Ping....ping....ping.  That's INSIDE THIS YEAR!  Game OVER MAN...GAME OVER!

Feast your eyes upon the recently revealed box art for the 2 player co-op RTS game set in the Halo Universe - Halo Wars!  While we still don't know too much on the details of the co-op I do know that there will be at least co-op skirmishes.  As for a co-op campaign, something that's been the staple of a Halo game since Halo 1 - that is yet to be seen.  We are keeping our hopes high and our ears to the ground. 

The Penny-Arcade Expo starts this Friday and we'll be there to cover it bringing you all the latest co-op game impressions from the show floor.  The folks over at Epic Games have unleashed the schedule on the latest Gears of War title that will be on display at PAX.  The goods?  Gears lead writer, Joshua Ortega and the game's Senior Artist, Pete Hayes will be on hand to sign whatever you want them to sign...ANYTHING. 

As if the wait for Left 4 Dead's previously announced November 4 street date didn't seem long enough, now there's even more bad news.  Kotaku reports that Valve's Gabe Newell declared the game's release has been pushed back to November 20.  We're unsure of the reason for the delay.  Hmm.  November 4th is Election Day, and the 20th is one week before Thanksgiving.  Both of these dates involve turkeys!  (Insert rim shot here.)  You heard it here first, folks.  It's a conspiracy by feathered and unfeathered turkeys alike to deprive us of our much anticipated co-op zombie slaying action!

Today we have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is we can confirm most of this story.  Duke Nukem 3D for the Xbox Live Arcade will indeed have added rewind options as well as saved film options.  Now you can share all your trip mine deaths with your friends - and rewind and do them over and over again too!

Welcome to our second part of our introduction to our Co-Op Couples series we are beginning here on Co-Optimus.com.  In the first part we looked at breaking down traditional barriers and overcoming any personal shortcomings that may happen.  Next we look at a few or our reader's examples of how they got their significant other involved in their gaming habits.  Above and beyond that, we look at how they began to play co-op games together.

Last week we had Too Human, a game 10 years in the making.  This week we have Castle Crashers, a game that we felt like we wanted for the past 10 years.

The game up for discussion today is the very definition of a co-op classic.  Two players can play together, working toward a common goal.  In this case, that goal is whacking bad guys on your way to putting the smack down on the big boss, Death Adder.  The game is an absolute classic, as well; it spawned several sequels, and its influence can be seen even in upcoming games like Sacred 2 and Diablo 3.  In honor of the Olympics, then, I bestow a gold medal on the undisputed Co-Op Classic: Golden Axe.

Resident Evil 5.  Left 4 Dead.  Dead Rising.  Bikini Zombie Slayers.  Even Diablo III features zombies.  I can't think of a time when the genre has been more popular.  Yet another new zombie title is coming soon, this time headed for the Wii, home of a remake of the arcade shooters House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return .  This time, though, it's not a lightgun style game, but a more action-oriented one: House of the Dead: Overkill.  Siliconera has a few details about the title.  Wagging around the remote will be featured, letting players pistol whip zombies.  Sounds like fun to me!  The protagonists of the game will have interesting abilities, like slowing down time, Matrix-style, and the Evil Eye, which sounds awesome but really just lets you see destructible parts of the environment.  A sweet, campy trailer and a couple more screenshots are also available for your viewing enjoyment.  Few details about the co-op have been revealed, though it seems likely that two zombie slayers will be able to play together.  The pistol whipping will commence when the game is released in "half a year".

Week 2 of the GameDaily HUD is upon us and yours truly continues to impress himself...and only himself with thoughtful and insightful answers to the questions the plague the gaming world. 

According to 1UP Capcom has a new contest for one of their recent co-op arcade titles, 1942: Joint Strike.  The premise of the contest is simple, score the lowest score possible in the game to win.  Ah, but not quite.  To win the first prize, players must video themselves playing through the entire game with the lowest score. For the second or third place prizes you'll have to snag the lowest scores only on the second mission.

A nice little video for Sacred 2 has been released over at Gametrailers.com.  In a move perhaps inspired by the USA Women's Beach Volleyball team's success and popularity, it features quite a bit of interesting costume choices and close ups of a shapely derriere.  In case that isn't enough for you, there's also a lot of co-op gameplay to watch, as well.  The mounts look particularly cool; I totally want a dewback looking lizard to ride around on.  And yes, soon after the gratuitous butt shot, the word "mount" pops up.  In true Beavis and Butthead fashion, I laughed out loud.  (They said mount!  huh huh huh... )  It just occurred to me that this news article will almost certainly offend the "casual couples" crowd we are looking to add, or at least half of them.  I promise we're normally not like this!  Anyhoo, we've got the video for you after the break.