Xbox 360 Fanboy

Alright folks, this is it. Last stop. End of the line. Now that the Halo 3 beta is officially over, the Crackdown/Halo 3 jokes must cease. Right after this video, that is. In this video, we learn the perils of dating playing a game under false pretenses. Now maybe it's just the fact that we watched Hannibal Rising last night, but we suddenly find ourselves frightened by the thought of our most hated games coming to life. We can only hope that Bomberman Act: Zero never hears all the awful things we said about it.

Crackdown is the sort of game that's just as much fun to goof around with as it is to actually play. As proof of that, we present you with this skydiving tutorial video. If you'd like to get some serious height in Crackdown without all the fuss of actually climbing, all you need is to enable cheat mode and experiment with ramp trucks. Using these trucks, you can rocket your vehicle skyward and then jump out for some killer free fall. According to the creator of the video, some amazing heights can be reached, even higher than those shown in the video apparently. Have any of our readers figured out any other cool glitches using cheat mode?

If you've been playing Crackdown co-op lately, you may have run into a serious problem. Forum goers (and X3F reader, DualCORE1) have discovered a major issue with the new Crackdown downloadable content. It seems that under the right conditions, the DLC can cause your progress to be reset. In other words, remember all those agility orbs you've collected? Gone. Start over. The issue seems to occur when players join co-op games and then return to single-player. Agent G, a Real Time Worlds employee has made it clear that Real Time Worlds is aware of the issue and is working on it. In the meantime, you might want to stay away from co-op.

[Via Joystiq]

The guys over at TeamXbox received an exclusive preview of the new downloadable content that will be available for Crackdown later this week. And overall we're impressed. Yup, the new Crackdown content dramatically changes up gameplay and will have you putting the game back in your weekly gaming rotation. But let's look at the specifics.

First off, there will be an auto update for the game which will address various game issues from louder orb notification sounds to a new gang reset option. They even made the fire hydrants less evil. Second up is a free piece of DLC called the Free-For-All Pack which will add exciting features like a new Keys to the City mode and an Impounding Vehicles option. Again, all for free. Thirdly is the Getting Busy Bonus Pack which will cost an unknown amount of Microsoft Points and will include new vehicles, weapons, and various other game modes. Stay with us now.

Finally, Realtime Worlds is adding a total of seven new achievements that spread across the free and paid content. Two achievements (totaling 140 Gamerscore) are attainable with the Free-For-All Pack while five other achievements (totaling 210 Gamerscore) are in the Getting Busy Bonus Pack. Also interesting to note is that the premium Getting Busy Bonus Pack can be played in co-op with a friend who doesn't have the content and, as such, a few achievements exclusive to the pack can be obtained by both players. Full writeup and videos after the jump.

Update 1: Xbox.com states that the Getting Busy Bonus Pack will cost 800 Microsoft points.

[Thanks, MuJaHiDeEn 420]

One of the developers at Real Time Worlds released a screenshot of some downloadable content for Crackdown. The image showcases four buggies being driven down a dirt track. The models on the vehicle look nice, though the red color scheme would suggest that they are unfortunately not Agency vehicles, and won't morph based on your character's Driving skill level. Still, it looks like taking one for a spin would be a lot of fun.

The fact there is four on screen could be interpreted as adding 2 more players to co-op. Or perhaps it will be a separate mode, like Time Trials, and you'll select courses with the ability to have 4 players. We'll have to wait and see, but our interest is piqued, what about you?

[Thanks, DjDATZ]

Crackdown's hidden and agility orbs are an addictive little treasure hunt for gamers. We posted up a guide for finding the hidden orbs, and now we're bringing you a top down map showing off all the agility orbs, courtesy of Achieve360Points. Sure, while the dots on the map don't exactly tell you what height the orb is at, the top left corner has some vital info for orb hunters. It tells you how many orbs are on each gang's territory. 212 for Los Muertos , 155 for the Volk, 128 for Shai-Gen, and the remaining 5 can be found at The Keep.

Combine that information with IGN's guide, which only has 498 Orbs pictured, or completely photographed lists for both types, but plagued with duplicate pictures, and you have a shot at finding the last ones you're missing. So, how many orbs, agility or hidden, do you have yet to obtain?

[Thanks, DjDATZ]

A tipster on the MSXbox World forums claims to have some details about the upcoming downloadable content for Crackdown. Some of these details aren't exactly new. For instance, the content should include the missing 100 achievement points and it should be free (according to recent policy changes, it has to be free, actually). There are, however, some things we hadn't heard yet. For example, the content is likely to include several new gameplay elements including vehicle impounding, street races with AI controlled cars, new equipment, new agent skins, and new mini-games. Unfortunately, all we have to go on is that the MSXbox World tipster has a reliable -- yet unnamed -- source for this info. So, for the moment, we'll take it with a grain of salt.

Would you be interested in these supposed new features? Would you like to see anything else added to Crackdown?

Co-op Achievement woes got you down? Well, perhaps a couple of Ctrl Alt Del's Crackdown comics might be able to tickle your funny bone. The first of which look at the life of a citizen of Pacific City and how they cope with the Agency and its employees. The second more or less shows the uglier side to an obsession with agility orbs. Rather than go into any further detail and ruin the punchline, both are available for your viewing pleasure after the break. Clicking the images enlarges them to full resolution, and we'd recommend you take a good look at the fine print in the latter of the two.

CVG interviewed Stephen Iannetta, the senior designer at Real Time Worlds, and Iannetta had some interesting thoughts on the future of the Crackdown franchise. This is intriguing, as the game has only been available in North America for two days, aside from breaches in the street date. He's very open to the idea of a sequel, and would want to keep the game as non-linear as possible. The thing he feels makes the game as entertaining as it is is Pacific City and how the player is able to interact with it as their environment. As such, he wants to build upon it and have future iterations come with a "more believable, functioning city". CVG will evidently have the full interview available later today, and we'll report on any other interesting tidbits found therein. Still, what would you like to see added upon in Crackdown's future?

[Via QJ.net]

Major Nelson just posted that with today's release of Crackdown you'll be able to download four new agents for free via the XBLM. Yes, downloadable content for a game before it officially can be purchased at retail! You can check out a preview of the new agents above (full-size pictures on IGN's forums) and to us they look like a ghetto Chuck Norris, a ninja, a Killzone dude, and a cyborg. Be sure to note that this is a perfect example of why some developers outshine others, because they actually care about the consumer and support their games. Thumbs up to you Realtime Worlds, we hope our little Crackdown honeymoon lasts forever.

Xbox.com has a nice interview with Dave Jones of Real Time Worlds about Crackdown. The touch on some cool things like the Achievements in the game, potential downloadable content and how the leaderboard statistics are tracked. When going into detail about the leaderboards and how they worked, it helped shed some light on the way they intend on tracking player activity to decide on the Achievements for the last 100 points. Give it the once over by clicking the "Read" link to help cope with the wait for tomorrow's release.

[Thanks, DjDATZ]

When David Jones of Real Time Worlds was looking at the ideas for Achievements for Crackdown, they had at around 200 or so to choose from. Jones said he wanted to just reward gamers for doing what they do best, having fun. When Microsoft told them they were allowing a total of 50, David felt that would cripple the whole concept of how they were going to approach the game's Achievements. So, when Microsoft recently altered their policy on Gamerscore, they also moved the total Achievements to 80 at Real Time Worlds' request. This gave Crackdown some breathing room with the upcoming 100 and potential 250 Gamerscore add-ons. Hopefully with proper feedback, their new content will be as fun and fulfilling as the current list. What Achievements would you want to see on top of the current set in Crackdown?

Ever since it was first announced that Crackdown would contain an invite to the coveted Halo 3 multiplayer beta, comments have been flying around the intertubes. Some have said that the beta was added in order to push an otherwise lackluster product. That theory, more or less, has been quashed now that the Crackdown demo has won the hearts and minds of the people. Others have expressed outrage at being "forced" to buy Crackdown in order to get into the beta. Frankly, this argument doesn't really hold water, as a beta test is just that, a beta test. In a recent Reuters article, Microsoft's Craig Evans defends the choice. In response to the claim that Crackdown was virtually off the radar before the Halo 3 beta was announced, Evans says, "I can understand why people might think that, but the bottom line is that Crackdown is a game that stands on its own." Referring to the common joke that people are buying the Halo 3 beta and not Crackdown (see image), Evans notes, "People are definitely saying 'I'm getting a free beta with Crackdown', not the other way around," adding, "The Halo 3 beta isn't going to push the game's sales into the millions. Crackdown is going to push its sales into the millions."

We certainly won't argue that Crackdown is a good game on its own merits, but it would be foolish to assume that the inclusion of the Halo 3 beta had nothing to do with its quick rise into the spotlight. In the end, it was a slick way for Microsoft to promote a good original game with no franchise history to exploit. Grand Theft Auto, for example, practically markets itself. Crackdown didn't have an obvious marketing hook. The beta put Crackdown in the public eye, and now that we've had a taste, we want more. Halo 3 beta or not, we're picking Crackdown up next week. Anyone want to take bets on how long it takes to become a million seller?

[Via HBO]

No, not "Crack for sale down south of the border", but Crackdown itself is. While you may be able to find both, we're really only reporting on the availability of the latter in Mexico. According to a wily reader of PlanetXbox360, Crackdown has been available at Mexican retailers as soon as it arrived at their doorstep. Some locations are even sold out of their initial shipment. Apparently, this isn't even out of the ordinary, and Mexican retailers tend to ignore street dates, as seen above. One thing we're curious about, is how many of the 3405 gamers who has played Crackdown on MyGamerCard.net has taken advantage of this, and 50 have Mexico as their locale. Another thing we're curious about is whether any of you fanboys near the US-Mexico border are going to try your luck south of the line or just wait patiently until the 20th?

IGN is reporting that next week, when you pop in Crackdown, you'll be prompted to download an auto-update via Xbox Live. Developer Realtime Worlds told IGN that they went back into the game's code and found a few things that needed tweaking that weren't caught before the game went gold. According to them, the patch will address issues that they discovered relating to lag in both online and sytem link co-op mode. We're just glad that we didn't have to discover this problem when we sat down to play a co-op match on launch day. Thanks again Realtime Worlds, at least you can own up to and fix your mistakes.

[Via Joystiq]