The flow of adaptation is not limited to having books being transformed into movies or videogames, or videogames being turned into movies. We complete the love triangle today as Epic Games and Del Rey Publishing reveals that they are adapting the beloved Gears of War video game title into a novel. Oh, and not just one. We mean a full trilogy. Check out the details at the full article.

Microsoft Game Studios Vice President Shane Kim discussed several choice topics during the recent DICE Summit in Las Vegas last Thursday. Among the things he mentioned were the company's move to expand its userbase into the casual gaming market, more Halo projects and some other small tidbits discussing the state of the gaming company and its plans for the future (a portable handheld gaming console, perhaps?). Read more about what Shane Kim had to say in the full article.

Psychology expert and self-help author Cooper Lawrence who appeared on the segment that featured EA's Mass Effect in bad light has admitted her mistakes, saying she "misspoke" about full nudity and graphic sex scenes in Mass Effect. Lawrence is currently weathering a storm raging on the internet caused by her remark on Fox News. More details at the full article.

Those of you who were expecting to get downloadable content for your Nintendo DS will be sadly disappointed at this bit of news we have today.

A Nintendo representative retracted Reggie Fils-Aime previous statement about the top-selling handheld getting downloadable content through a future Wii channel.

For more information, read the full article!

 How did today's handhelds do in the holidays and for the duration of 2007? The answer shouldn't be too hard to figure out if you've been reading gaming news every so often. The Sony PSP had a solid year all throughout, while the Nintendo DS continued its dominance above all other platforms. Analyst Michael Pachter and PSP marketing manager John Koller share their insights why.

If you can't get enough of Bungie and Microsoft's Halo universe and Halo 3 just isn't enough to fill your craving, there's a good chance that you're one of the many who got a copy of Joseph Staten's Halo: Contact Harvest. The fifth novel based on the Halo series has been out since October 30 and is now ranked fourth in the prestigious New York Times Best Seller list.

Online retailer Amazon is set to enter the e-book market with its e-book reader, the Kindle, set to be launched this Monday. This e-book reader will let readers browse their favorite digitized books, and - of course - buy new e-books from Amazon. com. More details in the full article!

An undercover reported investigated Apple's retail stores, and what did he find? Every little detail that Apple Store customers have experienced for the first time, too, it seems. As a matter of fact, Alex Frankel, the reporter who has spent two years undercover as trainee for the front line retail of several companies, has described the same sense of passion and will to share information that you may have felt from your previous encounters with Apple Store sales personnel.

According to Frankel, it was apparent that from day one, Apple was serious about selecting Apple-inclined employees (if not already huge fans) to man its retail stores nationwide. "Apple is surely a rare bird--few companies have such a broad and committed following, let alone frontline employees who revere its CEO," wrote Frankel.

With that said, Apple's sales process was all about customer approach, though most of the time, Frankel found that they didn't seem to be working hard in selling. "At an Apple Store, workers don't seem to be selling (or working) too hard, just hanging out and dispensing information," he added.

There's actually a three-step process involved, and it required understanding the customers needs (position), getting permission to ask finer details of the customers needs (permission), and continuing to dive into the available products and what satisfied the customer best (probe). And it actually sells. A lot.

Frankel further explained:

And that moves a ridiculous amount of goods: Apple employees help sell $4,000 worth of product per square foot per month. When employees become sharers of information, instead of sellers of products, customers respond.

He also added that the orientation treatment regarded them as responsible adults and didn't begin with programs that belittled first-time employees.

It was reported earlier that New York Times recommended Apple's way of sales for Sony's own retail outlets.

(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.

Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people (playing Halo). An article from the New York Times reveals that churches actually do have a soft spot for games. In fact, some churches are using video games as an actual tool to recruit more youths.

Taking a more modern approach at enticing kids to their community, church leaders have been renting out video games and inviting teenagers for "video game night" down at the church - and this is despite the fact that some churches hold some grudges against violent games (e.g. a very recent appeal to withdraw R:FoM from the BAFTA). The New York Times article runs:

Across the country, hundreds of ministers and pastors desperate to reach young congregants have drawn concern and criticism through their use of an unusual recruiting tool: the immersive and violent video game Halo[...] // Witness the basement on a recent Sunday at the Colorado Community Church [...] where Tim Foster, 12, and Chris Graham, 14, [...] locked in violent virtual combat [...] Tim explained the game's allure: "It's just fun blowing people up." // Once they come for the games, Gregg Barbour, the youth minister of the church said, they will stay for his Christian message. "We want to make it hard for teenagers to go to hell," Mr. Barbour wrote in a letter to parents at the church.

Other supporters of this new method in recruitment believe that the important thing is for the church to connect to the youth. James Tonkowich of the Institute on Religion and Democracy points out that "If you want to connect with young teenage boys and drag them into church, free alcohol and pornographic movies would do it. My own take is you can do better than that."

The story of Halo 3 is sometimes used even as a spring board for discussion about faith. As a 16 year-old Baptist in Lawrenceville recounts: "We play Halo, take a break and have something to eat, and have a lesson. [The pastor even tried to use analogies] between God and the devil."

Sort of makes you think twice about the definition of "Covenant" doesn't it? The simple fact that the game is called "Halo" might connote something rather holy as well. So what's your take on this, though? Yes, there are a lot of controversial points raised by this issue, but please be mindful of your comments.