Jim and I made plans to play together last night, and I logged in a few minutes early, comparing our game lists in order to find a good match.  I had been hankering for some Monday Night Combat, but a large patch to be downloaded sank that ship before it even sailed.  So, back to Plan A, which, as you could likely surmise from the title, was Halo Reach.  I started a Firefight match, joined by the magic of Xbox Live to Jim as well as by couch to my 9 year old son, and the Covenant killing began. 

Although Guerrilla Games surely has the word "art" in mind as they painstakingly craft this beautiful game, I'm not so sure they meant to turn the Helghast into modern living room decor. Yet the soft filters and soothing light blooms of the latest batch of Killzone 3 screenshots lends it more to a lithogram than to expressing the inherent danger of other-worldly enemies.

Codemaster's Operation Flashpoint: Red River is set to release this spring. A new series of videos is out, introducing players to the new characters.  The first one profiles Staff Sergeant Knox, a wayward youth from Detroit, who now walks a path "paved with purpose."  The video is fun, even if it seems like a Marine Corps recruiting commercial.  The game will feature drop-in/drop-out 4 player co-op on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

For fifty bucks you can get a music game developer.  That's way cheaper than buying a Rock Band or Guitar Hero bundle.  The investment group, Columbus Nova, reportedly paid Viacom $49.99 for Rock Band developer Harmonix.  The music game industry has been dying a pretty hard death over the past 18 months. When Viacom put Harmonix up for sale in November you could actually hear other publishers laughing at them. Viacom looked like that kid who is desperately trying to trade a banana for a snack pack at the lunch table. EA reps mentioned something to the extent of "catching a falling knife."  Clearly, Jack Burton doesn't work at EA.

Warriors: Legends of Troy was shaping up to be a fun new take on the well-worn (some would say threadbare) Dynasty Warriors formula. Instead of ancient Chinese warriors, samurai, or Gundam mechs, players were going to take control of ancient heroes of the Trojan War.  Greek gods were going to make an appearance, adding a supernatual element to the game.  Players can still look forward to Warriors: LoT, just don't expect to play together. A Tecmo-Koei representative confirmed that the developers originally planned to support co-op, but the game is a single player experience now.

ilomilo from SouthEnd Interactive and Microsoft Studios is a cute puzzler kicking off the new year on Xbox Live Arcade. Featuring two-player local co-op where players guide protagonists Ilo and Milo through complex cube worlds, does ilomilo live up to expectations or is it just for squares?

Over the years Co-optimus has seen the co-op gaming industry expand to include some unlikely sequels (Dead Rising 2) some new takes on old co-op (Gears of War 2's Horde mode) and all kinds of unique ways to bring gamers together. We know it's the co-op that gives these creations life, but what is it about the co-op that really makes it something that developers look forward to sharing with us? IGN chatted the co-op topic up with developer Jason Rohrer (of Sleep is Death) to discuss what makes co-op continue to bring us together.

3DS is releasing, too, so (it seems like) the time to switch to a new platform is coming

Ok, so maybe the title of this news post was a bit gross, but hey, that's what Microbot is all about isn't it?  The twin stick shooter set inside the human body has been available on Xbox Live Arcade for a few weeks, and now Playstation 3 owners can get in on the action.  For a mere $10, fans of Sony's console can help fight off the rogue nanobots infecting humans, too.  The title has been fairly well reviewed, and we hope to have some playtime with it and a co-op review for you soon!  In the meantime, don't forget to wash those hands and use lots of antibacterial sanitizer; you never know when the flu or a pack of killer nanobots might be lurking under your fingernails.

2010 was an amazing year for co-op gamers with over 150 games and plenty of news to boot. But amongst the masses of titles a few stood out as not only excellent cooperative but as excellent games. Here's our list of the best co-op titles of 2010.

Continuing the ongoing trend of "now you see it, now you don't" marketing, a newly bundled edition of Gears of War 1 and 2 briefly appeared on the Gamestop website over the holidays.  Titled "Gears of War Ultimate," the bundle features Gears 1 and 2 for $29.99.  A digital copy of Gears 2 alone was priced at $29.99 on Xbox LIVE Games on Demand just a few months ago.  If you bought it then, sorry, suckers.  

While PSN owners got their Scott Pilgrim vs. the World DLC, the one that includes that patch to add drop-in / drop-out co-op, about a two months ago, Xbox Live Arcade gamers were left waiting in the wings.  The content pack also adds in a new playable character, a dodgeball mode, and a new arena all for the price for $2.