It's that wonderful time of year.  The gamer's Christmas.  It's E3 2012, taking place June 4th through 7th at the LA Convention Center.  This year Co-Optimus is sending four staff members to bring you all the gaming coverage we can muster.  We've got a solid 25 appointments lined up with various publishers, developers and hardware manufacturers.  This year we are hoping to bring a bunch of video content to the site, so be on the lookout for that.  You can follow all of our E3 coverage on this page right here.

Mode 7 has celebrated their 1 year anniversary of Frozen Synapse with the release of their first expansion pack. Aptly named 'Red', this new DLC injected 2 player co-op into the award winning tactical strategy indie game with players now being able to play the whole campaign cooperatively. Red also adds new challenge missions, a riot shield class, a new multiplayer mode, and more all for the low price of $9.99. Players who do not have Red will still have access to the new content as long as they are playing with someone who has purchased the DLC.

Chalk up another rumor that has now been confirmed.  Today Warner Bros and TT Games have announced LEGO The Lord of the Rings coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo 3DS.  The game looks exactly how you'd expect it to look, that's not really surprising.  How it sounds though?   Well that is.

This weekend you can snag Saints Row: The Third on Steam for just $16.99.  If you didn't know, this game is bat-crap crazy over the top co-op sandbox action.  And it's good.   What more do you need to know?

Remember Salvador, the Gunzerker? The star of the Borderlands 2 teaser from way back in August of '11? He's a dual-wielding dwarf. What else do you need to know? G4TV has some gameplay footage of the bad mama-jamma in action. The Pandoran native features skill sets that will allow him to do massive damage or just plain tank. 

I was just going to type "hype" ten times, then "Gears of War," then "hype" ten more times, because that's all that's really needed here. Next month's Game Informer cover was teased today. It's a Gears of War game, so therefore 75% of Xbox 360 owners will feel obligated to purchase it. I know will. Hell, I'll buy whatever version comes with a giant plastic Lancer. I'm obsessed with the things.

Welsh band Super Furry Animals, once sang to me that they needed medication for their sleep deprivation, GUACAMOLE!  Firstly, there is no need to shout and secondly, I may have found a cure for their Mexican dip based insomnia in the form of Guacamelee!  This 2 player local co-op platformer/action game is coming to PSN soon and appears to be as mental as that song.  Check out Read More, for details and a trailer for the game, the visual style may knock you unconscious!  

Are you sick of playing as a good guy wizard who is constantly  killing his own friends (accidentally)? Why not play as a bad guy vampire and kill everything, including your own Necromancers (sort-of accidentally)? A new Magicka content pack will give you that opportunity. "The Other Side of the Coin" will let you turn your deadly magic upon puny humans, repugnant dwarves, and tree-hugging elves. Bring a friend or three and set the world on fire. Or freeze it. Or whatever. It's your choice.  

Today we have a new video showing off some more gameplay footage from Inversion. Saber Interactive's Nick Madonna and Matthew Karch give us a little insight into the story behind the gravity-bending third person shooter. They even do us the favor of introducing us to the main character, Davis Russel, and his co-op partner, Leo Delgado. Watch the video and get ready to weaponize gravity!

The third part in the Dungeon Defenders ongoing series, "The Quest for the Lost Eternia Shards," is avaialble on Steam, XBLA, and PSN for $4 or 320 MSP. It actually became available earlier this month, this is just a helpful reminder. You can find all the details on the third pack, dubbed Aquanos, right here. 

Fans of the TV Series Family Guy may remember a certain episode in which Stewie and Brian travel into several alternate universes, all done in different art styles.  The Road to the Multiverse Episode apparently was a grand idea for a couch co-op game, and so, Activision is making Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse with Heavy Iron Studios on development.  

It was only last week we learned that Mass Effect 3's Rebellion Pack would be coming out this week.  Guess what?  It's this week already...hell it's almost friggin Friday.  That means it's out.  Free Mass Effect 3 DLC is out!