Today we've got a great giveaway for our dedicated Co-Optimus readers!  We're giving away five copies of Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter on Steam to five lucky readers.  You may be asking yourself why we'd be giving away the game now, almost two years after it was released.  That's because if you decide to purchase the upcoming Serious Sam 3: BFE through Steam and own any previous Sam product, you'll get 10% off.  It's like we're not only giving away a game, but giving you free money.  Sweet!

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  Those words spoken during a funeral ceremony are a somber goodbye.  While the first Gears of War 3 trailer from a year and a half ago was called "Ashes to Ashes" - the final one today is called "Dust to Dust."  Perhaps it's a foreboding omen of what's to come for the Gears.

September 1st.  Yup, September 1st.  Welcome to the the last quarter of 2011 folks.  Are you ready to play some games?  Because they are coming.  August has come and gone though, but it wasn't without some highs.   We had some great releases like Age of Empires Online, Fruit Ninja Kinect and Toy Soldiers: Cold War.  Borderlands 2 details were officially revealed and the subsequently hyped at Gamescom and PAX.  Not bad for a "slow" month.  

We've got the official launch trailer today for Dead Island.  It is a game that was introduced with a trailer that evoked emotion and much chatter from the internet.  Now it seems things have gone full circle, with the final trailer for the game attempting to showcase the same emotional response of hopelessness thanks to a rich piano track mixed with characters, intense visuals and dialogue cut from the game.

Ugly Americans is a cartoon series on Comedy Central about quirky, undead, and other unique individuals that become integrated into life in the Big Apple.  The show's characters are now part of a new game called Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon.  With characters like a wizard, a zombie, and a police officer - it seems ripe for some ridiculous looking action.  The game features all of the voice actors from the show, while the story is penned by the writers and the show's creator Devin Clark.

While last week was PAX Prime, Seattle was host to another event in its city - the Battlefield 3 Community Event. EA flew out various members of the gaming community to get some exclusive hands on time with the game in both co-op on the PlayStation 3 and multiplayer on the PC.

Overstrike was revealed at E3 as Insomniac's first multiplatform game, one being published by EA.  We haven't heard much on the title since then, but CVG was lucky enough to catch up with the game's creative director at Gamescom earlier this month to dig up some dirt.  What did they find?  A quote that should make co-op gamers pretty excited for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title.

If there's one thing that people always associate with Middle Earth, it has to be giant birds.  What?  You think of hobbits first?  Long-bearded wizards spring to mind, do they?  Maybe you first associate flaming, disembodied eyes with the world of the Lord of the Rings?  Hmm.

You know how you always hear us talking about how crowded the fall gaming season is?  Well, it's about to get even more crowded, though this time, we can hardly complain.  The much heralded and long-rumored Xbox Live Arcade release of Radiant Silvergun is right around the corner.  You can play one of the greatest shoot em ups ever released on September 14; that's a mere two weeks away!

This week in Indie-Ana Co-Op, we sit down with Tim, Mike, and Hal from Final Form Games to play through their 4 player co-op PC 'shmup, Jamestown.

We've got a special episode lined up for this week! Mike and Jason travelled to Philadelphia to visit the fine folks from Final Form Games to talk about Jamestown, indie development and... Miyazaki films? It's a long one, so pull up a chair, grab your favorite beverage and have a listen!

Hit the Podcast Page to Listen or Download

Sometimes, we find things that are so awesome that they speak for themselves.  This is one of those times.  A Special Edition has been spotted (at EBGames Australia, of all places) for Saint's Row the Third.   Here's what you get in this pimped out box.