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Who is Catalina Thorne? Why are there zombies (or mutants, or whatever they are) roaming Pacific City's streets in Crackdown 2? And since when does anyone actually care about the story is in Crackdown? Two of these questions are answered in "Evil Seed," part two of an ongoing, five-episode miniseries that explains what's been going on in Pacific since the first Crackdown ended, and why the city's apparently gone to shit. And you can watch it (along with  the first episode, "Home Truths") inside.

In one of the most interesting examples of game promotion we've ever seen (or heard), this month's Official Xbox Magazine (UK edition) comes with a free sound effect - that of the iconic Crackdown orbs. The sound is included as part of a free guide to the must-see sights of Pacific City and plays when you open the insert -  which has got to be the first time a magazine has ever given away a noise.

Above: We reject your structure, man!

We've been playing Crackdown 2. We've been listening to the licensed music. So, to answer the press release we received today, yes, we did know that the game features "an extensive soundtrack with hits from icons of rebellion." Man, it's crazy rebellious. In fact, the press release describes the music as "fantastic (or crazy)," so you know it's fantastic, or crazy! Crazy licensed, y'all!

Rare has recently revealed that Agent 4, a special Crackdown 2 character, will be playable in the Xbox LIVE version of Perfect Dark. If you play Crackdown 2 and save your game, Perfect Dark will detect your save and unlock Agent 4 as a playable character…

Three years ago developer RealTime Worlds appeared to be headed for stardom. The company’s first release, Crackdown, was a hit, and it also had an awesome open-world MMO in development, called APB, which promised relief from the genre’s fantasy obsession.

What a difference three years can make. APB, the developer’s golden child, received terrible reviews and has been spraying red ink across company balance sheets as if its carotid had been severed. This has forced RealTime Worlds to enter “administration,” the UK equivalent to bankruptcy. Most of the staff has been told to clear out by Friday...

Already bored with Crackdown 2? Toy Box, a free add-on, is coming soon to the XBL marketplace. The DLC includes the "Keys to the City," a mode which appeared in the first Crackdown and unlocks cheats like God Mode, Infinite Ammo, Fly Cam, the ability to freeze the time of day, and others. The download also adds a Level 6 reward, Thruster Ability, which is essentially a jet pack, and a new multiplayer mode called Vehicle Tag.

But wait, there's more! Kind of - that's the end of the free stuff, but for 560 MS points, you can also get...

In addition to unlocking mobile Achievements to bolster your Gamerscore on your Windows Phone 7, you'll also apparently be able to unlock content in your existing Xbox 360 games. The first title to introduce this connectivity will be Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst...

Ever wanted to see Crash Bandicoot rendered in cutting edge CryEngine 2-enabled glory? No? Well, it doesn't matter because it's happened anyway. This is a fan-made reworking of the original Crash Bandicoot, complete with dense foliage, bloom lighting and some rather lovely shadow work - all the traits we've come to expect from this rather wonderful graphics technology. But we can't help but feel that it's lost something along the way...

Vivendi has formally revealed its new Crash Bandicoot adventure, Mind over Mutant, which will be out on Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP and DS at the end of the year. Check out 360 screens here.

In a blatant parody of the iPhone craze, the story has a rejuvenated Neo Cortex taking over the world with a, "text-messaging, do-anything device which controls both mutant and bandicoot minds."

The new game apparently takes a more