Joystiq

Realtime Worlds takes APB distribution rights from Webzen

Kyle Orland — 2008-04-21T15:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, MMO

It always seemed to us that MMO-maker Webzen had a bit too much on its plate, what with working on APB, Huxley and Soul of the Ultimate Nation year after year with no signs of any actual releases. Well, Webzen's plate got a little less full today, as developer Realtime Worlds announced it has regained the global distribution rights to APB.

Realtime Worlds' announcement follows a an intriguing demo of APB at February's Game Developer's Conference and a $50 million cash infusion for the Crackdown developer in March. As for Webzen, maybe this disquisition will finally give it the focus it needs to finish up the long-dormant Huxley.

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Realtime Worlds undecided on All Points Bulletin for PS3

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-04-16T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, MMO

"The situation is that yes, all the consoles are an option for us, and we'll be looking at them, but there's nothing decided, nothing to report at the moment I'm afraid," said Realtime Worlds studio manager, Colin MacDonald. The only thing worth reporting then, as discovered by GamesIndustry.biz, is that the Crackdown developer has no concrete plans to bring its bandanna gangster MMO, All Points Bulletin ("APB" as it's known on the streets), to Sony's black behemoth.

It seems there was some jumping to incorrect conclusions after an article in the Scotsman suggested Realtime Worlds was looking to adapt APB "for games consoles such as XBox and PlayStation in the future." That's only partially true, as the game is currently bound for PC and Xbox 360. Still, there's loads of time between now and 2009, and plenty of ways to spend $50 million in funding.

Gallery: GDC08: All Points Bulletin

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Realtime Worlds receives $50 million in real world investment

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-03-31T16:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Business

Realtime Worlds, the developer best known for Crackdown, raised $50 million in its third round of financing. The company is currently at work on the MMO All Points Bulletin in conjunction with Korean company Webzen. Realtime Worlds CEO David Jones was a creator on the original Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings back in the day.

Although Crackdown was a great game, nobody is going to deny that the title did better because of its tie-in with the Halo 3 beta. APB should let us see how a Realtime Worlds title does without the assistance of Master Chief and the Halo army.

[Via GameDaily]

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APB demonstration shows 'Cops and Robbers' gameplay

Griffin McElroy — 2008-02-24T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, MMO

Sure, these past few days have seen a number of megaton announcements come from the Game Developers Conference, but nothing tickled our collective fancy quite like Realtime Worlds' Crackdown-turned-MMO, All Points Bulletin. The above trailer more than justifies our infatuation -- with Ronin-esque car chases instead of corpse runs, and assault rifles in lieu of broadswords, there may be no country for old MMOs once APB hits the unsuspecting online gaming market.

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GDC08: Realtime Worlds shows off All Points Bulletin

Barb Dybwad — 2008-02-22T09:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, GDC, MMO, Galleries

What word is perhaps most synonymous with the current MMO playing field? Grind. Realtime Worlds' Dave Jones (no relation?) is setting out to change that with the studio's first massively multiplayer title All Points Bulletin we caught wind of back in September. He's hoping the formula Crackdown + MMO = crack will be proven true with variables like infinite, professional-looking character and vehicle customization, contemporary setting, integration with last.fm and dynamic, variable team-sized missions hidden in the equation.

In today's innocuously-titled "My first MMO" panel at GDC, Jones revealed a number of details about those variables and showed off some gameplay and character customization demos that left a packed house audibly oohing and ahhing. Read on for a breakdown of the session and details on the game.

Gallery: GDC08: All Points Bulletin

Jones began the session talking about how the terminology behind MMOs is really loaded; having emerged from a context in which all MMOs were RPGs has colored our perception of what massively multiplayer games are and can be. All Points Bulletin is being designed from the ground up to get away from the assumptions embedded in that terminology. Jones gave credit to multiplayer online games as being the real nexus where the majority of people spend the majority of their game time despite the social stigma attached to MMOs.

Looking at what MMOs do well: persistence, community, social interaction, aspiration and longevity. But the thing that really ties them together isn't terminology -- it's just dedicated servers. Despite the technology challenges, there is endless creative potential when you have dedicated servers behind your game. So if we rephrase the question to "if you could have dedicated servers behind your game, how would you embrace them?" we may be able to finally get away from the term MMO and the assumptions behind it.

APB takes a sandbox type of game and makes it multiplayer. Games like GTA and Crackdown don't constrain people, which is the beauty of the video game medium. There are definitely great single-player games with amazing stories (Half-Life 2, e.g.), but "creating a beautiful world full of toys is like being a little kid again, where imaginations run wild. I want to play in a sandbox."

The other unique aspect of APB is its contemporary setting -- it's not Yet Another Fantasy or Sci-Fi MMO. Jones talked about how those settings can diminish your audience because "we don't want to have to learn things over and over -- it lowers the barrier to people when it's urban and it's cool. Replace geek with chic." WoW tends to portray everyone as geeks and there's a stigma attached to that. If you make it something people understand and relate to they may be willing to try it for the first time, whereas in general a lot of people tend to be scared of or intimidated by MMOs.

At this point in the session Jones starts showing off aspects of the game. We're seeing some of the tools for character customization and are told that all characters will be completely user-generated: "let players make their own action figure. When I log in I'll have no idea who I'm going to see." The level of detail available in character customization is extensive -- we see the usual sliders you'd expect in a single-player RPG for cheek bone structure, brow depth, hair style, etc. as well as unique features like scars and tattoos. A vector-based primitives system allows rapid customization of assets that look professional even with little knowledge of graphic design.

The same decal system applies to your clothing, where you'll be able to decorate any part of your outfit with customized graphics and logos very easily. Details as fine as the seams on your jeans and whether you prefer to wear your shirt tucked in or out will all be available customization options.

All of the same customization functionality will be available to your vehicles, where you can quickly add spoilers, rims, decals and logos, change colors and so forth. One of the very cool features will be integration of the social music site last.fm in to the audio selections available in your car; you'll be able to bring your real world music collection with you into the game.

He's showing off some of the fun things you can do with character customization -- they've created in-game versions of Miyamoto, Richard Garriott and others. They're all hanging out in-world as a badass geek gang. We gotta say, Miyamoto with a rocket launcher is pretty priceless.

You'll have a major choice to make upon starting the game: whose side are you on? APB's version of cops and robbers (or Alliance and Horde...) is Enforcement or Gang. You'll either be stealing the TVs or trying to apprehend the players stealing the TVs.

Here's the big money reveal: there will be no PVE grind in the game -- absolutely no character levelling. Character progression will be driven by character customization, not by stats. When you first start the game you'll be a noob in a white t-shirt without a lot of individuality; you'll be able to tell the more experienced and advanced players because they'll look totally badass, tricked out with extensive customization.

More about the grind mechanic: it's been used in the past because it's such an easy way to guarantee hundreds of hours of gameplay. But look at what happens: in WoW, most players automatically enable the "instant quest text" option. Players go immediately to Wowhead to find out where to go to find the particular mobs they need to collect 10 fangs from, and we have AddOns that show our location on a 2D map so we can just go straight there without needing to explore. This is extremely procedural gameplay grind and nobody enjoys it -- "we have to find a way to break that."

The goal for All Points Bulletin is to make the core game so much fun that it doesn't feel at all like a grind. Jones cites Counter-strike as a definitive role model ("maybe the best game ever"). This leads into a video demo of an actual gameplay mission: some Gang members have hijacked a car (very much Crackdown-style down to the animations used) and need to get the goods it contains to a safe point. An APB is put out on the criminals and cops begin pursuit. You'll have your best driver in the group piloting the vehicle while your best FPSers are shooting out the back and sides of the car while trying to out-maneuver the police.

Something notable about this mission and all of the missions in the game: the group size is variable. Jones talks about how you always have 5 or 10 or 25 people in a group in MMOs: "why people keep doing that I have no idea." Having dynamically sized missions also allows for some balance between pre-mades and PuGs, and helps solve the problem of balancing the new with the more experienced players. To illustrate this, we see a mission where four relatively new players are stealing TV sets from a store. A veteran player answers the APB call to apprehend them and is able to solo all four of them because of the items and skills he has available, whereas a more inexperienced player might have to group up to achieve the same goal. You're not going to be limited a priori by required group size in order to take on various missions in the game.

Another cool feature built into APB is an in-game camera. It wasn't included at the beginning but the QA team kept asking for one, so the developers built video capture into the game. This led to scenarios where you could run into "film crews" inside the came, all tricked out with crazy character appearances for the sake of the film project and enacting various scenes. The folks who were into it figured out that other players could crash their parties by driving vehicles through the sets, so they started blocking off the roads adjacent to their "studio" so as not to be interrupted. We're looking forward to seeing some of the stuff that makes it onto YouTube from APB.

Jones leaves us with the mantra that "the launch is only the beginning." Realtime Worlds is looking forward to seeing what players come up with under the "players as content" model, and you bet your user-customizable bippy that we are too.

Gallery: GDC08: All Points Bulletin

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DICE 08: Microsoft owns Crackdown IP, sequel an 'option'

James Ransom-Wiley — 2008-02-08T15:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360

Despite the dynamic pairing of good sales and majority acclaim for Crackdown, Shane Kim grew cagey when questioned about the status of a sequel at DICE, during an interview with Game|Life. "I don't really want to talk about that discussion," said Kim when asked to comment on reports that Realtime Worlds would not develop a sequel to last year's successful super-cop sandbox shooter. What Kim did clarify is that Microsoft owns the Crackdown IP and is free to pursue development of a sequel with a new studio. "I think that customers would like to see more in that space," Kim vaguely noted, "So that's an option for us."

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ELSPA joins in fight against R4 copying device

Kyle Orland — 2008-02-08T11:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Hacks

We already know that Nintendo alone can't smash all the R4 devices that allow for easy downloading and piracy of DS games. But could the aid of Europe's ELSPA help Nintendo complete its total smashing plan? Probably not, but that hasn't stopped the European trade organization from lending its help to Nintendo in battling the widely available device.

How exactly they'll help isn't yet clear, though. In a cryptically vague statement to MCV, ELSPA said they were "evaluating the R4 game copying device" and "working closely with [Nintendo] to consider the next step in the UK." While that statement doesn't reveal any concrete plans, it also doesn't rule out any potential "next step." S.W.A.T. team raids, tanks in the streets, nuclear strikes --they're all potential piracy-battling strategies that aren't eliminated by this statement. Pirates, start digging your fallout shelters ... NOW!

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Best of the Rest: Griffin's Picks of 2007

Griffin McElroy — 2008-01-02T02:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Features, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Wii)

For a port of a two-year-old game, RE4: Wii Edition didn't have a whole lot going for it. It had the same extra features as the PS2 port of the game, not-so-updated graphics, and slightly lower reviews than its original iteration -- and yet, somehow, just by changing how the game is controlled, Capcom created an entirely new adventure. When the peculiar controls for the Wii were first announced, this is the type of interactivity that I imagined from the future games for the system -- responsive, accurate, and realistic. The only way they could have made the gunplay feel any more natural would have been to package the game with an actual gun, which you shot at the on-screen zombies. Once.

Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl (DS)

Haters be damned -- I'm a Pokéfanatic. As such, my Best of the Rest list wouldn't be complete without this year's edition of the handheld monster catching series. Sure, certain elements of the game haven't changed since the days of Pokémons Blue and Red (two of my favorite games of all time), but the things I love about the series remain intact, and in some cases, improved. The music is amazing, the number of the titular creatures are increased, and the Squirtles are bluer than ever.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (DS)

At first consideration, casual puzzle games and role-playing games seem like two great tastes that, together, taste like stale poison. Casual games are supposed to be short, singular experiences that you can pick up and put down when need be; RPG's require you to embed yourself into the couch so you can soldier on until the next save point. Somehow, Puzzle Quest takes some of the best qualities of these two fields and blends them spectacularly, creating a clever hybrid genre. With the addictive character customization abilities of an RPG, and the even more addicting Bejeweled-esque gameplay, they might as well have titled it Heroin: The Game.

The Bigs (Xbox 360)

To those offended by the lack of sports titles on our Top Ten list, I offer you this consolation. It might lack the realism of MLB '07 and MLB 2k7, but it makes up for it with over-the-top gameplay and arcade style controls. Add on an incredibly enjoyable career mode and some incredible Angels in the Outfield-esque diving manuvers, and you've got the NFL Blitz of America's greatest pastime.

Crackdown (Xbox 360)

Crackdown, for me, was pretty hit-or-miss. The game was really only enjoyable when playing online co-op, and even then, the main story mode got pretty stale after a short time. Everything else, however, was buttercream. There's more ways to waste time in this city-sized sandbox than you could ever imagine, especially with the release of the "Keys to the City" content patch. I can't tell you how many hours I spent playing Crackdown Donkey Kong, cackling at my teammate's futile attempts to climb a skyscraper as I dropped dump trucks on him from its summit.

Disappointments

Mass Effect (Xbox 360) -- Mass Effect is in no way, shape, or form an unpleasant experience. It's a great way to spend 20 hours. It's an incredibly deep galactic chronicle. It's an evolution of narrative in video games. However, it is a terrible game. Does that make sense? The elements that make it a video game are terrible. The gunplay is clunky and unresponsive, as are the rest of the combat controls. The character customization and equipment screens are cumbersome and remarkably confusing. It seems as if BioWare designed the game so that the action would be something that happens between conversations and story development, an unfortunate reversal of the usual video game formula.
Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360) -- Not only does it feature one of the worst soundtracks ever featured in a Guitar Hero game (I only really enjoyed about five or six of the songs), but Activision managed to mangle both the art style and sense of humor that I loved so much about the first two versions of the game. Sidenote: Rocks the 80s was also junk, but I wouldn't label that as a disappointment, as my hopes for a Guitar Hero game composed entirely of 80s music were decidedly low.
Blue Dragon (Xbox 360) -- Somehow, the math just didn't add up. Any game being worked on by the creator of Final Fantasy and the developers of Chrono Trigger should be the most legendary RPG ever. How did Blue Dragon end up a repetitive, boring, ugly mess? We may never know.

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Best of the Rest: Alexander's Picks of 2007

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-01-01T22:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Features, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Microsoft Xbox 360

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (PC)

Please, make the addiction stop! Civilization IV: Warlords, the first expansion for Civ IV, made my "Best of the Rest" last year and Beyond the Sword tops this year's list. The funny thing is I'm not a Civ fanboy, nor am I even that great of a player (Full Disclosure: I still play on Noble level), but Civ IV is a game I can come back to over and over again. Beyond the Sword added much-needed mechanics for culture-prone and passive-aggressive players, with enhancements in espionage and other concepts "beyond the sword." Oh, and just to keep last year's tradition going: Firaxis (2K, Take-Two), please get the rights to Alpha Centauri back from EA and give us a sequel!

Overlord (Xbox 360, PC)

Is it worth $60? Absolutely not. But if you can find it for $30 or less, Overlord is an overlooked semi-precious gem. The game can be glitchy and has clear design issues, but you can see the vision Triumph Studios had in development, and for the most part the studio accomplished its goals. Overlord is a game that would benefit from a very direct sequel using everything created for the first game and just adding new levels with more polish in concept and execution.

Crackdown (Xbox 360)

The Halo Beta didn't interest me so I just didn't pay much attention to Crackdown. About a month after The Halo Beta was over I finally got around to playing Crackdown -- and it was awesome. Sure, the narrator spouted lines randomly for no apparent reason, but the game itself was great summer fun. Just like Overlord, Crackdown would benefit from a sequel -- sadly, we may have to wait a while.

Puzzle Quest (Every system under the sun)

As Peggle is to Plinko, Puzzle Quest is to Bejeweled. Finding just the right mix of RPG and addictive puzzle action, Puzzle Quest's missions and ancillary elements create an experience that every person should own on their handheld for trips -- or on a console for 10-minute breaks. The real question: Is Puzzle Quest the beginning of the casual game hybrids, or is it just an anomaly?

Carcassonne and Catan (Xbox 360)

Want MOAR! High-quality video game versions of excellent European board games are, well, excellent.

Honorable Mention

Winks to The Darkness (Xbox 360, PS3), Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3), Lost Planet (Xbox 360, PC).

Disappointment:

Heavenly Sword (PS3): Somewhere under this movie there was a game. Goddess of War this is not ... more like Heavenly Rental.
Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360): Chopin can take his existential emo-whining and shove it. A fun battle system was met with a game where the developers got lazy halfway through and allowed the writers to commit intellectual self-fornication.
Project Sylpheed (Xbox 360): Those of us waiting for the successor to Wing Commander are going to have to keep waiting.

New Year's Resolutions:

Playing the many, many releases from late October through the end of the year.

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Best of the Rest: Justin's Picks of 2007

Justin McElroy — 2008-01-01T18:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Features, PC, Sony PSP, Microsoft Xbox 360

Dead Head Fred (PSP)

Though he may have been on a small screen, Dead Head Fred (voiced by Scrubs' John C. McGinley), had more character than 90 percent of the leads in this year's crop of console games. If you haven't played it, do yourself a favor and track it down. It's excellent stuff.

Puzzle Quest (DS)

For a solid two-month period this summer, I could not put Puzzle Quest down when I went to go to the bathroom. It was, if you will, the king of the throne. I actually had to kick my addiction to it piecemeal, like I was killing a Zelda boss. First, I had to stop accumulating powers, then I grew tired of the gem-matching mechanic and (finally) was able to bring myself to defeat the final boss.

In mid-December, I started playing the XBLA version. So, to continue the analogy, I guess the boss killed me.

Crackdown (Xbox 360)

I'm actually kind of surprised this didn't make the big list, but it's here on my favorites now and that's just going to have to suffice. From its pseudo-superhero lead to the big open world, this is the sort of game that seems specifically crafted to, in the words of Jason Statham, gouge my fancy from its shell, and tickle it ad nauseam. D-lightful.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: The Shivering Isles (Xbox 360)

I'm going to need you to deal with something: TES IV:O:TSI was, hands down, the best RPG released last year. "What? What did he say?" I'll repeat it. Thanks to its beautiful graphics, engrossing story and overall radness, The Shivering Isles was the best RPG of 2007. I feel much better now with that off of my chest.

Desktop Tower Defense (PC)

This is the game that I play when I want to show real video games that they're not the boss of me. I actually had to delete my bookmark for it, because I was far too prone to just sort of idly clicking on it and jettisoning four hours of my day into blackest space.

Disappointments

Mass Effect (Xbox 360) -- I think Mass Effect gets this dubious honor from me because it was full of so many little disappointments. It wasn't just as if I had anticipated it before its release and the final product let me down. The game itself was a cycle of promising fun was just around the corner and delivering tedium. It seemed that every time it got some momentum, on of the many, many flaws in the game was there to drag it down.

Here's a good example of my Mass Effect stance, one that I'll relate to anyone who'll listen. You can sprint in Mass Effect as long as you're in combat. Yes, the same combat conducted entirely through ranged weapons. I don't know why you'd want to sprint up to someone to shoot them, but that option's there. On the other hand, if you're not in combat and you need to, I don't know, run from one corner of the city to the other, then you're going to stroll like a fancy gentleman, no sprinting allowed. And don't even get me started on the elevators.

The big disappointment is that Mass Effect was a great game that should have been a classic. It's a fine line, but when a game has this much promise, it's an infuriating one.

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Best of the Rest: James' Picks of 2007

James Ransom-Wiley — 2008-01-01T13:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Features, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360

Pac-Man Championship Edition (XBLA)

If not worthy of a Top 10 spot, then certainly Pac-Man deserves Joystiq's 'Comeback Player of the Year' award. I covered Pac-Man CE's overblown launch in early June, but it wasn't until I became a devoted player at home that I realized the sheer genius of the first true Pac-Man sequel since 'the Ms.' hit the maze in '82. Designer Toru Iwatani managed to scrape off a quarter-century of rust and fashion a remarkably relevant game that held me down during an otherwise punishing summer drought. Geometry Wars might be the most celebrated, but Pac-Man CE is Xbox Live Arcade's true star.

Everyday Shooter (PSN)

A sublime work of art that bleeds indie blood and stirs the soul. A very personal experience. Kudos to creator Mr. Mak.

Crackdown (Xbox 360)

Admittedly, Crackdown has become a fading memory, but a good one. Realtime World's sandbox will be remembered as the most satisfying online co-op game of the year, and not as my golden ticket to the Halo 3 Beta.

MLB 07: The Show (PSP)

Baseball? Yes'ir. As my Fightin' Phils battled to their first playoff appearance in 14 years (fourteen!), MLB 07 rarely left my PSP all season. (Okay, I confess, the game hasn't come anywhere near my handheld since the 'Filthies' agonizing first-round exit.)

Picross (DS)

Corny subject matter doesn't diminish Picross' addictive gameplay. "Just one more" should be the motto for this year's best puzzler to feature blocks.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (XBLA)

Does a decade-old game belong on a list of noteworthy 2007 titles? Definitely. Revisiting this classic in late March, I realized how ineptly I had judged SotN in my youth. After I feverishly destroyed the XBLA super-port - 200.6% completion, plus a Richter run-through - I was left with one lingering question: Is this the greatest game of all time...?

Honorable Mention

Shoutouts to Super Stardust HD (PSN), Puzzle Quest (PSP) and Jeanne d'Arc (PSP).

Disappointments

Heavenly Sword (PS3): Absolute mediocrity. I jonesed so hard for this one, but once in my PS3, I didn't experience a single high.
Phantom Hourglass (DS): I'm still searching for that 'Zelda' I fell in love with in '88, reaffirmed in '92 and pledged my soul to in '98.
Lost Planet (Xbox 360): Mostly 'meh,' but shoddy controls ruined occasional pockets of fun.
Mass Effect (Xbox 360): Moronic AI and generally broken combat has me baffled. Am I playing this wrong?
Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360): The essential gameplay elements (climbing and combat) are superb, but the supporting tasks are too few and flawed.

New Year's Resolutions

I promise to finally play Metroid Prime 3 (Wii) and Uncharted (PS3).

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BAFTA: BioShock game of the year, Wii Sports wins most awards

Alexander Sliwinski — 2007-10-24T10:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced the winners for their British Academy Video Game Awards and BioShock came out on top, with Wii Sports winning most categories. The full list can be found after break. Wii Sports won six of 13 awards, Crackdown won two awards, as did Okami.

Crackdown developer RealTime Worlds was the most successful European studio at the event, winning Best Action and Adventure and an audio award. Phil Wilson, producer of Crackdown, said, "BAFTA's are awards that are recognized and respected both outside the games industry and internationally, so we're incredibly proud that everyone's hard work has resulted in not just one but two of the prestigious gold masks." Great, now does that mean you'll finally start working on a sequel?

Best Action and Adventure: Crackdown
Best Strategy and Simulation: Wii Sports
Best Sports: Wii Sports
Best Multiplayer: Wii Sports
Best Casual and Social: Wii Sports
Best use of audio: Crackdown
Best original score: Okami
Best technical achievement: God of War II
Best artistic achievement: Okami
Best gameplay: Wii Sports
Best innovation: Wii Sports
Best story and character: God of War II
Best game: BioShock
The Gamers' Award: Football Manager 2007
BAFTA's "Ones to Watch": Ragnarawk

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No Crackdown sequel in development

Ross Miller — 2007-09-07T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Online

By merit of the attached Halo 3 beta, the success of Realtime Worlds' Crackdown was none too surprising. However, the critical acclaim and overall quality of the title turned more than a few heads. Any Business 101 textbook would tell you that the best move would be to release a sequel. Alas, it's not meant to be.

Speaking at an Industry All Stars event (via Develop Magazine), producer Phil Wilson said that there is no sequel "Microsoft were a little late in stepping up to the plate to ask for Crackdown 2," he said, "and by then we had already started working on bigger, better things." Those bigger and better things are a cops-and-robbers themed MMO due out next year entitled All Points Bulletin (APB) and an undisclosed project for release in 2009.

APB will reportedly focus on customizable characters and vehicles; given the descriptors, we wonder how much of Crackdown's spirit (and re-used assets) will be the online game.

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Xbox 360 goes disco at Bonnaroo

Alisha Karabinus — 2007-06-26T13:58:00+00:00

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, Features, Microsoft Xbox 360, Galleries

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival can be described in many ways, but gamer's paradise is not the first phrase that comes to mind. Monstrosity of music, perhaps, or neo-hippie nirvana -- these are much more apt descriptions. However, one tiny corner of the farm was in fact an electronic Eden, gamer style, at this year's festival.

We were curious about the console's presence at the festival, and the Microsoft rep on hand wasn't shy about answering questions. "Why not Bonnaroo? There are tons of people, it's good exposure for the system, and it's a great chance to demonstrate the 360." From what we saw of the crowds in the tent, she was right about the exposure. The Arcade was never empty, and several of the consoles had small crowds clustered around the screens.

The Xbox 360 Discothéque Arcade, like so many of the enclosed structures at Bonnaroo, didn't look like much from the outside. Dust-streaked white walls shielded gamers from the boiling Tennessee sun, and the doorway was perfectly positioned to catch the occasional (and very welcome) breeze. Inside, thick shag rugs and battered sofas turned the Arcade into the perfect chill-out area. While the tent wasn't air-conditioned, the simple presence of shade made the Arcade a big draw for gamers and nongamers alike.

Gallery: Xbox 360 Arcade at Bonnaroo 2007

It wouldn't really be an arcade without games, now would it? The Discothéque Arcade did not disappoint 360 fans on that front. Several kiosks offered up quality time with some of the best the 'box has to offer: Gears of War, Madden 2007, Forza 2, Crackdown and Guitar Hero II. Also MLB 2K7, but we were talking about the best here. So that's the arcade half -- what about the disco part of the equation? The tent featured an expansive dancefloor (thankfully, placed some distance away from most of the kiosks), and every night from 4pm to 8pm, players lined up to get their Guitar Hero on in front of dozens of gamers and fans. Like clockwork, the tent began to fill up each night as soon as the clock ticked over to 4:00, and those not playing took advantage of the psychedelic dancefloor. Hey, it was Bonnaroo, after all; nothing there was worth a damn unless it lit up or flashed in some rhythmic way. Even the mounted security personnel often had glowsticks.

Apparently, DJs took over after the Guitar Hero II slot ended, but considering that many of the best shows of the festival were in the evening, we didn't get a chance to get over there and check it out. But with the likes of DJ Shadow, John Digweed, and Sasha putting on full-length shows at Bonnaroo, we have to wonder just how much attention the smaller Discothéque Arcade got -- particularly considering its proximity to This Tent, That Tent, and The Other Tent, all of which featured some great shows in the evening hours and on into the morning.

In the daytime, however, the Arcade was often packed, as festival-goers searched for a respite from the heat and sun. Microsoft offered free rain ponchos in the Arcade that went largely untouched, as the drought-ravaged state was in desperate need of rain that appeared for only a brief moment on Friday afternoon. It was a nice gesture on Microsoft's part, however. Fans also had a chance to get their pictures taken inside the tent, in front of a logoed backdrop; the finished photos were available as free downloads from the official site. Like the ponchos, that was also a nice touch, since one of the problems at any event like this tends to be capturing decent pictures of oneself and friends to mark the occasion.

Every time we stopped by, the Arcade seemed popular, and the crowd was a fair mix when it came to gender and age -- this was no haven for mainstream society's idea of the "typical" gamer. Everyone is interested in finding a chill-out space at Bonnaroo in the afternoon, and the hike back to a tent or RV can be arduous. When the stage was empty, mini-crowds formed around the kiosks, particularly around Gears of War and Guitar Hero II, and it certainly seemed like the reps were right: the 360 was getting plenty of exposure.

Staff reported no incidents at the Arcade, either, which is good news; at a festival like Bonnaroo, with 80,000 people in attendance, there are always a few problems, and this year, one death was reported. Certainly every time we were there, the crowd was relaxed and enthusiastic; we even noticed a few people sleeping on the sofas from time to time. Comfort was never an issue inside the 360 tent. For this blogger, at least, the Arcade felt a little bit like home ... just with a few more consoles, sombreros, and half-naked people around.

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Today's saddest video: Breakin' up with Crackdown

Kevin Kelly — 2007-06-11T00:01:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Fighting, Online, Video

It's a sad day for Crackdown discs everywhere as the Halo 3 beta expires ... will there be a mass exodus to the used bins at game stores, and tons of listings appearing on eBay?

If this video leaves you with a single lesson, it's that you should treat everything as if it might become anthropomorphized with a keen sense of revenge.

Now, if we could just get that creepy image of the dressed-up Crackdown case out of our heads, we'd be ok.

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Crackdown earns 7 nominations for Develop Awards

Ross Miller — 2007-06-08T15:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Business

Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds have been nominated for seven Develop Industry Excellence Awards, part of the Europe-centric Develop Conference. The studio was a finalist for best new console/PC IP, best use of online and innovation, among others.

Rare (Viva Pinata), Evolution (MotorStorm) and SCEE Studio Liverpool (Formula One Championship Edition) all earned three nominations apiece, as well as indie darlings Introversion (Defcon).

The awards ceremony takes place July 25 at the Hilton Metropole in Brighton. Registration for the Develop Conference is currently open.

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Halo 3 beta absent, internet explodes

Justin McElroy — 2007-05-16T09:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

After months of waiting, Halo 3 fans are now being rewarded with ... more waiting. Those who got into the beta by purchasing Crackdown were supposed to be able to begin downloading at 8 a.m. today but, as of 9:40 am EST, still have not been able to start the download. Those accessing the beta through other methods are unaffected. Bungie's Frankie is already on the case, saying "We have alerted the appropriate Live authorities and they are taking care of the problem as we speak. More news as it comes in."

Does that matter to the internet though? No. The internet, angered at having woken so early needlessly, is super pissed. One former fan on an official Bungie thread wrote "EVEYONE JUST PLAY GEARS..................FORGET BUNGIE" and that was when the demo was 1 hour and 8 minutes late. Man, that's cold. At this rate, in just a few short hours, they'll be screaming, "EVEYONE JUST PLAY BULLIT WHICH..................FORGET BUNGIE," and so on. They'll be lucky if anybody's left to play the thing when it finally appears.

Update: A fix is on the way.

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Crackdown DLC resetting progress for some [update]

Justin McElroy — 2007-05-11T16:05:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure

Add one feature to the extensive list of new additions in the recently-released Crackdown downloadable content: Making the game forget you ever existed. Reports started emerging on the game's official forum soon after the new content became available that players were logging on to Pacific City to find their progress (agility orbs collected, etc.) completely reset.

Though reports vary somewhat, the problem appears to affect players who participate in the game's online co-op mode and then return to single player. "Agent G," a staffer for developer Realtime Worlds had this to say in the forum: "hey guys - just so you know, we are aware of the situation and working on it." Hopefully we'll hear something soon, but as there's no guarantee you'll be able to retrieve your old data, we're calling this a case of "downloader beware" at the moment. Stay tuned.

Update: Realtime Worlds has detailed a method (posted after the break) for preventing the problem until the game receives its next update. If you've already been struck by save file calamity, however, there's not much you can do besides scold the Xbox Live certification process.

"We are aware that the recently released "Crackdown" DLC is causing some gamers to experience a reset of their saved games when they engage in co-op play. The team is working extremely hard to identify the issue and has provided steps to avoid the problem.

Simply follow these instructions:

1. Sign-in to Xbox Live
2. Start Crackdown and receive new Title Update (if you haven't already)
3. Begin a Single Player Campaign game
4. Once loaded, press Start and choose "Quit"
5. Reboot Crackdown (soft reboot or hard reboot of console)

By following the steps above, this will ensure that your Crackdown experience will be trouble-free. You will then be able to enjoy the new title update features, the "Free-For-All" DLC pack, as well as all the goodies found in the "Getting' Busy Bonus Pack".

[Thanks, WebPimp, Sunburned Goose]

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New Crackdown enhancements coming today

Justin McElroy — 2007-05-10T09:35:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Online

There's a great new reason for you to hold on to your copy of Crackdown. What? No, silly, not that reason. This reason: The full scoop on all the free and not-so-free enhancements coming to the game ~~this week~~ today. We don't have room for everything here, but, suffice it to say: It's big.

First up, there are some small changes via a title update like the gang reset option, new ground strike attack and easier-to-spot stunt rings. Then you've got the "Free-for-All" pack (yes, that's the free one). The key feature here is the "Keys to the City" mode, which could best be described as a cheat mode hopped up on goofballs. It lets you set whatever skill level you want, enable "super agility" or "super strength" or spawn a ramp truck just to name a few, all from a pop-up cheat menu that doesn't require pausing. Also, the Agency garage will allow you to store vehicles with an achievement if you "impound 'em all."

Then there's the "Gettin' Busy Bonus Pack" which is premium content (read: it costs 800 points). That includes new vehicles like the buggy, a "ridiculously powerful mono-cockpit race car" and the Agency Armored Vehicle (which we're calling the Rocket Turretmobile). The premium pack also adds five new modes like street racing, rocket tag and footraces. There's also new equipment like a proximity charge, a cloaking device and the ... wait for it ... harpoon gun. What's more, you can actually sample the pack before you buy it by playing co-op with a well-off friend who's already purchased it. Also, there are 350 new Achievement points to be had between the two packs.

This is a real bar-raiser for downloadable content and we can't wait to get our hands on it. ~~We're not sure of an exact date yet, but if Realtime Worlds and Microsoft are wise, they'll get it here as long before May 16 as they possibly can.~~ Update: Microsoft is now saying that the content drops today. The premium pack will be 800 points ($10). This new stuff is amazing, but there is still that other reason to own Crackdown on the horizon.

Gallery: Crackdown DLC

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Screenshot gives glimpse into Crackdown's future

Justin McElroy — 2007-04-25T23:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Online

Yeah, you like that? You like that image? You know what that is? ... No, we don't either. Well, we know it's from upcoming Crackdown-loadable content. But we were actually hoping you could shed some more light on it. "Agent G," a staffer for developer Realtime Worlds, let the image slip on the official forums for the game, saying it was a look at a new game type and a new sort of vehicle that would be available "soon."

The mysterious image depicts what appears to be four dune buggies jockeying for position. We've previously learned that Realtime has created competitive modes and racing would seem to be a good fit. It's not exactly the aircraft the developer has hinted at (unless that aerial buggy is some sort of oddly-designed helicopter) but we'll take it. Anyway, those are our thoughts. Do you Crackheads have any theories?

[via Gamespot]

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