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There aren't many sports games like NBA Jam. Back when Michael Jordan was the king of the court, the 1993 Midway arcade classic was known for its tight controls, secret characters, zany dunks, and outrageous catch-phrases by announcer Tim Kitzrow. While Jordan wasn't in the game (he reached his own licensing agreement with the NBA in 1992, and Midway was unable to secure a deal with him), it was Scottie Pippen that brought his excellent three-point shots to the court alongside Chicago Bulls teammate Horace Grant.

That is, Pippen's usually excellent three-point ability. NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell admitted in a 2008 interview with ESPN: The Gamer that Pippen's tendency to win close games was tuned down in certain circumstances. Specifically, when any Bulls player attempts a glorious last-second shot against Turmell's favorite team, the Detroit Pistons, a special piece of code in the game would average the shots out to be bricks.

Turmell said, "There was the big competition back in the day between the Pistons and the Bulls, and since I was always a big Pistons fan, that was my opportunity to level the playing field." This is one case where any close loss against a friend can be reasonably blamed on the game.

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What's your game called and what's it about?

Ballin is a challenging, charming physics-puzzle game. The main character, the ball, is trapped in Block World, and must escape. You advance through the game by reaching the portal keys in each stage, but you can't control the ball directly. You must move around the stage by altering the pull of gravity itself.

Why develop independently, rather than work for an established company?

For me it was more of a circumstance than a personal decision. As I am currently in my final year at college, working for an established company really wasn't an option at the time. That being said, regardless of where I end up after graduation, I always want to work independently in some regard, whether that be as my full-time job or on personal projects away from work. The freedom of independent development is really attractive to me; it allows developers to really think outside the box and come up with something really unique and fun. I hope independent development is always a part of my career in some aspect.

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Capcom Chairman and CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto told investors of the company's plan to "reduce the time needed to develop major titles from the usual three to four years to only two and a half years," as part of a briefing on the fiscal year 2011 financial results earlier this month.

"Speeding up development will probably raise the cost," he said. "But creating quality content will be vital to Capcom's ability to survive by overcoming intense global competition. We will make substantial investments to develop this content."

President and COO of Capcom Haruhiro Tsujimoto added to the CEO's comments in his own address, saying the company's plan is also "to increase [DLC] sales from 2.8 billion yen in the past fiscal year to 3.5 billion yen in the current fiscal year." The COO also noted that the upcoming Resident Evil 6 will release approximately three and a half years after Resident Evil 5, and Lost Planet 3 will launch after a two and a half year development cycle, both in a shorter time span than with past games.

He added that DmC Devil May Cry will require five years of development due to a decision to switch to an external developer, with the end goal of creating new games in the series every two and a half years. With DmC Devil May Cry shipping in 2013, that equates to another game in the series in 2015.

A "Bullet For My Valentine" may sound like a really terrible gift for anyone that doesn't collect antique minié balls, but it's actually the name of next week's featured band over in Rock Band DLC world.

The aptly named "Bullet For My Valentine Pack 01" features three songs spanning three albums, including 2008's Scream Aim Fire, which we're not entirely sure is an accurate or trustworthy set of instructions for properly operating a firearm. Remember kids, always consult your physician before taking advice from Welch heavy metal bands.

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We can barely believe we just wrote that headline. When we watched the first few episodes of Red vs. Blue in 2003, we thought they were pretty hilarious, but that the show would fade like so many other online parodies do. And now we're writing about the show's tenth season. Thanks for making us feel old and wrong, Rooster Teeth.

Season 10 of Red vs. Blue kicks off tomorrow, May 28, and features the vocal talents of Elijah Wood as an AI program called Sigma. This season will complete the Project Freelancer story line, as shown in the above, mature-language-filled trailer.

Hard numbers are starting to come out of the Activision v. Infinity Ward case as things continue to ramp up towards the actual trial, which is currently slated to take place next month. Specifically, Activision revealed during a hearing last Friday that it has paid out in excess of $493 million in bonuses to Infinity Ward, a figure that includes the $42 million payout that occurred earlier this month, according to Polygon.

That $439 million encompasses all bonuses paid out to Infinity Ward since the original Call of Duty launched in 2003. To date, IW has been granted bonuses for games it was directly involved with as a studio, as well as games that used its tech and the Call of Duty IP, like the Treyarch-developed Call of Duty: World at War.

Attorneys for former IW heads Vince Zampella and Jason West argued that the ex-Infinity Ward employee group is also owed its share of "launch quarter" bonuses from the release of Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3, a point that Activision obviously disagrees with.

Carmageddon: Reincarnation reached its $400k funding goal on Kickstarter this morning, ten days before its deadline. The Stainless Games team posted a video (above) to their Kickstarter page celebrating the funding achievement, which was first announced on May 8.

Since the project's announcement, the team added roughly a dozen updates on tiered rewards for those pledging, including details on the game revealed in a Q&A session on Reddit. Carmageddon: Reincarnation will be in "iterative development" with the potential for DLC after release. Additionally, the team described their plans to allow for the game to be modded, saying their "suite of modding tools is going to be really comprehensive and encourage extensive messing about with the game."

[Thanks, Will!]

The Awesomenauts theme song is made of the stuff of legend -- love, money and cheese -- and now it's available for free right here. Well, free as in it doesn't cost any cold, hard cash, but it does involve payment of a more modern kind: social network sharing.

Anyone can download the theme song after tweeting the link or sharing it on Facebook through the service Pay with a Tweet. Or, you can wait until Friday, June 1, to download the entire soundtrack from Bandcamp, from artist Sonic Picnic.

THQ filed plans with the SEC Friday for a June 29 stockholders meeting, where the company will propose a reverse stock split to avoid delisting from NASDAQ.

In the filing, the company describes the need for the stock split to maintain the $1 per share minimum that NASDAQ requires for listing. THQ outlined three options in the process: 1:3, 1:5, and 1:10 reverse stock split ratios. Exercising any of these options results in fewer outstanding shares with an increased apparent value per share. For instance, should THQ perform a 1:3 reverse stock split, each stockholder would own one stock for every three owned prior to the split, even though the total value of the company's stock would not change.

The company's stock is currently trading at 61 cents per share.

THQ first received a delisting warning from Nasdaq on January 31, noting that the company's stock was trading below $1 per share. It has until July 23 to meet-and-maintain that closing standard for ten consecutive business days in order to be eligible for continued listing. THQ recently reported a net loss of $239.9 million for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2012.

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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