Holy crap! This month has certainly flown by, hasn't it? It's almost as if the month had ... fewer days or ... hey, wait a minute! There are fewer days in February! Sorry about that. To help make it up to you, we've got Big Download's past seven days lined up for you below and after the break. Enjoy!:

Exclusive features

• Boot Disk: Our retro games feature checks out the classic RPG Vampire The Masquerade Redemption.
• All You Need To Know: Our 411 game feature this week gives you the info on Supreme Commander 2.
• Freeware Friday: Our look at free games this week checks out the recently free RTS game Command and Conquer Tiberium Sun.
• Contest: Want to try out the upcoming online action-RPG Mytheon? We've got a bunch of beta keys to give away.

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We think we can all agree that Leap Years are like, the best thing ever. It's an extra day! An extra 24 hours you can spend doing whatever you want, unless it falls on a work day, in which case, you'll probably spend it working. It augments the month of February, changing it from a truncated, dissatisfying calendar partition into a slightly less truncated, dissatisfying calendar partition.

We had planned out a ton of Leap Year-related activities for tomorrow, but were recently crushed to learn that tomorrow is plain ol' March 1. We thought we'd memorized the time-old mnemonic device: "February 29 will join your collection, in all years including a mid-term election." Apparently, it ends with "presidential election," with optional addendum, "unless the year is divisible by 100, in which case, it's not a leap year, unless it's actually divisible by 400, in which case, it is a leap year." Man, what a stupid mnemonic device.

- PSP: 32,796 6,497 (16.53%)
- PS3: 32,130 7,319 (29.50%)
- Wii: 31,652 5,849 (15.60%)
- DSi LL: 24,388 3,198 (11.59%)
- DSi: 15,380 2,702 (14.94%)
- DS Lite: 5,053 606 (10.71%)
- Xbox 360: 2,453 975 (28.44%)
- PS2: 1,883 14 (0.75%)
- PSP Go: 1,371 23 (1.65%)

[Source: Media Create]

Read: The mnemonic archives

After successfully fighting a cease and desist order by Vivendi Universal five years ago, the unofficial continuation to the King's Quest series has been shut down for good. In 2005, fans successfully convinced Vivendi to allow the indie team behind The Silver Lining to continue development, thanks in part to a letter writing campaign. The original deal would see the game's authorized release as part of a non-commercial fan license; however, current King's Quest IP holder Activision has decided (after "talks and negotiations") it is not interested in entering a similar agreement with the indie team. In 2008, Activision said it didn't have any immediate plans to utilize the classic licenses (including King's Quest) it received in the infamous $18 billion merger with Vivendi.

What concludes is eight long years of development by a dedicated fan base. On the fan project's official site, a letter from the development team thanks fans for their continued support and shares its disappointment in the decision. It's always difficult when hard work goes unnoticed and we wish everyone involved the best of luck.

[Thanks, Chris]

A second expansion pack for Positech Games' Gratuitous Space Battles is on its way from one-man dev powerhouse Cliff Harris. "The Order" adds 11 ships along with a new species that shares the $5.99 expansion's name. The expansion also adds four new weapon types and two new scenarios (one on a normal map and another in the game's survival mode). Haven't seen the epic battles of GSB? Check out a new trailer featuring the expansion after the break.

[Via BigDownload]

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A wide rash of game-crashing errors is spreading among the PS3-owning community at the moment, most of which can be chalked up to a 8001050F error code. This has led to a variety of unfortunate side-effects for those affected, including corrupted trophy information and an inability to access the PSN. When combined, those two issues prevent players from launching certain games, such as Heavy Rain, without being kicked back to the XMB.

We've contacted Sony to find out what's causing the issue, and when we can expect to get back to chasing down the Origami Killer. He might just be able to make a clean getaway while we suffer through this downtime.

Update: Sony has acknowledged the issue, and is "looking into it." We've yet to hear an official word on what the problem is, though it seems to be a bit larger than just the PSN. Owners of PS3 Phats are reporting that the date on their console has reverted to 12/31/1999, which is likely the cause of the data-corrupting errors. Some Phat-owners have reported receiving the errors while their console was offline, which is upsetting, to say the least. We'll let you know when we hear official word from Sony.

There's a few valuable life lessons in the following story, so pay attention: A Pittsburgh news station recently reported on a 17-year-old boy who was disqualified from a SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals tournament after it was discovered he was cheating. In retaliation, the young man hacked into the official PlayStation site, and crashed it for 11 days back in 2008. Sony re-retaliated by opening up a federal grand jury investigation into the "cyber attack," which led back to the aforementioned boy, who is now in a whole heap of trouble.

The teen pleaded guilty, and was convicted on four felony charges: Unlawful use of a computer, criminal use of a computer, computer trespassing and the distribution of a computer virus. He'll be sentenced later this year. The moral of the story? Don't cheat while playing online games, and don't crash the web sites of gigantic corporate entities. If caught, you could end up being branded a cheater. Or, you know, a felon.

[Via Kotaku]

When you come right down to it, genetic engineering is about the only shot humans are going to have at developing real super powers. Which is why BioShock and BioShock 2 are more than just stories about some nifty underwater city gone wrong. When you have people that can move objects with their minds or blast fire from their hands and then stick them in a gorgeous dystopia, that's when you've got a story.

So what better way to celebrate that world than by bringing it into our own? With that in mind, we're offering up a mess of BioShock swag: one BioShock "Don't Wait! Incinerate!" women's shirt (size medium), one BioShock 2 Butterfly Hands men's shirt (size small), two different BioShock lithographs, and one extremely cool, handmade Splicer mask. Check out the prizes in the gallery below, and read the rules to enter.

Note: as a BioReminder, Rapture Radio is still active and broadcasting, and much thanks to Sony Legacy for supplying us with these nifty prizes. Their BioShock 2 soundtrack is still available in both Deluxe and Standard editions.

• Leave a comment telling us what plasmid power you'd want. Feel free to make up your own.
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, mostly due to our exclusion from a "statut particulier" status in Canada).
• Limit 1 entry per person per day.
• This entry period ends at 7:01PM ET on Monday, March 1.
• At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive one BioShock 2 men's butterfly shirt, size small (ARV $10), one BioShock 2 women's "Incinerate!" shirt, size medium (ARV $10), two BioShock lithographs (ARV $15 each), and one handmade Splicer mask (ARV $50).
• For a list of complete rules, click here.

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What is Joyswag? Since we don't keep the games and merchandise we receive for review or promotional purposes, it becomes "Joyswag," which is passed along to our readers. Please note that Joyswag may be in "used" condition. For more info on our policy, click here.

Aside from a spot on Sony's The Tester, we can't imagine a contest in the game industry with a much more ominous prize than Direct2Drive's Vision Award winner. Aside from the $10,000 bounty, apparently the trophy will be presented onstage at the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival by IGN's one and only lick-happy reporter, Jessica Chobot.

We've listed all five of the games up for the Vision Award after the break -- a list that includes Hello Games' Joe Danger and Edmund McMillen's Super Meat Boy. The awards presentation will be held during GDC 2010, specifically taking place on Thursday, March 11. We here at Joystiq would like to wish all the contestants luck. Also, you might wanna bring a towel. Just in case, ya know?

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Square Enix knows exactly what the players of its flagship MMO, Final Fantasy XI, want: New things to kill, which drop new things to wear. The company will fulfill these primal urges with three "Battle Area Add-On Scenarios" which will be released throughout the year. The first expansion, Vision of Abyssea, will go live during the summer, with two others, Scars of Abyssea and Heroes of Abyssea following soon after. Each new area can be purchased for $9.99 through the PlayOnline Viewer.

We're not sure how much of an audience Final Fantasy XI has retained over the years, but for the folks who've stuck in Vana'diel, there are phat loots in your future.

If you're anything like us (or our partners over at Massively), you were hurriedly clicking refresh on the official VanaFest 2010 website for news about the now eight-year-old Final Fantasy XI MMO last night. If you were, then you might've caught the momentary mention that the first wave of (closed) beta testing for the next Final Fantasy MMO (that's number 14, for those of you playing along at home) will be going live on March 11.

Square also assuaged fears of missing out on the closed beta by saying that "Those who were not selected in this drawing, fear not, for there will be other opportunities to come," adding that interested parties should "Be sure to stay tuned!" We figure if we're not invited, you know, all the more time to play that other Final Fantasy release, right?
[Via Massively]

The 2010 Nintendo Media Summit has come and gone, and sent a wave of huge Nintendo news through the industry. We had hands-on time with some of the Wii's biggest upcoming titles, screenshots for almost everything on Nintendo's 2010 calendar and a big ol' sack full of new videos. In case you missed anything, we've wrapped it all up and have it here for you in one tidy little package.

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The official site for Jonathan Blow's "philosophical, and quiet" next project, The Witness, recently underwent a massive update. While the archaic poetry certainly got our conjecture wheels a-spinning, the renovated site promises more concrete info through continuous updates while the game is developed.

The blog's first post reveals a cadre of concept art for the game, as crafted by designer Eric Urquhart. It looks appropriately pretty and mysterious -- what's behind the door? What's with that force field? Who is the sculptor? Is it all just one big allegory for the atomic bomb? (Whoa, sorry -- we got our J. Blow games mixed up.)

Other than birthing one of our favorite female singers and one of our favorite unicorns, Iceland isn't a country that comes up a lot around Joystiq. Today, however, we've got one such occasion where Iceland-based CCP -- developer of EVE Online and upcoming MMO FPS Dust 514 -- was able to bring our Scandinavian friends to the front page. According to a GamesIndustry.biz report, the developer is expanding, announcing plans to open a new studio in Newcastle, UK.

Apparently the studio will be "initially targeting" a 10 - 20 person head count, with a handful of ex-Midway Newcastle employees being picked up in the process. Additionally, the company confirmed that the UK-based offices would be targeting "current and future" console projects, rather than the PC-focused content CCP has been known for in the past. Presumably, this means the aforementioned MMO FPS, said to be headed to current-gen systems. With a mess of trade shows in the not-so-distant future, we'll likely see what CCP has cooking fairly soon.

A majority of the world's water cooler conversation has centered on the Winter Olympics for the past two weeks, but we've been unable to participate in the chatter. Watching the Olympics fills us with mortal fear -- not just because of the enormous amounts of pressure these people are under, but because of, you know, the actual danger the sports present to their participants. We'll watch a good curling match any day, though. It's unlikely someone's going to hurt themselves while using a broom.

Below are our seven favorite webcomics from this past week, arranged in no particular order. Check them out, then vote for your favorite after the jump. If we missed out on an extraordinary strip, drop a link to it in the comments!

In a Timely Manner (Monday Night Crew)
Mass Effect Comix (Jeph Jacques' LiveJournal)
The Gods of Modernity (Penny Arcade)
Moveset (Brawl in the Family)
More Ash Confusion (Hello With Cheese)
Fall of the Lich King (GG Guys)
Cel Shade the Hedgehog (2P Start)

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We admit it -- we're suckers for a stylish timepiece. A surprising portion of our income goes towards purchasing new, fancy clocks, turning our living quarters into a slightly less melty version of Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Memory." The latest object of our affection? Adafruit's Pong-playing MONOCHRON clock, in which two AI opponents compete in pixelated table tennis, and the players' scores denote the current time. Check out a video after the jump to see the chronometer in action.

Sure, it's not the first Pong-clock we've ever laid eyes on, but with a slim $80 price tag, it is the first we've ever considered actually purchasing. Sadly, you have to assemble the clock yourself, a process which requires "some basic soldering & hand tools." Curses! We knew our decision to take home economics instead of shop class would come back to bite us one day.

[Thanks, PT!]

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