Typically I don't go for open-world/sandbox games.

I hate collecting things, I despise repetitive fetch and bounty missions, and generally I don't find the wandering around finding something to do style of gameplay that engaging. That said, I really dug Crackdown. Along with Condemned it's one of the few XBo360 games that I loved but don't own.

If you're excited about the prospect about a Crackdown 2 there's good news and bad. The bad news is that the original developer, Real Time Worlds, has officially moved on from the Crackdown IP - the good news is that Microsoft is the IP owner and has stated that Crackdown 2 is "an option."

For more on this check out Game|Life's interview with Shane Kim, corporate VP of Microsoft Game Studios. Besides Crackdown you'll also get some insights about Guitar Hero, GTAIV, Mass Effect and more.

The following information has been culled from various posts over at The Consumerist.  If you ever have to deal with customer support, or need to figure out the best strategies of dealing with non-responsive customer support, start there.

As a general rule these individuals / numbers should only be tapped after regular customer support channels have failed.  It always works in your favor to have an open claim with decent documentation before going up the ladder - that way when you complain there's a record that you're deserving of more concentrated service.

1. Escalated XBox Support Phone Number
2. Tier 3 Escalated XBox Support Phone Number
3. Executive Email Addresses For XBOX Complaints

If all else fails I guess it's possible to even email Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer - I'd never actually recommend going this far but it's funny to hear that some actually have.

This kind of leads me to believe that Mass Effect's DLC, slated for release on March 10th, is geared towards players who already finished at least one playthrough of the game.

Apparently the Bring down the Sky pack requires that players basically be at the point where they've received the Normandy and have access to the Galactic Map. According to Stephen Totilo, of MTVs Multiplayer blog:

Yesterday at the DICE summit in Las Vegas, BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka confirmed to me that I would have to get my Commander Shepherd back in control of the Normandy spaceship — in other words, past the game’s opening Eden Prime and Citadel sequences — in order to access the new DLC.

It remains to be seen whether spare save games will counteract the need to play through the Eden Prime and Citadel portions so we'll have to wait it out. Thankfully I left off my second playthrough having just received the Normandy so hopefully I won't have to do much more work to enjoy the added portions.

1. Do you struggle with the whammy bar in Guitar Hero? Good with a soldering iron? You may want to check out this hack presented by Googlemarks. With just a little bit of soldering and a basic knowledge of circuitry and you've got an automatic whammy bar capable of maxing your scores - of course if you still have to work those pesky fret buttons on your own or just go a step too far and build a Guitar Hero playing robot.
2. The folks over at DSFanboy have a post comparing the three different versions of N+ that will be coming to the DS, PSP and XBox Live Marketplace. There's also a very interesting point made - apparently because the game is essentially being developed by Atari for the handhelds and Metanet for XBLM, and because all three versions will have different aspect ratios, the three versions all basically have unique levels ... over 500 each! Looks like if you really love N you could buy all three games and experience a TON of gameplay variety.
3. I've been avidly watching TIGSource for news on independent games and once again they've come through. Check out this post which highlights the upcoming Bonesaw. Looks like it might be a lot of fun - it also looks difficult but that's a good thing no?
4. GamePro recently released an article concerning Gears of War 2 and it's possible release sometime in 2008.  Epic responded by calling the article "complete nonsense."  Want to read what the article?  Check out scans currently available on at Kotaku.

The other day we mentioned Deadline Games' upcoming third person action title Faith and a .45 and we're happy to say that more media is making it's way into our hands.

The game itself appears to be a depression era title with heavy influences pulled from the Bonnie and Clyde mythos as well as games like Gears of War and maybe even the upcoming Army of Two. Check out the video below to see what I mean. While the game currently looks a bit like a western the developers have suggested that more levels will push more of that depression era America feel.

This is one solid looking game right now - even if the trailer is mostly concept stuff. I'm really dying for a good co-op experience, something along the lines of Gears and while I hop that Army of Two fits that need in the short term, Faith and a .45 is probably a game to watch in the future.