It's been quite a week, my friends. Not only is this my first ever Webcomic Wrapup, but I've been a member of Joystiq's staff for a mere ten days. In ten days, a lot can happen. Just this week, we witnessed the closure of 38 Studios and Big Huge Games. It was a spectacular mess.

From the news came an unbelievable public outcry. The hashtag "#38jobs" began trending across the United States on Twitter. Facebook pages, websites, and Google docs sprang up, all bellowing support for those in the industry that lost their jobs this week in the form of open job postings.

Meanwhile, I had the privilege of watching the Joystiq team document the entire disaster. In a word, it was humbling. I feel honored to be a part of this team and deliver content to you, the readers. We so easily forget that in the land of video games, there is a significant impact on the well-being of families, and the reporting of news deserves an equal touch of care.

Likewise, a giggle here or there is important. I encourage you to check out last week's webcomics and vote for your favorite after the break to get those giggles in.

Subprime Loans (Virtual Shackles)
You Got It (Nerf NOW!!)
Paynefully Subtle (No Cash Value)
Luigi's Mansion 2 (Game Over Nation)
Track and Field (Blow the Cartridge)
I know what I have to do (Magical Game Time)

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Generally, having a magical wizard in your pocket would either be incredibly uncomfortable for one (or both) of you, or prohibitively expensive. Wizard upkeep costs an arm and a leg as it is, and with the money you'd spend on the reagents needed to concoct a shrinking potion, you could buy an entire mage. It's a pain, and usually not worth it.

There's is, however, a more humane, cost effective solution on the horizon. WizOrb, the pixelated, chiptuned indie block-breaking/RPG hybrid from Beatshapers and Tribute Games will smash through geometrically perfect arrangements of blocks and onto your friendly neighborhood PS3, PSP and/or Vita next month, when it launches as a $3.99 PlayStation Mini.

Living-room soldiers looking to team up with a real-life buddy for some Ghost Recon: Future Soldier couch co-op may be sorely disappointed once they discover that split-screen multiplayer doesn't exist for the game's campaign mode, despite various online retailers (including Ubisoft's own UbiShop) purporting the game's support of that very feature.

"We've been made aware of the presence of outdated information on UbiShop and several retailer sites stating split screen, cooperative play is available in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier's campaign," Ubisoft forum manager EvilPixieGrr said in an update on the publisher's forums. "We have ensured the information has been updated on the sites affected by this."

Luckily for Ubisoft, Future Soldier's actual retail box art does not sing the praises of local campaign co-op.

[Thanks, Keith!]

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia is predicting big numbers for Grand Theft Auto V something fierce. Bhatia projects Grand Theft Auto V will debut during the first three months of 2013 and will pull in $700 million in revenue for Take-Two Interactive with 14 million copies sold over its launch window – though Bhatia didn't say just how long he considers this launch window to be.

This $700 million figure is close to the $775 million earned by Modern Warfare 3 in its first five days of launch back in November, which is an entertainment record that has yet to be bested. Rockstar's previous effort, Grand Theft Auto IV, has shipped over 22 million copies worldwide.

That mysterious Need for Speed game mentioned during EA's fiscal 2012 investors call may become slightly less ethereal during E3, as TwitchTV's booth schedule lists "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" as one of the games it'll be showcasing, according to IGN.

If that name sounds familiar, that's because it should: The original Need for Speed: Most Wanted (above) was released on nearly every system in existence way back in the ancient caveman days of 2005. It's possible that this may be the Criterion-developed Need for Speed game the rumor mill was churning over a couple weeks ago, but that's just rampant speculation on our part.

It's also possible that TwitchTV could merely be showing off the Game Boy Advance port of the original or something, we're going to go ahead and assume that isn't the case since we don't live in a Far Side cartoon.

Update: We have also received the schedule in question and can confirm that Need for Speed: Most Wanted is indeed among TwitchTV's on-site programming for E3, along with "TBA" titles from Ubisoft, Capcom and Warner Bros.

GAME Australia administrators announced plans to close 60 retail stores at the cost of 264 jobs, GamesIndustry International reported Friday. An additional 17 head office positions will be terminated at the company.

In a media release, Kate Warwick of PricewaterhouseCoopers said, "this is a difficult time for employees and closing the stores was not a decision we made easily. However it is not financially viable to continue to operate at this level at this time." Warwick was appointed as voluntary administrator of GAME Australia on May 14.

The Australian Financial Review posted a list of the 60 stores that have closed.

Bungie revealed its plan for E3 2012 in a community Q&A blog post on Friday. Or rather, its lack of plans for the annual trade show, as the company will not be there in any official capacity this year.

When asked about presenting their latest project at E3, the development team said they "never started one, and we're not going to be at E3 in any official capacity this year. Some of us will be there, lurking from booth to booth, but don't expect any announcements."

Word of Bungie's ongoing project, code-named "Destiny," leaked earlier this week in documents related to the court battle between Activision and former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella.

It looks like that clandestine photo of a Gamestop computer replete with entries for Android devices has proven to be accurate, at least as far as tablets are concerned. Rather than stocking Samsung products exclusively, however, 1,600 Gamestops now carry Android tablets from Acer, Asus and Samsung; specifically the Asus Transformer and Transformer Prime, the Acer Iconia (both 7 and 10.1 versions), and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Each tablet comes pre-loaded with "a hand-picked selection of free games, like Sonic CD and Riptide, the Kongregate Arcade gaming app and a free issue of Game Informer Digital," according to the PR available after the break. Naturally, trade-in credit can be applied towards the purchase of one of these devices. Find out if one of your several dozen local Gamestops is a member of that 1,600-store collective by entering your zip-code here, and don't forget to do your research before plopping down several hundred clams on an iPad alternative.

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Sony's Xperia Play phone will not be updating to Android version 4.0, also known as "Ice Cream Sandwich," as noted on a recent product blog entry. Sony cites consistency and stability in its decision to withhold the phone from the list of devices receiving the upgrade, which was initially planned to release at the end of May/early June.

Sony explained that "after extensive in house testing with our developer teams and working with our partners, we have concluded that a consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed for this smartphone on Ice Cream Sandwich." Its decision appears bolstered by feedback from advanced users and game developers that used a beta ROM of the Android version on their Xperia Play devices.

While instability in the software could compromise a "quality gaming experience" on the phone, we secretly want to believe that a patent unveiled in late April indicates a dual-keyboard device is on the way.

Before it patches the latest patch in Street Fighter X Tekken in mid-June, old blue-and-gold wants to sell you some more gems. On June 5, Capcom will make a bevy of new gems and the complete costume swap pack available for purchase.

That doesn't mean there aren't freebies up for grabs. A new color palette and Wild Card booster pack – the latter is only available for download until June 19 – will debut alongside several new gem packs priced at 80 MS Points ($1) a pop. Finally, there's the complete swap costume pack to consider, which will set fightin' fashionistas back a hefty 1440 MS Points ($18).

This voice acting-oriented episode of Inside Rocksteady Studios is the first time we personally have ever seen either the Joker or Batman's voices come out of real human bodies, and suffice to say that oh man is it weird.

It's almost like Batman and the Joker are providing voiceovers for Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, instead of the other way around. Seeing the Joker's spooky laugh come out of a hunched-over Mark Hamill is an image that'll stick with us for a while, and his cheshire cat grin didn't help much either. The video also features Stana Katic (Talia in Arkham City and Detective Becket on Castle), but seeing her perform isn't so much of a head trip, considering that it's basically just Detective Becket with an undercover accent.

"The only thing we have to fear is to fear yourself." We're pretty sure that's what president Franklin D. Roosevelt said to galvanize the American public when he took office in 1933, in the thick of the Great Depression. Nothing says "We can do it!" quite like "You're a monster!"

Thankfully Deadlight, which uses the tagline "Fear yourself" in its latest story trailer, isn't a historical-reenactment title, though it may be a simulator of potential future circumstances. If so, we may have a bit more to fear than metabolic reactions or mere humans.

Deadlight is set to launch this summer on XBLA.

Civilization 5 is free to play on Steam this weekend and is only $7.50 ($12.50 for the Game of the Year edition) if you decide to invest in your future's lost time. Fans of the previous installment knock the game for not being as deep, but some of those rebels may be silenced by the upcoming Gods and Kings expansion on June 19.

What's everyone playing this weekend?

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Who's in the mood for a career change but, like, doesn't want to completely change their life? We have an easier solution for you aspiring soldiers of war, city planners and mob bosses out there.

For this weekend, GOG is knocking half off the price of twelve different games. Highlights include Guilty Gear X2 #Reload, Soulbringer and entries in the Commandos series – all games aside from the Commandos 2 + 3 bundle will set you back a pittance of $2.99.

This sale ends on Monday.

Minecraft's ability to churn through the bank accounts of all the cosmos continues unabated, having sold six million copies on PC to date, according to a tweet from Mojang mogul Markus Persson. Factoring in XBLA, Android and iOS sales, the figure is "around nine million," according to Persson, a number that Mojang's Daniel Kaplan puts a tiny bit more specifically as "maybe 9.2" million.

If you've been affected by Minecraft's unwavering grasp on the gaming universe, make sure to listed to the Mailbag portion of this week's Super Joystiq Podcast, wherein Joystiq's feature content director Xav de Matos, managing editor JC Fletcher and editor in chief Ludwig Kietzmann discuss various methods for breaking Minecraft addictions.

Karl Kerschl and Cameron Stewart are teaming up again to pen a new Assassin's Creed comic called Assassin's Creed: The Chain. It's a sequel to the duo's previous effort, Assassin's Creed: The Fall; however, The Chain also "sheds a new light on Assassin's Creed 3."

Not much else is known about this new comic right now, but if you want to pre-order it anyway, Ubisoft has unsheathed a pre-order page where you can drop $19.95 right now.

If Master Chief were a superhero in the Marvel universe, he'd probably be called Space-Man and his armor would have seen dozens of disparate artistic interpretations over the years, from 1940s Americana to bloodthirsty zombie. He could have even looked like a melted candy cane, just as he does in one of the Halo 4 pre-order bonus skins revealed for EB Games, Play and Amazon today.

EB Games (Canada) has camo-style battle rifle and festive armor suit skins, Amazon gets the "Web" armor skin and Play puts Master Chief in the "Deadeye" helmet skin. GameStop also lists a pre-order bonus, the "Forest" armor skin, but hasn't yet provided an image.

Carmageddon is being refreshed with a Kickstarter-supported new game. But if you want some vintage 'Geddon, you'll be able to get that too – the original game, and its "Splat Pack" expansion, are coming to digital retailer GOG.com in "the coming months."

The bundle will cost $9.99 if you want to buy it outright; it'll also be available for free to anyone who kicked in $25 or more to the Reincarnation Kickstarter, presumably under the assumption that people who like Carmageddon would like Carmageddon.

'Silver Lining' is an ongoing column from freelancer Taylor Cocke, dedicated to examining the hidden potential in recently released, critically panned games. Even in the mediocre, we can find a silver lining.
As I began my time with Ubisoft's downloadable title I Am Alive, the most striking aspect of the game's art style was the high-contrast, almost black and white way it depicted the destroyed city it takes place in. The world feels dead, as it should. The lack of color depicts a space devoid of life, dotted by humanity huddled around the bright oranges and yellows of occasional makeshift fires. At least initially, there's a sharp, distinct difference between the world and those who struggle to live within it. Very quickly, though, it becomes apparent that the distinction exists purely between the protagonist Adam and, well, everything else.

I Am Alive's greatest failures don't lay in its shoddy controls or dated visuals. For me, it was never able to establish a feeling of desperately fighting for survival. At least, not in the same way the non-playable characters are very clearly struggling. Very early, Adam runs into a man sitting next to a fire, who immediately draws his weapon and demands Adam back away. Right away, I Am Alive establishes that its world is one that you shouldn't trust anyone if you value your safety.

Soon after that, Adam comes across a mother and son, the latter of which has been harmed by roving bandits and needs help to survive. Unable to move, they need Adam's help to survive. You can give them a medkit, perhaps forsaking your own safety later on, or simply move on. Again, this pair does its best to show that this world is a frightening, dangerous one.

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