The first official screenshots have arrived for the upcoming 4 player co-op Crackdown 2.  The sequel to the wildly popular original, Crackdown 2 has some new tricks up its sleeve.  We see the agents look quite a bit different from these screens, and we also have a glimpse at some of the vehicle mounted weapons for co-op play!

But not everything has changed, I spy with my little eye Agility Orbs!  BING!!

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It's quite surprising sometime the politics that go on behind the scenes of game development.  For a hobby that brings so much joy to people, you'd think things could go smoothly on the back end.  That's not always the case.  When Crackdown 2 was announced, and announced in development by upstart Ruffian Studios, well you can imagine Realtime Worlds wasn't happy.  

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Microsoft launched their latest social media player yesterday with the ZuneHD.  In 16GB and 32GB varieties, the system packs an OLED multi-touch screen, accelerometer, HD Radio as well as sleek design.  Soon the system will be sync'd up to your Xbox 360 for a host of other features.  

Right now the ZuneHD store is offering custom versions of the player engraved with some great co-op game graphics like Halo 3: ODST, Fable II, Crackdown 2, Gears of War 2, Lips and Halo Wars.  The engraving is free, and it'll come with a unique wallpaper for the device as well.  

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The upcoming issue of Game Informer magazine will unveil some details about the four player co-op game Crackdown 2.  Continuing on from the first game, it appears a zombie virus is spreading, and the civilians have banded together to form a gang and destroyed the Agency.  Day and night will play a crucial role in the game, and freaks will be bigger and badder than before.  

Of course someone managed to get their hands on the article early and leaked a ton more information regarding the game and its features.  

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They don't just look menacing...
 

Crackdown means a number of things to a number of different people. To me, it means super-hero physics in an open gang war. Matrix-style jumping across rooftops can get especially interesting if you add a little co-op to the mix. Hand to hand combat with a physically enhanced "agent" can add a little spice to your life, too.

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Sometimes a relationship keeps people apart. The long distance relationship was always considered difficult, but thanks to modern technology there's no reason to feel apart from your significant other. Our latest co-op couples looks at using co-op gaming, movies and chat to keep connected.

Welcome to Beyond Co-Op, a weekly piece that talks about industry stories that may or may not be related to co-op gaming.

The stories for this week:

- Many Games March from 2009 to 2010

- UK Gamers to See Price Hikes in Games (but not EA ones)

- Sad (or Happy?) End to Midway Sale

- Realtime Worlds Says They Only Broke Even on Crackdown

- Another Dead Week in Releases

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Ruffian Studios doesn't want to get into a pissing match with Realtime Worlds, the original developer of Crackdown.  Of course part of that reason is so many members of the Ruffian team that are working on the game's sequel were actually AT Realtime Worlds when they made the game.  How many?   Well almost half.
 

Close to half of our team worked on the original game. We’ve got core members from every discipline who worked on it, the majority of the design team, and, depending on whom you speak to, some of the best coders and most talented artists. But there are still guys at Realtime we want to be friends with, so we don’t want to get dragged into a slanging match. 

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Have you ever had a crush on someone, only to have your friend (or former friend) move in and take him or her right from underneath you?  That's kind of what happened to Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds when Microsoft chose Ruffian Games to develop Crackdown 2. 

Now what if you had to live in the same house with the person that stole your crush?  With former Realtime World developers on the Ruffian team, and both development houses in the same town in Scotland.

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Yesterday Microsoft surprised us when they announced Crackdown 2 for the Xbox 360 at their E3 2009 conference.  At the time there were very few details of the game available, and we were unsure if the co-op mode would expand beyond the first's two player drop-in/drop-out. 

The Official Crackdown 2 page has popped up on Xbox.com and it appears that the game will indeed have four player co-op.  On top of that the page says Crackdown 2 will have 16 player multiplayer modes, which we assume would be team based death match and objective style games.