The latest trailer for the Lord of the Rings: War in the North focuses on the three heroes.  It's actually just a cool slo-mo battle with an overlay of Gandalf talking about how righteous and important the three unnamed warriors are.  Still, it looks good.  You can ooh and ahh at all the bloody violence, or tremble at the sight of the "cruel master of dark sorceries," Agandaur.  There's also a giant electrified castle in the background, which is always a plus. 

Good news for all of the big Ms. Splosion Man fans out there.  Right now you can download the game's silly soundtrack for the low-low-low price of el-zilcho.  Simply head over to the Ms. Splosion Man site, click on the "Downloads" tab, and there it is.  You'll be able to hear classics such as the "Ms. Splosion Man Theme," "Future City Party Time," "Factory Whale Slushee," and my personal favorite, "Ur The Best."  It takes about five minutes to download, and then you can enjoy the soothing sounds of Ms. Splosion Man wherever you go.  We even threw in the launch trailer at the end of this post so you could get a taste of the audio Eden that's about to assault your ear holes.

Co-Optimus has taken on a life of its own over the years, growing and changing constantly.  We've got readers from every country in the world and users who utilize the site in hundreds of different ways.  To get a better understanding of things and hopefully improve the site further we're launching a short survey to gauge some feedback on how we're doing and also - how you're playing co-op.

This week we kick off a brand new batch of This Week in Co-Op articles. Over the next two months we’re going to be bringing you a unique spin on our weekly feature, the Co-Opticrew are playing with various members of the gaming industry including developers, PR, journalists and podcasters.

The latest teaser from Toy Soldiers: Cold War shows the result of a pair of weapons manufacturers' drunken ramblings.  A fella from Lockheed and a guy from General Electric must have been sitting around in a bar in the early sixties, both high on peyote and social upheaval.  One was pondering what to do with his giant air plane, another was trying to figure out how to make a six-barrel-electrified machine gun more ri-god-damn-diculous.  After a few more beers, one put his chocolate in the other's peanut butter, and the AC 130 was born.  It's basically a bunch of mini-guns and Vulcan cannons duct taped to the side of a plane, book ended by Howitzers for good measure.  Check out the video and enjoy!

Mike and Nick are here for Episode 69 - a solid episode all around if we do say so ourselves. The latest co-op news is covered and discussed, including the upcoming Call of Duty: XP event, the whole "online pass" shebang and much more. Grab episode 69 today - it only happens once.

Hit the Podcast Page to Listen or Download

I was lucky enough to play Payday: The Heist a few weeks ago at E3.  It was one of my highlights of the show.  This new video from G4tv.com features 17 minutes of gameplay footage, and it reminds me of just what makes this game so special.  Once again, you can move throughout the level to get a feel for the job before the action begins.  In this case, it starts as a drug deal, but this is just a cover for an even bigger score.  

It’s taken some time, but at long last we have come across a game that invokes the very spirit of this feature’s namesake. This week in Indie-Ana Co-Op, we look at Relic Raider and Stick ‘Em Up 2: Paper Adventures for XBLIG.

White Knight Chronicles 2 released in the PAL region last month, but JRPG enthusiasts state-side are still without their fix for huge medieval gundams. Never fear, JRPG'ers - White Knight Chronicles 2 is slotted for a September U.S. release on the PS3. The game is a direct sequel to the first title, and will be the conclusion to the storyline. Developer LEVEL-5 has taken player feedback on the first game very seriously, and as such reports dramatic improvements to the battle system which include more strategic combat and a faster Action Gauge. Online co-op has also been expanded to up to 6 players instead of 4. 

In probably the most realistic way ever conceived, a video game will emulate reality this October 25th. The Battlelog - a social site for Battlefield players - will be available alongside Battlefield 3. News feeds, instant chat, voice chat, stat tracking, and much more will be at your fingertips.

Dead Island has been rated by the ESRB ahead of it's September 6th release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.  It should come as no surprise the game is rated mature - so you won't be seeing it on our family friendly co-op list anytime soon.  

We've got a great contest today for you courtesy of our friends over at Arcen Games.