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Crackdown leaps into Games on Demand lineup

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 1st 2009 at 11:00AM }

Games on Demand's latest additions are all about two types of orbs: agility and katamaris. The 6GB Crackdown is reasonably priced at $20, with the "Getting Busy Bonus Pack" DLC permanently reduced to 400

($5). Those looking for a cheaper solution to obtaining Crackdown are advised to permanently borrow the copy their Spartan-obsessed buddies purchased for access to the Halo 3 beta years ago.

If you happen to live in Japan and are interested in collecting a single, incredibly huge sphere, Beautiful Katamari is now available. Helping the Prince keep his egomaniacal father happy will cost 2000

in Japan -- there's no word on a global release yet.

Here's your Crackdown 2 weapon loadout, agent!

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 24th 2009 at 7:15PM }

Doling out only a handful of fresh screens for Crackdown 2 with a smattering of in-game renders, Ruffian Games has done little to supply us with more information on its upcoming game in today's media release. Everything from various character designs to about two dozen weapon types can be found in the gallery below, showcasing the visually gussied-up artwork from the sequel to 2007's surprise hit. It appears as though the few screenshots included are of areas we've seen in the past, though (as you can see in the image above) we're now treated to many more explosions. Now if only we could get some sort of a release date, we could start getting properly excited for Crackdown 2. The thrill just ain't there without an end in sight, ya know?

Gallery: Crackdown 2 (11/24/09)

Get your graffiti in Crackdown 2

by Justin McElroy { Nov 24th 2009 at 3:32PM }

Why waste your graffiti on something as temporary as the rear wall of the nearby Rio Grande or Ronald's Cheese Corner when you could have it enshrined forever, digitally? That's the opportunity being offered by Ruffian Games, which is looking for graffiti submissions from fans who'll have a chance to get their art in the game and their name in the credits, if their work is among the best, that is.

If you're having trouble deciding what exactly, the theme – the jumping off point, if you will – of your e-vandalism should be, may we suggest ... Mighty Horse?

Crackdown HDD installation now available

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 9th 2009 at 12:45PM }

One of the conveniences introduced by the NXE last year was the ability to install games onto the Xbox 360 hard drive. Unfortunately, a select few games don't support the feature. Chief among the unsupported titles is Crackdown, Microsoft's addicting open-world action game. At least, it was until now, as Major Nelson has informed the masses that a title update is now available on Live that enables HDD installation of Crackdown.

Remember agent, installing isn't just for convenience, it's also for saving wear and tear on the DVD drive -- especially in games like Crackdown, which stream data constantly.

Interview: Crackdown 2 lead designer Steve Iannetta

by Xav de Matos { Oct 19th 2009 at 3:00PM }

In 2010, the agents are returning to action, this time with a new development team at the helm. Following a demo of Crackdown 2's single-player in action and a multiplayer deathmatch session, Ruffian Games' lead designer Steve Iannetta took time to discuss everything from new concepts and features in the sequel, the media's reaction to the RealTime Worlds "controversy" and evolving the co-operative world of Pacific City.

Gallery: Crackdown 2 (TGS 2009 #2)

Continued →

Interview: Microsoft Game Studios' Phil Spencer

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Oct 14th 2009 at 12:15PM }

If given the choice of becoming a (presumably) anthropomorphic vegetable, Phil Spencer would opt for an eggplant. Sure, we spoke to the confident head of Microsoft Game Studios about other things -- Halo, Project Natal, Fable, Crackdown, the Xbox 360's successor, blah blah blah -- but with that profound scoop out of the way, there's barely any reason to read this interview.

Mind you, the part where Spencer suggests that alternate forms of input (whether in addition to or in substitute of traditional controllers) might become a common expectation is pretty interesting. You should definitely read that.

Joystiq: We just came out of the Tokyo Game Show panel discussion for Project Natal ...

Phil Spencer: The creators panel.

Yes, the creators panel. Hideo Kojima was there; they brainstormed about all these games. How much focus is Microsoft Game Studios placing on Natal development internally in comparison to other projects?

It's a big focus for us in first party. As a first party, I think it's our duty, it's our responsibility to look at the new technologies that we bring to our platform. We did this with Live. We did at launch of 360. When we look at Project Natal as an opportunity for first party to truly innovate on our platform, creating new experiences, new intellectual property, we're very focused. A large percentage of the studio right now is thinking about Natal as part of what they're doing.

Continued →

Preview: Crackdown 2

by Xav de Matos { Sep 30th 2009 at 4:16PM }

A hands-on preview of Crackdown 2 at TGS last week came with a catch: deathmatch only. No matter how much potential for greatness a game might possess, it's hard to gauge its true character when limited to a boring multiplayer mode. That's not to say that my time with Crackdown 2 was entirely boring -- it wasn't -- but simply playing the most generic mode of all didn't raise my enthusiasm beyond a mild passing interest.

While I wasn't able to play the game's single-player campaign, I was shown a rough portion of it in action. Ruffian lead designer Steve Iannetta and producer James Cope showcased the game's new weapons and enemies (the mutated citizens of Pacific City that were simply referred to as "The Freaks"). Unlike the deathmatch portion of the preview session, this part was interesting.

Gallery: Crackdown 2 (TGS 2009 #2)

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TGS 2009: Watch a Crackdown 2 deathmatch

by Xav de Matos { Sep 25th 2009 at 10:29AM }

One of the biggest surprises to come out of TGS 2009 is the presence of Crackdown 2 -- and it's playable! While the Ruffian Games developed sequel was only just announced at E3, Microsoft decided to let press in Tokyo step into an early build of the new Pacific City. Some textures were missing, and a few glitches popped up, but it was to be expected in what we were told was a game "roughly at 60 percent" complete.

Stay tuned, we'll post our impressions soon, along with an interview with Ruffian lead designer Steve Iannetta. (Oh, and just in case you were wondering: we mopped the floor with the competition.)

Gallery: Crackdown 2 (TGS 2009 #2)

Overheard@TGS: Putting the 'crack' in Crackdown 2

by Xav de Matos { Sep 25th 2009 at 9:45AM }

During a behind-closed-doors presentation of Crackdown 2, Ruffian Games lead designer Steve Iannetta broke it down like this: "The orbs are the 'crack,' in Crackdown."

It's true, and Iannetta says that orb fiends will not be disappointed when they go hunting for the returning collectible in Crackdown 2. Stay tuned for gameplay footage and our hands-on impressions of the upcoming sandbox title.

Gallery: Crackdown 2 (TGS 2009 #2)

New Crackdown 2 screens -- zombies included [updated]

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 24th 2009 at 6:00PM }

Click to embiggen

Is it still kosher to assume zombies are what's being featured in these Crackdown 2 screens? We saw a glimpse of the ... let's call them "mutated" enemies in the trailer released back at E3, but we'd yet to see them being punched, kicked, and exploded so vociferously before. With any luck, we'll nab some new gameplay video -- or maybe just impressions of new gameplay video -- when we check out the game this week at the Tokyo Game Show.

Update: After spotting 10 unlisted Crackdown 2 images on Ruffian's Flickr page, we were asked by Microsoft to remove the screens due to an exclusivity agreement with Game Informer magazine. In the interest of playing nice, we've complied with the request. We'll have the images back on Joystiq as soon as possible, we assure you ... though a Google Images search might net you results a bit sooner.

Gallery: Crackdown 2 (TGS 2009 #2)

Crackdown shows up in Psych, writers obviously not familiar with video games

by Xav de Matos { Sep 10th 2009 at 8:45PM }

Video games often find their way into other forms of media, with cameos of upcoming software in vampire shows or how our consoles will one day rise up and destroy us all. In nearly every instance, TV show and film writers prove they aren't familiar with how games work or ditch logic for a silly premise. During the August 28 episode of Psych, we saw it happen again.

When faux psychic detective Shawn Spencer (James Roday) visits his father (played by Corbin Bernsen, above) for advice, we find the retired officer red-eyed and fixated on the console, waving a plastic toy gun as the game's controller. Although the game isn't named, we can see it's Crackdown, which Bernsen's character claims "lets you feel like a cop, without all the guilt after you shoot someone."

It's a funny cameo that weaves itself nicely into the episode's story, but goes a little crazy with the wacky video game accessory. Besides, everyone knows Crackdown 2 uses no controller and will be completely mapped to a player's body when Natal hits stores* in 2010. Check out a clip of all the episode's video game related gags after the break.

*We kid. We hope.

[Thanks, PsychOut]

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Microsoft explains why Ruffian is the right choice for Crackdown 2

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 7th 2009 at 1:00PM }

Before Microsoft revealed that Ruffian Games would be developing the upcoming Crackdown sequel, the original game's developer, Realtime Worlds, expressed some skepticism towards the idea. "I very much doubt that Microsoft would harm an otherwise fruitful existing development relationship by gambling on funding Crackdown 2 with a startup on RTW's doorstep, for obvious reasons," RTW's Colin MacDonald said last year. Things weren't so cut and dry for self-accused Crackdown fanboy (and Microsoft exec) Phil Spencer, who recently told Develop, "When Billy Thomson, the lead designer of the game [Crackdown 1], left Realtime Worlds, there was an opportunity."

Apparently, it would seem Mr. Spencer believes Realtime Worlds is simply too busy developing APB to give a Crackdown sequel the attention it deserves. "I wanted to make sure that anything we work on is correctly nurtured ... we had to find the right team who really understood what game it is – and that was Billy [Thompson] and the team at Ruffian." Crackdown 2 will be the first game developed by Ruffian Games since the studio's inception late last year.

Realtime Worlds celebrates new office opening, ever-expanding staff

by Ben Gilbert { Aug 28th 2009 at 3:00PM }

Like the Scottish equivalent of George and Weezie, Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds is movin' on up. Rather than a deeeluxe apartment in the sky, the company has just opened an 8,000 sq. ft. office, adding to its already existing 26,000 sq. ft. location. Quite a feat considering the company moved into its current studio less than three years ago and has only ever shipped one game.

"We've had tremendous commercial and critical success, and have done the lion's share of the work towards a successful launch of our online title APB," studio manager Colin MacDonald says in the press release, referring to the company's upcoming PC MMO. Considering the down economy and flood of layoffs we saw earlier in the year, it's always good to see some expansion -- RTW is looking to reach over 300 employees by years end. And you could be one of them, as the company wants to remind everyone that "over 40 vacancies" exist in the careers section at the Realtime Worlds website. You live in Scotland, right?

1.5 million copies of Crackdown sold is 'breaking even' for Realtime Worlds

by David Hinkle { Jul 16th 2009 at 3:00PM }

During a recent interview with Gamasutra, Realtime Worlds CEO David Jones talked about the success of the first Crackdown. Well, okay, maybe it wasn't a really huge success or anything, even though 1.5 million copies of ~~the Halo 3 beta~~ Crackdown were snatched up by consumers. It turns out that Realtime Worlds only broke even, which it partially blames on GameStop's used game sales.

"With Crackdown we sold about 1.5 million copies, but even at that we pretty much only managed to break even," Jones said. "It was due to the amount of factors that were out of our control as the developer, influences such as GameStop's amazing used-game sales; we know 1.5 million new copies were sold, but it's likely there were 2.5, three million sold when you include used." Hey, that sounds like another game we've heard about recently! Hopefully this whole game downloading thing will help with some of those trade-ins. Not that it's Realtime Worlds' problem to worry about any more.

Realtime Worlds explains shift to MMOs, says online market is 'untapped'

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 15th 2009 at 4:00PM }

(click to MMO-size)

Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds -- currently working on upcoming MMO All Points Bulletin -- is pretty excited about cashing in on the online market. During his keynote at the Develop conference this week, RTW exec David Jones explained his company's shift to MMO development as one with the intention of heading where "the big dollars are."

"Online ... is very, very much untapped -- it's kind of like winding the clock back 10 or 15 years," he said during the speech. Jones apparently cited Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 as examples of games where players "invest hours" in the single-player campaign but "ten times that online" -- but isn't your game PC-only, Mr. Jones? We're not so sure, considering Jones' repeated references to "next-gen technology" throughout the keynote, 100-person servers for online play, and the recent EA partnership announcement -- though we'd be a lot more inclined to believe it if even a single MMO existed on current-gen consoles in any real capacity. When we asked RTW for comment on the possibility of APB coming to consoles, a representative told us, "There's no update on that front." Hey, we tried, right?