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you think GM and Chrysler are going through financial struggles, it’s just a flash in the pan compared to the trial and tribulations of the automotive supply base. Experts say supplier jobs account for nearly three-quarters of all automotive employment, with estimates of 600,000 workers in the US alone. The slipping auto sales in North America have exasperated the situation for the already struggling suppliers, and the bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler haven’t helped, either. Parts suppliers did receive $5 billion in loans from the federal government, but some say that figure isn’t enough to keep some from going under.

Reuters reports that Ford will add to supplier’s woes by halving its supply base down to 850 companies by the end of 2009, making 750 suppliers ineligible for future dealings with the Blue Oval. By shrinking its supply base by nearly half, Ford can cut down the risk of production interruptions caused by the bankruptcy or dissolution of one or more of its suppliers. The healthier 850 suppliers pick up the production (and in some cases, employees) left on the table by the departure of the 750 less financially sound companies.

While controversies have mounted in the wake of Konami’s Six Days in Fallujah reveal, a group of Iraq war veterans told G4TV they have “no problem” with the game.

“I believe that this could be a good thing for both combat veterans and for the war in general,” triple-tour vet., Sgt. Casey J. McGeorge said. The group points out that a realistic game set in the current Iraq conflict may help civilians understand the situation. Army Sgt. Kevin Smith notes that an Iraq-based video game could “hopefully bolster support” for troops and encourage more empathy for veterans by showing civilians “what the war is really like [for soldiers].”

Peace groups, veterans and families called for Six Days to be banned following its announcement, but Marine Corps. Gunnery Sergeant John Mundy reminds everyone that those who are against the development of such a game “can spend their money elsewhere.”

“Alright,” you jubilantly exclaimed upon watching the world premiere trailer for Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, “Link done got himself another form of non-equestrian transportation!” Oh, how very, very quick you are to forget your dearest, oldest friend. Perhaps your election of 2P Start’s “Wind Waker, Heart Breaker” as your favorite webcomic of last week will be enough to keep poor ol’ Epona from putting herself down. Then again, maybe it won’t.

Second and third place went to Waluigi in the Family’s … “Waluigi in the Family” and Stolen Pixels’ “Stuff 2 Read,” respectively. Congratulations to the winners! Make sure you tell us which of your favorite comics penned this week should make it in tomorrow’s wrapup by sending us a link in the comments, or by hitting up our tipline! Don’t actually, like, hit it, though. It’s pretty fragile.

Traveling to Osaka, Japan has its perks. For one, it’s the food capital of Japan, so there’s that. On the other hand, it’s possible to get your mitts on early code of Lost Planet 2, Capcom’s upcoming sequel to its planetary labyrinth action-adventure 360 near-launch title, as GamesRadar discovered this week.

In horrifying detail, they describe as a giant lizard (currently named, “salamander”) is taken down by a crew of folks: one person takes it’s legs, another it’s back, and another is intentionally eaten as to attack from the inside — and eventually drop out of the monster’s … ahem … nether quarters. According to them, this time we’ll see a much bigger focus on co-op, larger and more varied environments and a general focus on “more” — “more towering bugs, more bosses, more players, more stuff to do.” Bigger, better, and more badass, you might say?

Hey, that’s a good catch-phrase! Someone should get on that!

Well, that was just the most ridiculous headline we’ve ever typed. Brace your brains for a craziness infusion, folks — television personality Judge Greg Mathis, of Judge Mathis fame, is planning his gaming development debut. According to a recent Yahoo! Games article, the good judge will be teaming up with 187 Ride or Die contributor Matty Rich to create a third-person action game for the 360, PS3 and PC titled — wait for it — keep waiting (seriously, it’s worth it) — Mathis “Detroit” Street Judge.

In the game, you play La-Ron Washington, a recently released inmate who’s trying to help out his community to turn his life around. However, with Detroit’s toughest gangs chasing him down for a murder he didn’t commit, he’ll have to play it smart to avoid the game’s penal consequences, which Judge Mathis took care to delicately explain.

“When you go to prison you can also be raped,” Mathis said. “We may see young people who make the wrong choice and go to prison and are assaulted repeatedly.” So, yeah. There that is.

[Via Big Download]

When we’re not too busy trouncing Halo 3-developer Bungie in “humpday challenges,” we fancy ourselves quite the career builders. And so it was with shock that we found ourselves colliding directly with the enormously popular franchise on CareerBuilder.com, albeit under the auspices of Halo license-owner Microsoft. Apparently the company is seeking folks who not only love Halo but also love “building scalable online infrastructure and websites for large and passionate audiences.”

What does that mean, exactly? The listing doesn’t go into as much details as we’d like, but it does say the job will blend, “console, web, and mobile to create an immersive Halo world that follows the dedicated Halo fan wherever they go.” Our thoughts first went to iPhone integration of Bungie.net and future Halo community endeavors but then we realized that Microsoft may want to keep whatever mobile application it may be creating on Windows Mobile-based phones. We’re hoping for our future-phone having selves that this isn’t the case.

[Thanks, Dan!]

We’ve got exciting news for the three of you that bought Sega’s surprisingly wonderful strategy-RPG Valkyria Chronicles — in the latest issue of Famitsu, Nonaka Ryutaro, the game’s producer, said he was pleased with Japan’s reception of the war-torn title, and expressed interest in creating another installment in the franchise. However, considering the game was a commercial flop in North America and Europe, but absolutely beloved in Japan, where the title has spawned an anime series and reached Sony’s Japanese Greatest Hits status, it’s not certain that any prospective Valkyria sequels would find their way beyond Japan’s borders.

Still, while this isn’t exactly a cold, hard confirmation of Valkyria Chronicles 2, but it should be enough to pique your interest, provided you bought the game, which Vegas odds would dictate you did not.

We realize that New Zealand is like, a bajillion miles away, but we thought we’d bring your attention to a Kiwi-bound PlayStation release schedule, which finally provides a firm release date for Titan Studios’ upcoming PSN title, Fat Princess. According to the list, PS3 owners can begin strengthening soul-crushingly negative obesity stereotypes when the game drops June 18. We still don’t know whether the States will see a simultaneous release, but it certainly fits nicely within our previously promised summer launch window.

There are many accolades one can lay upon Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic RPG Fallout 3, but it’s impossible to commend the game for its lush, rich environments. Pools of standing, radioactive water? Yuck. Shelled-out buildings inhabited by sallow-skinned mutants? No thanks. Go ahead and say it was intentionally designed that way to create an unsettling, hopeless atmosphere — we know a sorry excuse when we hear one.

Thankfully, a modder by the name of Khyrin recently released “GreenWorld,” a Fallout 3 patch that brings some much needed arboreal splendor to Washington D.C.’s unsightly landscape. You can download the mod here, then watch as Fallout 3’s grotesque, sepia toned pallette is exchanged for something a little more viridian.

[Via Ripten]

Update: With jaguar-like swiftness, Fezzikk managed to find all five eggs in a little under an hour and a half, and will receive the fame-brushing of a lifetime during the next podcast. Enjoy your new-found notoriety, and thanks to everyone for playing!

Shake yourselves from your Peep-filled slumbers, dearest readers — it is time once again for you to sally forth into the great unknown in a tireless quest for boundless eminence. And by “great unknown,” we mean our back catalog of news posts from the past two months. And by “boundless eminence,” we mean … well, we mean boundless eminence.

Veterans of last year’s Great Egg Hunt likely already know the score. Hidden across five posts from the past sixty days are tiny Easter JPEggs. The first person to locate all five and leave a comment in this post containing all five of the headlines (or URLs) of the egg-infused posts wins a prize more precious than any tangible treasure known to mankind — a Brush With Fame on the next Joystiq podcast, which, as you may know, has over a billion subscribers. We suggest starting your search with the five clues solutions we’ve posted after the jump.

While you’re crawling through our overly verbose muck in search of painted, yolk-filled spheroids, perhaps you could also try and find out why the Xbox 360’s sales shot up 61 percent in a single week. It could be due to the Japanese release of 11 Eyes: Cross Over, but we’re thinking it might just be a good ol’ fashioned Easter miracle.

- DSi: 53,680 3,721 (6.48%)
- PSP: 48,118 6,030 (11.14%)
- PS3: 20,362 2,463 (10.79%)
- Wii: 15,525 1,751 (10.14%)
- DS Lite: 8,729 321 (3.82%)
- Xbox 360: 7,812 2,963 (61.11%)
- PS2: 5,394 148 (2.82%)

[Source: Media Create]