be out on 2008, well folks, you'd have to wait a little longer. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is slated for a Summer 2009 release.

Movie site, IESB, mentioned that they have confirmed with Disney Studios that they are hoping that Bay will indeed take on the directorial chores for the movie when he is done working with another movie - Transformers. As for what Jordan Mechner has to say about the movie:

Rather than do a straight beat-for-beat adaptation of the new videogame, we're taking some cool elements from the game and using them to craft a new story - much as 'Pirates' [of the Caribbean] did with the theme park ride.

We'll update you about the movie as more info comes our way.