Joystiq

Virtual Shackles only just appeared on the gaming webcomic scene, but has held its own in every Wrapup it's appeared on, usually netting one of the runner-up spots. However, their eighteenth strip -- a cautionary tale about the dangers of sentient camera peripherals titled "Still a Few Bugs in the System" -- managed to pull down first place in last week's WeeWebWrap. Congratulations, VirtShack! (Do you mind if we call you VirtShack? We feel so much closer to you now.)

Second place went to GameSpy's "The Life Cycle of a Videogame" (which missed top honors by a mere eight votes!) and Brawl in the Family's "The Lesson," respectively. If you've got a favorite gaming-themed webcomic to throw into the ring this week, act quickly! We'll be webcomic wrapping later today, shortly before we recklessly play with fireworks -- and after that, we may not have enough fingers left to throw any tardy entries into the fray.

Though this is a short version of the show that lacks Chris Grant and Ludwig Kietzmann, we've made up for it with Joystiq's Ben Gilbert and Jem Alexander and super special guest Wombat of Cheap Ass Gamer fame.

We're talking The Conduit, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood and a load of other stuff. Enjoy it and have a happy 4th! Oh, and thanks to TV's Alan Black for the photoshop.

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Hosts: Jem Alexander, Ben Gilbert, Wombat of CAG Fame and Justin McElroy

Music: "Gravity (Don't Let Me Go)" by Jon Black, "The Problem With America" by The Vitamen

For fans: Joystiq Podcast Facebook group

See all of this week's links after the jump.

Swag Saturdays continue on this 4th of July with Atlus' first downloadable XBLA game, Droplitz. Don't know much about the game? Well, watch the video to find out how to play this puzzler.

• Leave a comment telling us what XBLA game is your favorite game so far. Note: If you say Yaris, you are automatically disqualified from this contest.
  
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada, excluding Quebec. Note: In Quebec, you are legally required to like Yaris.
  
• Limit 1 entry per person
  
• This entry period ends at 7:00pm ET on Sunday, July 5. We'll randomly select 4 winners at that time to receive: one download of Droplitz for Xbox 360 (ARV $10.00).
• For a list of complete rules, click here

In the celebration of all things great and American, we're proud to present the characters of inFamous and Prototype cross-dressing. YAY! (See inFamous' Cole after the break.)

Okay, so you're probably wondering where these images came from. Yahtzee presented a challenge to the development teams of these two games after he couldn't decide which game was better in a recent episode of Zero Punctuation. So, he jokingly said the "winner" would be whichever team sends in an image of the other game's protagonist cross-dressing.

And now the world is a much better place.

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Concept and execution are two totally different worlds. Although the concept and initial presentation of Lionhead Studios' Milo blew everyone away at E3 2009, what does fate have in store for the little digital boy's longterm execution? IGN attempts to answer that question in a little sketch they put together. We all know Milo will lose his innocence once he's in the hands of normal people, but just how bad will it become? Check out the video after the break.

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What's that, Chris Cashman, host of Xbox Live's 1 vs 100? Oh yeah, "skill-based prizes" start next week, July 10, specifically. Great! Unfortunately, though, what we heard from Mr. Cashman during tonight's game of 1 vs 100 wasn't all good news.

He continued, saying that while the prizes will start next week "for the mob," the game will be staying in beta. Guess that means this isn't part of the first "season" of prizes? We're not so sure, but we are sure of this -- given the whole fireworks thing going on this weekend, we're probably not going to hear more news on the subject until at least Monday.

Update: Near the end of the episode, Cashman also seemed to mention that "the one" would also be eligible for "skill-based prizes." We're currently following up with Microsoft about getting more concrete information about the prizes, the new sweepstakes announced last night and how long the show plans to stay in beta. We'll be sure to update as soon as we hear back.

So this is kinda confusing, try to roll with us. Developer Reality Pump announced that it's working on Two Worlds II, due this winter. Only ... it had already announced a sequel to Oblivion-esque FPS RPG called Two Worlds: The Temptation. We're pretty sure the team just decided to go with the number instead of the subtitle, but we guess we'll never know. (Yeah, we've emailed them.)

Set two years after the original, TW II promises "completely overhauled AI and balancing standards, experienced authors, [an] active combat system and the brand-new engine." Here's hoping the changes can make the sequel not so ... you know ... wretched?

[Via Eurogamer]

Video Games Live continues touring with a few special shows during the month of July. On July 10, the National Symphony Orchestra (which did two sold-out shows at the Kennedy Center in DC) will perform at the WolfTrap Feline Center in Virginia. Sid Meier, Civilization IV vocalist Ron Ragin and game composer Grant Kirkhope (Donkey Kong Country, GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Pinata) will all be in attendance.

For Texans, Halo composer Mike Salvatori will make a "special guest appearance" at the Ft. Worth show on July 14. A few days later, The Houston Symphony will perform the show in its namesake city for two shows on July 18, in collaboration with MusiCON 09. The special afternoon show is entitled "Blizzard Live!" and will showcase songs from the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo games. Five Blizzard composers will attend and participate in a Q&A panel.

There will also be a performance at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 23 at the outdoor Embarcadero Marina Park, which will include synchronized fireworks. Tickets are available at the Video Games Live site. Check out the full list of July tour stops after the break.

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My Dearest Felicity,

Prithee, I hope this letter finds thee well. Our distance makes my heart yearn for you, like an A misses Zed. I spend my days contemplating napkins and seeing the colour of your eyes in the tweed jackets of the commoners walking by. The hours are long here in The Colonies. Bennington tells me that, at Her Majesty's University of New Yorkshire, they are on the verge of perfecting a machine that allows one to play games through the telly. Imagine that! To have such a magnificent device in 2009 would be ever so pip-pip hooray in passing the time. I plan to put on my finest wig tomorrow and travel there to experience their first "video game" for this device. What sport are you participating in currently?

Humbly yours,
Sir Robin Woolcott Ellington Spencer of Covington Crossing, Virginia

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Steam is offering an incredible deal on 20 of 2K Games' hottest titles in the 2K Huge Games Pack. Featuring well-known titles such as Bioshock and Civilization IV, the package is a steal at $53.99. In fact, that's only a few dollars more than that bunk Bioshock bundle, so if you've got the extra dough laying around and want some new games to play, we suggest you check this deal out.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Those lovable scamps from Mega64 are at it again, bringing their own brand of humor to everyone's favorite river-fording, axle-busting game, Oregon Trail. We won't try to break down the comedy of this latest vignette, but will instead offer that everyone in this video is crazy for not trading bacon. Seriously, who doesn't like bacon? Robots?

Head past the break to catch the troupe's latest.

[Thanks, Chris!]

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Worried that those pesky digital shelves are going to put your local brick-and-mortar out of business in the next few weeks? Worry not, friends, as Valve's Doug Lombardi is here to put all your worries to bed. Talking to GamesIndustry.biz, Lombardi claimed that "free weekend" sales on Steam (among others) actually help to bolster sales at physical retail locations as well as online.

"Recently we've seen data that shows Left 4 Dead free weekends increase the sales of Left 4 Dead on Steam, at retail and on the Xbox 360, which we would never have guessed could have happened, but it's just that word of mouth," says Lombardi. Furthermore, he waves off talk of bad blood between Valve and GameStop over the developer's Steam service, saying, "We spent more money at GameStop in the US promoting Left 4 Dead than we did at any other chain ... we sold more copies of Left 4 Dead at Gamestop than we did at any other chain ... for us, whichever cash register you want to pay at, that's fine." Not that it matters to GameStop anyway, given the lack of a threat posed for at least another five years, right?