(Editor's Note: Never gonna give you up... Never gonna let you down... Never gonna - blargh. Noooo!!!)

Ready to lock yourself in come the 29th? Grand Theft Auto 4 is just around the bend, so if you're planning to pick one up, be ready to cut off the lines to your social life for the next couple of days. Before then, we'll help you prepare with all the things you may have missed out on during the week. It's twice the fun and twice the surprises here in QuickPeek 44. And we promise, no one will be Niko Bellic'ed.

* Article originally posted Apr 26, 2008 at 12:53PM

(Editor's Note: Happy April Fools'! You'd think we'd run skimpy with all the non-news items, but actually, this might be our biggest issue yet!)

Y'know how notorious the gaming community could get during this time of the year. But in between rumors and Metal Creed Solid gags, this here QuickPeek 41 is one heck of a colossus. Dark AleX is back, Jade Raymond makes a cameo, and Niko Bellic's got quite a lot of action cut out for him in GTA 4. Mind the Whoopie cushions! Wohoo!

The US economy has been on shaky ground lately, but Sony Corporation assures that the company's electronics line is unaffected. Chief Executive Howard Stringer cites Black Friday sales as a good indication of this, saying that PS3 and PSP sales were "very good." He's also optimistic for the arrival of PlayStation Home, which he sees as a key factor in the company's growth. Read more in the full article.

Stuff Magazine is currently running a rumor stating that the much-loved Artificial Intelligence roBOt or AIBO is being resurrected by Sony and is making it compatible with the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable.

t was also mentioned that the domesticated robot dog will interact in the virtual environment much like it used to do in the real world. More details and the magazine scan after the jump!

In a recent interview, Jack Tretton - CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America - talks about how the PlayStation Network is competing effectively against Xbox Live (in contrast to an earlier interview with Microsoft who said they "don't have competition"), how Home is like "nothing seen before" and perhaps a hint of a direct video and music download service in the future for the PSP. Read about the interview in the full article.

(Editor's Note: Sleigh bells ring; are you list'ning? From here on out, all QuickPeek editions will start giving thanks to our weekly tipsters! Yay!)

It's QuickPeek 23! After Black Friday and all those festivities (ooh, and last week's QuickPeek too, of course - Optimus Prime FTW!), we're now moving into the Christmas season. Ole Saint Nick's already stuffed a bit of gaming goodness down the QJ.NET chimney, and here we are, ready to give you the lowdown for the week! Enjoy!

Sony's senior vice president of marketing, Peter Dille, is confident in the Sony PlayStation 3 for the holiday season. Gamers in need of "the most technologically advanced gaming system" should look no further, he says.

More on Dille and the PS3 lasting 10 years at the full article!

(Editor's Note: QuickJump QuickPeek just turned 16. Ah, sweet sixteen. Sixteen is definitely a lovely number. For those inclined to all things mathematical, four is the square root of 16. And that's just what we're going to try to get to the bottom of right here. The root of all things gaming. For this week at least. Here again is QuickJump's weekly article dedicated to the un-updated. A week's worth of great news, in bite-sized form!)

So here we are in QuickPeek 16. Last week's edition was pretty jam-packed with hot news items, confirmations, and releases, and there's also been a couple of heated debates between icons in the industry. This week will have you guys feeling good about the little big tiny giants that you have sitting in your living rooms - or handhelds snuggling comfortably in their respective pouches or carrying cases.

This isn't about one platform besting another. It's about shaking hands and welcoming people with open arms. As beauty pageant contestants always put it: World Peace! Because if Mario, Solid Snake, and Sonic can do it, then so can we. Err, that is barring the fact that Mario, Snake, and Sonic are in a Brawling game, but the essential thing remains: they're together.

Click the Full Article link below to check out this week's full issue!

QuickJump QuickPeek 16 originally posted October 13, 2007 at 02:00 PM.

  

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) joins Microsoft in the in-game advertising business, after it announced the creation of an in-game advertising business unit within the company. Coinciding with the announcement was the appointment of consumer electronics industry veteran Darlene Kindler to the position of Director of Network Advertising.

Kindler, having spent 25 years with the likes of Nintendo of America, 3Dfx Interactive, and Adscape Media, will now answer to Phil Rosenberg, SCEA's senior vice president of Sales and Business Development. Her responsibilities will cover Sony's advertising strategy for products of the PlayStation brand and the PlayStation Network.

This isn't a surprising turn for Sony, since the online debut of PlayStation Home has been targeted for worldwide release. And though the service has been pushed back to 2008, PlayStation Home is likely to offer more content and services to appeal to a multitude of demographics - a prime market for advertising firms.

More on business news as we get them.

 

It certainly looks like the PlayStation Portable is more than an optional in-game tweaking device for the PlayStation Home, PS3's virtual world. Sony Computer Entertainment's (SCE) marketing boss John Koller has revealed that they have something in store for the PSP in Home, enabling them to experience Home on the go.

There is still no official word about Sony PSP's inclusion into the PlayStation Home network, but Koller has already hinted that it's quite natural to have the PSP as part of this virtual world. "Intuitively, if you take the PSP with you, you would want to take some of Home with you," he said.

On a related note, he also gave a few tidbits regarding the redesigning process of the PSP:

We certainly looked at the area below the [face buttons on the right side of the PSP] for a second analog stick, but we thought the issues far outweighed the benefit we'd get out of it.

So they really did consider the inclusion for the second analog stick, and found that there's not much reason to add it into the redesign. Sorry, Me and My Katamari Fans, looks like we're stuck with mashing the D-pad and the directional buttons in rolling that Katamari.