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Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is getting it together

Guys, great news -- we've almost made it through March! Though GDC, PAX East and SXSW completely derailed our Webcomic-Wrapping schedule, we've decided that the best course of action is to hop right back on the horse. We've always said that Wrapping Webcomics is like falling off a log, in that it's easy to do, and also, it hurts a whole lot. (Seriously! Give it a try sometime.)

Check out our seven favorite strips from this past week below, and vote for your favorite in the poll after the jump!

Punching Down (Penny Arcade)
Fighting Fire with Fire Fighting (Awkward Zombie)
Cautionary Restraint (Digital Unrest)
Cocoon Academy Part 9 (Brawl in the Family)
For the Good of the Cause (No Cash Value)
Tailor Made (Virtual Shackles)
Over the Top (Nerf Now)

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Crysis 2 PC update released, removes auto-aim

Though the (already worked-around) errors affecting some Crysis 2 PC players who are trying to activate their game online still haven't been patched out, Crytek launched an update earlier this week which fixes a few other errant bugs. These include measurements for blocking cheaters, hang-ups that affected matchmaking and problems with certain brands of USB headsets. Check out a full list of the updates after the jump.

The most controversial of these changes is the wholesale removal of auto-aim, a decision Crytek made "due to overwhelming community feedback." Sounds like beta participants weren't too crazy about the feature -- though, really, doesn't the idea of guns that aim for you kind of fit into Crysis' nanomachine-enhanced canon?

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Pokemon Black and White sell 2 million in U.S. in first two weeks

The Pokémon franchise is commonly criticized for refusing to change between generations -- luckily for Nintendo, one of the elements that doesn't seem to change over the years is all the mad, mad money each new installment pulls in. Nintendo of America recently Tweeted to inform its followers Pokémon Black and White have sold 2 million units in the U.S. during their first two weeks on store shelves.

On top of the 5 million-plus copies that have sold in Japan, we think it's safe to say that gamers aren't scared off by all the similarities to previous iterations of the franchise. We're a little worried about the game's success, though -- after all, it's going to be rather difficult to be the very best (like no one ever was) when over 7 million people share our aspirations.

Mega Man 3's Proto Man theme gets shredded, moves us

We typically wouldn't characterize most video game theme song covers that get sent our way as "soulful" or "profound," but then again, most covers that get sent our way aren't as incredible as Dario Montanino's electric take on Mega Man 3's Proto Man theme. Check it out in the video below. ... continue reading.

Machinarium developer reveals three upcoming projects

We don't usually fall as hard or fast in love with games as we did with Amanita Design's robotic adventure title Machinarium. Ever since our infatuation developed in 2009, we've been starving for more projects from the studio to admire; luckily, in a recent interview with PC Gamer, founder Jakub Dvorsky revealed the team's three upcoming opuses:
  • Osada, an interactive music video featuring "Czech psychedelic country music," due out on Amanita's website within the next few weeks.
  • Botanicula, a "simple, but quite large" point-and-click adventure game starring five tiny, arboreal creatures who are attempting to save their treehouse from invading parasites. It's slated to be released sometime before the end of the year.
  • Samorost 3, the next installment in Amanita's beautifully crafted adventure game series, the first part of which is available to play for free online. It's Amanita's biggest project at the moment, and though it doesn't have a release window, the team hopes to bring it to PC, consoles and various and sundry e-tablets.

Fallon gets his 'Adult Female Face' blown away during 3DS demo on Late Night

We expected Jimmy Fallon to flip out during Reggie Fils-Aime's 3DS demonstration during last night's episode of Late Night. We expected the audience to get a kick out of the device's AR functionality. However, we did not expect the 3DS to swap Fallon's gender on live national television. ... continue reading.

URL Hunter offers a whole game in your browser's address bar

Perhaps you saw (and even played) URL Hunter when it was being passed around the Internets a little while back -- it's a tiny little HTML 5 game that takes place all inside a long Uniform Resource Locator in your web browser's address bar. The HTML script moves a few little "a" characters around, and you can line them up in your sights with arrow keys, pressing space to fire and shoot as many as possible within a time limit.

Developer Corey Johnson, formerly of Maxis and now working at Github, says the game was developed over just a few hours of programming time. After reading about HTML 5's address bar API, he decided to try and make it interactive, and came up with URL Hunter. He had "lots of ideas at first, but cut most of them because of my self-imposed time constraints" of only a few hours of work.

Johnson says that HTML 5's Canvas element offers much more "potential" for browser-based games than his URL hacking. But that hasn't stopped us from getting the initial funding together for Joystiq Publishing's first browser-based product, Call of Document Object: Model Web Design 2.

Pro Evolution Soccer 3D screens are tiny but plentiful

We'll level with you: The screens for Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D posted below aren't the biggest, crispest JPEGs around. We hope you'll forgive their size, seeing as how there's over thirty of them. Just imagine that they're all scrunched together, creating one massive superscreenshot. ... continue reading.

PDP and Power A reveal first batch of 3DS accessories

You've already made the biggest decisions regarding your upcoming acquisition of the Nintendo 3DS: What color should you buy? What launch titles are worth your time and money? Shouldn't you wait for that Zelda jam? However, we'd wager that one of your most important decisions remains unmade: Which accoutrements should your purchase to compliment your new, handheld friend? (That's French for "video game accessories," we believe.)

Power A and PDP have each revealed their Nintendo-licensed suites of cases, chargers and cleaning kits -- all of which are available to order from their respective sites. We're confident that between the two of them, all your needs are accounted for. Need a standalone car charger? No probs. A businesslike, faux leather case? Oh, here it is. How about a Rainbow Telescoping Stylus Pack? We don't even know what that is, but we want one.

Rooster Teeth lets slip the hogs of war with Angry Birds: The Movie

Who knew that behind the scenes of the planet's favorite avian-launching casual game hides a twisted narrative of political intrigue and wartime subterfuge? It took the keen minds of Rooster Teeth to discover this plot and commit it to video, which they've done in the trailer posted below. ... continue reading.

The CCube puts a GameCube in your (very large) pocket

We've seen portable GameCube mods before, but the CCube (Compact Cube) built by one Jonathan Shine may be the smallest. Created using a GameCube, an old answering machine case, plastic cement and many coats of paint, the project took fifteen months to complete -- much longer than the original two weeks John had estimated.

You'll find a video of the CCube after the break (skip to 2:20 for gameplay). With the disc drive actually located outside the case, it's worth noting that it's a tad on the noisy side, but impressive nonetheless. Then head over to the Mod Retro Forums for a detailed look at the CCube's construction.

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Kinect Hacks: Navigating your virtual apartment

Some Kinect Hacks seems to have some practical applications to us tech-savvy folks who don't have access to our own mad scientist laboratories. This ain't one of them: Researchers at the Dundalk Institute of Technology have hooked a Kinect up to a virtual apartment, as seen in the video below. ... continue reading.

Dungeon Siege 3's Katarina goes gun crazy

Square Enix has announced the third of four heroes players can choose from in the upcoming Dungeon Siege 3 -- and it's Katarina, a gun-wielding, half-witch vixen with a black hound companion. As you can see in the trailer, this girl ain't kidding around. ... continue reading.

Tiny Wings update brings Game Center support, tweaks difficulty

We've all had a lot of fun playing Andreas Illiger's adorable iOS title Tiny Wings, but now we've all got some skin in the game. An update released today not only robs the sixth island of some of its super uneven difficulty, it also adds Game Center support. On top of the game's native Open Feint features, that makes Tiny Wings one of the biggest contenders for our competitive attention.

And now we're playing it. So you don't get an ending to this post. Deal with that reality.

We're gonna need a video game death montage

Even Rocky had a montage -- and now it's video games' turn!

Here's a test: see if you can guess every single game featured in this montage of video game deaths from Boing Boing, posted just past the break. If you get 'em all right, we promise to love you forever. That's a good enough prize, right?

More like the best prize ever.

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Slightly Mad Studios is currently without a project

Next week, Shift 2: Unleashed will race to retail, but the post-launch festivities at developer Slightly Mad Studios are a bit dampened by the news of layoffs. According to comments made by studio head Ian Bell to GI.biz (registration required), another project that was underway has been suddenly canceled, affecting several studio staff.

"Essentially we were let down at the last minute by one publisher who we'd signed a deal with only for it to be canned before we even started. I can't say who," Bell said. He went on to say that he's still in talks with the publisher in question among others. As for the studio's next project, that's currently up in the air. Bell says Slightly Mad hasn't been able to "secure a deal for a new project... yet," though he adds that he's "optimistic about the future."

Those affected by layoffs at Slightly Mad have somewhat of a silver lining: Ian Bell and Slightly Mad's other co-founder, Andy Garton, recently formed their own social/mobile studio, Gamagio. Currently, the two are attempting to raise capital for the new venture and, according to Bell, employing ex-Slightly Mad Studios devs.

Steel Diver trailer fire, fire, fire, fires away

We bet you're tuning into the Steel Diver launch trailer posted below because you're trying to decide whether or not to add it to your 3DS launch purchases. Little do you know that you're actually tuning in because you want to hear the word "Fire!" squawked through a radio about 40 times. ... continue reading.

APB Reloaded developer opening studio in Scotland

We know that events in the video gaming industry are cyclical, but we never expected them to cycle quite this fast. Dundee, Scotland-based developer Realtime Worlds developed APB before being shut down last year. The IP was then picked up by developer GamersFirst, who is now opening a new studio in Edinburgh, Scotland under the moniker Reloaded Productions.

The new studio will import the staff that's currently working to rebuild the interrupted online FPS, and will also open up 22 additional positions for folks who live in the area. Perhaps some Realtime Worlds staffers who haven't quite gotten back on their feet yet could land in these new openings! Not only would that add to the cyclical nature of the project, but it would also be a great example of human resource recycling. Go green, Reloaded Productions!

Okamiden producers discuss planning around Pokemon and 3DS

The producers of Okamiden realized they were in a pickle, marketing-wise, when they were finishing up the Western version of the game just as the 3DS and Pok émon Black and White were being announced for the same release window. Capcom decided to thread the needle and send Okamiden out right between these two.

"Even though the news of the Nintendo 3DS was a bit earlier than we had expected," said producer Motohide Eshiro and director Kuniomi Matsushita in a postmortem on Gamasutra, "we decided that releasing the pan-Western versions of the game after Pokémon and before Nintendo's 3DS would be our best bet."

The developers also revealed the inspiration behind Okamiden's partner system, which pairs the tiny Chibiterasu with young swordsboys, mermaids, Moon Tribe aliens, and others. "A child version of Amaterasu would only have half the abilities of the adult Amaterasu," they said. "It would be rather difficult for half of a god to save the world, but if there were a partner, then the two of them could work together to save the world."

WRUP: Reliving the horror

If we can't get the image out of our minds, neither will you!

Reggie visits Fallon tonight. We work with a specialist to remove the picture from our minds for the next year.

What's everyone playing?

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Joystiq Podcast 174 - Hog Rocket Cobbler Gobbler edition

Latest episode: Friday, March 25th, 2011

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