"Our goal is to have Champions Pack 2 back up for users to download before the Christmas holidays," a community manager said in the official forums yesterday. Those who managed to successfully download the content using a workaround are free to play the content, but locked items in it will remain that way until an updated version moves.

Here is EA Sports' full statement on the matter:

We regret to inform XBOX 360 users that due to the freezing issues that users have been experiencing when downloading Champions Pack 2, we have come to the tough decision to take the DLC down from XBL Marketplace, fix the issue, and look to prop up a corrected Champions Pack 2 in the near future. Unfortunately the fix requires a full pass of approvals by all parties involved and may take longer than a few days.

For users that have already downloaded the pack using the work around that was provided yesterday, you are fine to play with the new content. Though if there are locked items you have not yet purchased, you will not be able to unlock them until the updated version is released.

Again, we sincerely apologize to our users for having to endure the delay due to this unforeseen issue and our goal is to have Champions Pack 2 back up for users to download before the Christmas holidays.

DLC Pack #3 Issues [EA Sports Forums via Operation Sports]

The glitch appears to be triggered if one turns off the console right after the autosave at the end of Chapter 11. The game then loads up the hideout the next time the game is started, but nothing else loads from the corrupted savefile. Key features of the environment (I won't say which, for spoiler purposes) aren't available so there's no way to advance. You're just running around in a confined space, no way out.

An Ubisoft community developer acknowledged that the ACII team is aware of the problem and "are doing our best to fix this issue as fast as possible." Unfortunately, it doesn't appear a bug fix has rolled yet.

Reports don't say if this affects all versions or just one console, and if the latter, which one is even affected. I have not replicated this glitch - because I don't have the game. The best bet is to just manually save the game after Chapter 11 as soon as the opportunity presents itself. If you have a busted gamesave, your only option is to start over.

Assassin's Creed 2 Glitch Breaks Game [CVG]

Robert Bowling, the Infinity Ward community manager, tweeted that 1.05 fixed some matchmaking issues. Update 1.06 is "still coming down the pipeline," he says. It'll clean up the Javelin exploit, and also fix areas where players could get stuck in world geometry, such as on the rocks Afghanistan.

My guess is 1.06 will be delivered ASAP but there's no word on when that'll be, specifically.

Robert Bowling on Twitter

Said Stephen Toulouse (Stepto) over Twitter earlier today:

While IW works on getting the MW2 glitch fixed, people we catch using it will recieve suspensions from LIVE. Play fair everyone. :>

Stepto clarified that bannings for this sort of terms of use violation typically are 24 hours, but can go up to two weeks if they're particularly egregious.

For those not familiar with the glitch, which can be used on PS3 and PC as well as the 360, it enables someone carrying a rocket launcher to turn into a sprinting human bomb. While the player dies in the process, it's still a cheap way to get kills, including triples and quads. And an easy way to get yourself reported, cussed out, etc. You can watch this for more information but, remember, trying it subjects you to a day without multiplayer. Which is like a day without sunshine. Or something.

Stephen Toulouse on Twitter [Twitter]

He said that the patch for the game should be going live very soon, but when I asked him if the studio or Microsoft would be doing anything to those who raked in so much virtual cash he hit me with a no comment, followed by a "their could be repercussions."

Do tell? Is there a gold reset on our horizon? Or does he just mean that people will have to deal with the heavy burden of playing Fable 2 knowing full well they're cheater McCheaters?

It's not all bad news (or good news, assuming you would rather play a game without the possibility of cheating) as Lionhead's community blog has a page full of tips designed to maximize your Pub Games earning potential while staying within the rules. Their advice? "If you are wondering about a 'much talked about' exploit, just ignore it (and know that a patch is on the way)."

But as Lionhead taketh with one hand, they giveth with the other - a rather natty set of Fable II wallpapers has turned up on the official Fable II site and an update to the Fable backstory Tales Of Albion entitled The fall of the Heroes” is now live (requires Microsoft Silverlight to play).

Fable II Pub Games News Flash, Tips and Tricks! [Lionhead Community Blogs]

Fable II Wallpaper [Lionhead]

Tales of Albion [Lionhead]

In that particular mindset, we'd like to know your worst gaming moment of 2007—when a bad glitch that had no right to be in a sold copy of a game ruined the experience for you (funny glitches are also acceptable, but frowned upon by our emo side). My personal worst glitch was during Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (PSP). Some sort of bug occurred about 2/3 through the game while saving, corrupting my progress file. It translated to several lost hours, especially since I'm a gun upgrade whore, and was a big enough blow that I put down the game for good. I tried once to rekindle the magic, but alas, it was gone. And I loved that game.

So what about your worst glitch of 2007? Hit the comments and let us hear it. Then we'll cry together, trash our distant relatives and feel better about ourselves, as is tradition during the holidays.

Mad Tracks, the new racing game that turned up recently on Xbox Live Arcade, has been having some troubles as of late. Players who downloaded the trial version and then upgraded to the full version experienced problems unlocking the mini-games and various other racetracks. Game developer, Slyben, has already burned the midnight oil and made a patch to fix the issues and delivered it to Microsoft. If you were one of the unfortunate ons that this happened to, keep your eyes peeled for the new patch which should be made available as soon as the great MS deems it ready to roll out. Flynn De Marco

Mad Tracks trial version glitch; patch confirmed [Xboxic]

A few weeks ago, Stephen Munn over at Aeropause reported that Nintendo was replacing Twilight Princess discs (Wii version) that had been affected by the "Cannon Room Glitch." Stephen unfortunately got caught in this trap and dutifully returned his disc to Nintendo for replacement. Well, the new disc came back and Stephen says that once again all is well in Hyrule.

Starting the new Zelda disc the first time brings a message, "Initiating System Update." On confirmation, it does a very quick update (apparently from the disc), and then brings you back to the Wii Menu... Upon opening the game, Shad is in the room. Speaking to him makes him leave.

The problem with this bug was that the character of Shad was nowhere to be found in the room to talk to after saving and shutting off the console in the Big Cannon Room. If you talked to Midna and tried to warp out of the room, she would tell you you couldn't because "That guy is watching us." Searching for Shad in the room came up with nothing despite what some forums would have you believe about him being "invisible", thus making it impossible to leave the room.

So, if you were a victim of this unfortunate incident and were unsure about sending your disc back, you can rest assured that the new replacement will fix the issue. There is no word yet on whether this will also fix the Eldin Bridge glitch that was also present on some versions. Flynn De Marco

NOA replaces my Zelda disc, and then some. [Aeropause]

A patch to fix some glitches and exploits found in Lost Planet Extreme Edition will be coming to the Xbox 360 around the globe on or about March 9.

The full list:

Updates
In the pre-game lobby, a country flag icon will be shown next to the Gamertag of each player. This will be especially helpful for determining location of the match host.
In the pre-game lobby, an icon will be added next to each player's Gamertag, indicating connection strength, speed and rating.
In Team Elimination, Post Grab and Fugitive modes, an indicator will be added next to the Gamertag of the person who is speaking.
At the post-match Results screen, an indicator will be added next to the Gamertag of the person who is speaking.
At the post-match Results screen, Gamertags of the players who have left the session will be darkened.

Bug Fixes
Sometimes in Fugitive mode there would be multiple Fugitives instead of just one - Fixed
Occasionally, if an error occurred on the lobby screen, another lobby screen would be displayed on top of it - Fixed
Sometimes when there was a long delay/lag, the game would hang at the transition screen going from the lobby to the game and then reboot - Fixed
Sometimes when there was a long delay/lag, depending on the console, certain players in the match would become invisible for the duration of the match - Fixed
Sometimes post-match Results screens would show players who did not participate in the match - Fixed
Starting a taunt animation during a reload shortened the reload time as an exploit - Fixed

Wow, that's a dazzling array of bugs. My favorite is the one where people who didn't even play the game showed up in the results screen. HOT! Brian Crecente

I've seen my share of "underneath the map" videos in my day, but this one really stands out. It appears that there's a sea under the bedrock of Xbox 360 vigilante title Crackdown and while down there the streets are all transparent. The effect is pretty neat. Brian Crecente

Trippy. With a little effort it looks like you can roll your way right into an Emergence Hole. Inside the hole everything is blue skies and frags. Bea-u-tiful! Brian Crecente

Go Nintendo has a clip up showing a glitch that makes Link get stuck in a room because some guy, who isn't present, won't let him leave. Kinda weird. The video is quasi spoilery, but doesn't really show anything from the plot. Brian Crecente

Twilight Princess Glitch [Go Nintendo]

Reader GzeP sends word of a Twilight Princess glitch that involves a giant pole sticking out from Link's right foot. GzeP writes:

I just wanna share this annoying Zelda graphical glitch that I experienced. Did you also experienced this brown-ish pole/line that's stuck on Link's foot? Fortunately it 'wears out' when exiting the town or visiting the ranch. Mind you that this is my 2nd copy of the game already as I exchanged/returned my 1st hoping that this graphical glitch would go away the second time. Is my Wii the problem, the save file or something else?

This is the first I've heard of this, making me wonder if it's just this dude (I mean, he did return the game like it was a cartridge). Kotaku-land feel free to chime in—as if I had to say that. Brian Ashcraft

Bugs! Don't you just *smooch smooch* luuuuv them? Here's a quick how to get a 91 pin strike. It's on the second stage of bowling's training mode in the last lane players have to clear. Neat little trick! Brian Ashcraft

Ew. Let's hope this is just a one-off, as reader Ozhan gave us exactly this much information about his GoW wonkiness: "Skipping error on GOW; ruined the game!" Really? RUINED? But everyone seems to love it. Anyone else seen this? We've heard no other reports of Cliffy B and company's mega-hit acting up on us. Michael McWhertor

The beginning of this Super Smash Bros video is sorta boring, but about halfway through the players create a character-absorbing glitchifying black hole. Wouldn't it have been cool if it ended with one of the controllers whipping into the screen and disappearing into the multi-hued creation? Brian Crecente