The Top 10 problems reported by you have been fixed, these are:

* PS3 game can crash when a player is taken down and the player that has performed the Takedown leaves the game.
* The game indefinitely displays "Connecting to Paradise City Servers" if it's having problems communicating with the rebroadcast server.
* Disconnecting the controller before a race begins can mean that race timings can be manipulated with players who didn't cross the line first being awarded the win.
* Repeatedly joining and leaving a game with 8 players can cause the game to hang.
* Hammering the A (360) or X (PS3) after unlocking a car can cause the game to hang.
* East Crawford and Watt St achievements cannot be achieved if the player goes online and sets road rules before attempting them.
* Audio distortion when using 5.1 / DTS and looking back at the car.
* Enhanced 360 streaming performance stops instances where the game seems to pause for a second or so.
* Total time driven in player stats would stick at 145 hours.
* VoIP connection problems with 8 player games. This is now live on the Paradise City servers.



The update also adds the following game experience enhancements:

* We fixed Head-on Takedowns as these seemed generally unfair and unrealistic. Unfair low speed Takedowns have now been eradicated.
* Increase online race timer timeout so players have a greater chance of finishing the race.
* Fix drifting bug when drifting and boosting. There wasn't any real control on the brake so players would grind around the walls of the corners. Giving you all better control of the car.
* Stabbing the boost has too much of a jerky behaviour in the car handling, when in Stunt Run.
* Surround sound fix - Centre speaker was 4dB louder, ruining the mix. The speech has now been positioned correctly.
* Increase the # of search results returned for online games.
* Increase Picture Paradise timer so it doesn't kick in so quickly.
* Post event ticker commentary is not now displayed for disconnected players.
* Show player the number of Complete Challenges easily by listing X/50 in the Challenges menu.



Other high priority issues that have been fixed:

* Instances where Barrel rolls were not registering correctly in Stunt Run.
* Takedowns online were not counting towards the Total Takedowns.
* Some instances where Revenge Rivalries desync & don't get fixed until players are updated online.
* Some instance where the Host couldn't change the game access if the game was created through an invite.
* Online challenge issues where the challenge couldn't be completed if it was started at the exact time that a player left the game.
* Incorrect rivalry updates when European players played against English or Japanese players. Online connection issues.
* Rich presence on 360 didn't change correctly when there is a change in the game parameters.
* Instances where Friends were not being displayed on the mini map.
* Some online race start points face the players in the wrong direction.

http://www.criteriongames.com/article.php?artID=91

* We fixed Head-on Takedowns as these seemed generally unfair and unrealistic. Unfair low speed Takedowns have now been eradicated.

ONLINE STUNT RUN
* This is 8-player simultaneous online Stunt Run – everyone competes for the highest score within the 2 minute time limit and you can play anywhere in Paradise City.
* An on-screen display shows all player scores, so you can easily see how you're doing.
* Earn multipliers for taking each other out but you lose your combo score, if you're taken down.
* Eliminated players are greyed out of the scoring area but can exact brutal revenge by chasing after players that have managed to keep their combos alive beyond the time-out.
* For the first time, you can drive alongside someone as they complete a billion score in Stunt Run - you can absolutely use this mode to try and show off to your friends.

ONLINE ROAD RAGE
* This is an 8-player online team event.
* At the start, everyone chooses their team (red or blue).
* One team of "runners" has to drive to a checkpoint then the finish – they can only see one checkpoint ahead.
* The other team has to take them down. These guys can see the checkpoint and finish and choose whether to wait and ambush in key locations, shortcut to the action if they get left behind or just follow the pack and cause chaos.

ONLINE MARKED MAN
* We randomly choose a "Marked Man".
* There's an intense few moments, while all players wait for the selection to be made – you want to stay close to other players, so you can hit the Marked Man, as soon as he's selected but far enough away that that you can run like hell if it's you that's the Marked Man.
* The target is selected and a 90 second timer starts – you get 1 point if you survive and 1 point if you take down the Marked Man. After 90 seconds a new Marked Man is selected at random.
* If you're the Marked Man, you can't see the attacking players on the map, your car is a little slower and you don't get boost.
* The session usually consists of around 10-12 minutes of intense gameplay depending on the number of players involved.


http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/04...o-freeburn-to/

The Cagney Update - making ranked races better

We're always trying to improving the ranked race experience, so we've made a stack of changes to improve this as part of our upcoming Cagney software update.

Some players will always look for ways to exploit the game. Here's the easiest way to cheat:

1. Create complex routes that only you know, and then start the race quickly to ensure your rivals don’t get the chance to preview the course.

2. Lock everyone into 5 rounds for maximum points.

3. And if you're really devious, host Paradise Drive routes but then change them at the last minute before launching the event.

This is a real pain for players just looking for a good, fair race, so we've made a bunch of changes that'll go live as part of our Cagney software update.

Custom Routes are no longer featured in competition races
You can choose from a 40 predefined Paradise Drives that we’ve sanctioned – 7 came from fans, 10 more came from the team. They're all great routes – we hope you enjoy them!

Sanctioned Routes have their own Time Leaderboards
The new routes each have their own leaderboard, so you can all see who’s the fastest per route. Now, it’s now not just about winning a race, you can now measure your finish time against everyone else's.

Traffic can no longer be switched off in competition races
For the sanctioned routes, we've optimized the traffic density for great racing, so there's no need to switch it off.

No more ‘rounds’ in competition racing
Most 5-round races don’t end with the same number of players that started. Many players disconnect, when they feel like there's no chance of winning, so we've got rid of the concept of rounds.

Now, you can't get locked into a 5 round race without knowing where the races are going and you can select a car that suits the race and your driving style. It also means the scoring system reacts after every race, so it's quicker and if you do disconnect, you only lose your results for the race you were on.

Cars can be grouped by Boost Rating
If you're hosting, you can limit the cars available based on the Boost Speed of the car. Limiting to Boost Level 3 cars, for example, still gives you 10 massively varied cars but they'll all be pretty closely matched for great racing. (We’ve also fixed a few anomalies in the car groupings and changed the order so it's easier to check out the cars in the select screen). This adds a ton of variety to the racing and we'll see a much wider range of cars used – not just the PCPD!

Car Select now appears after the Race Route has been selected
Switching to single races also allows us to make sure everyone gets to see the route before the car select. The host can't make sure they're the only one who knows the route, and now everyone gets a chance to choose an appropriate car.

The host can't kick other players any more
Hosts are kicking players in ranked games to ensure they can win. Pointless and irritating. So we’ve stopped it. The downside to this is that there's no way to kick an abusive player, although if you're hosting, you can just quit the session. In the future we'll have a simple vote system that allows the host to vote to kick someone - they'll still need a majority decision from the remaining players for the kick to activate.

Grid position is based on player ranking
In the past, the very first grid was set randomly – clearly this doesn’t make sense. Now, the grid's based on ranking with the highest ranked player at the back.

Full Boost Bars
We've made it so that all cars have full boost off the grid. Now, the race can get going quicker and with the higher ranked players at the back of the grid, lower ranked players benefit from a small advantage.

Rank and Ranking Points are displayed in game
We’ve added your rank and ranking points to the player list on Today’s Best. This will update periodically if races are run so you can see how everyone's points and rank have changed whilst in the game.

New map icons differentiate the Start and Finish points
Simple change but one that makes a real difference. We’ve seen players making poor route choices, because this wasn't clear, so we've fixed it.

Overall these changes add up to a much sharper ranked race experience.

The racing's better, we’ve removed the ability to exploit, we’ve added clearer ranking changes and the addition of leaderboards gives a completely new way for you to compete. Now it’s not just about scoring from a win, it’s about racing to become the fastest on a route. Real Competition.

http://www.criteriongames.com/article.php?artID=130