We're (mostly) recovered from all the E3 goodness and now it's back to playing games.  A little known fact about E3, when you go to the show to work - you don't actually play that many games.  So it's time to catch up.  It seems the staff has been bitten by the strategy bug, with DOTA 2, Civ 5 and Sins of a Solar Empire all popping up on our play lists.  Don't worry - we're still playing Diablo 3 too.

There are plenty of "love it or hate it" games, and Resident Evil: Operation City is a good example of such. Okay, it's more of an "accept it or forget it" game, but that's neither here nor there. The point is, it's getting a patch that should greatly improve several gameplay elements.

E3 has come and gone and so has our coverage of the show. We're wrapping up our last few stories today, but there is one story we haven't covered - what games we nominated for Best Co-Op Game of E3 2012. It's a prestigious award that any game would love to keep in their trophy case - but only one can win it.

There were some awesome displays at E3. Borderlands 2, Aliens Colonial Marines, Skylanders Giants, and the Big Three come to mind. Despite all the eye candy, on Day One my attention was focused on the simple Dark Souls banner at the Namco Bandai booth. Two monitors played looped footage of one of the game's new bosses. (Hint: Aim for the tail.) I was devastated to realize content from the upcoming "Prepare to Die" edition wasn't playable. I made the best of the situation, and picked the brain of of one of the gentlemen displaying the game.

Our final hardware appointment from E3 2012 was with Roccat, the German gaming hardware company. When it comes to design, the Germans have been among the elite for decades. Roccat is taking this same prowess and applying it to their new lineup of mice, as well as bringing a slick app that all gamers should embrace.

Co-Optimus' recent interview with Visceral Games has got many of us hot under the collar as Dead Space 3 is going to have an innovative campaign that will allow gamers to play solo and/or co-op for a different playing experience.  Whilst 360 and PS3 owners can look forward to Isaac Clarke and John Carver (not of Mars) forming a new bromance in Feb 2013, Nintendo Wii U fans won't have such luck as the studio announce there are no plans for a Wii U version.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, for all intents and purposes, is a HUGE success on the console.  Selling over a million copies already, the 8 player co-op game is insanely popular... and for good reason.  Our review tells it all.  But like the PC version, what keeps people coming back for more is the slow and steady stream of updates to the core game.  Many wondered if the 360 version could keep pace.  Today you have your answer as a huge update with a ton of fixes and enhancements goes live.

I was pretty stoked to hear that Soul Sacrifice would be coming stateside. The four player co-op Vita title focuses on sorcerers who physically torment themselves, sometimes to the point of death, to learn more powerful magic. Gruesome. I was disappointed that the game wasn't playable at this year's E3. At least there was a pretty sweet trailer:

Every so often a little tidbit of information falls by the wayside. I like to think that it's no one's fault, especially when the blame rests on me. I said we'd bring you the price and release date of Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection, in this post. By golly, that's just what I'm going to do.

SEGA's other beat-em-series, Golden Axe, comes to XBLA in this three-game collection. Magic, mounts, and more make these fantasy brawlers memorable. But how's the co-op, and do the SEGA Vintage Collection extras warrant another purchase?

I've been hearing rumblings for some time, but could we be seeing a return to the $50 game?  At least one AAA title coming soon will be bucking the trend with Deep Silver's Dead Island: Riptide coming in at $49.99 on all platforms, including the console versions.  The new game's price reflects where it fits in the current life cycle of consoles, at least, according to Aubrey Norris - head of PR for Deepsilver.

We managed to see a shocking amount of games at E3 2012 but there were a couple exhibits that were a little different than everything else. Into The Pixel is a collection of 16 pieces of art that come from interactive entertainment which have been selected by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and the Entertainment Software Association.