Duke Nukem Forever will not have a co-op mode.  That's right folks -  a gameplay element that helped give Duke 3D a special flair will not be available in Duke Nukem Forever.  That's the news that came straight from Gearbox Software's Adam Fletcher when I chatted with him today at PAX East after getting some hands on time with the game.  While the lack of co-op is heart breaking to me, the fact that I actually played Duke Nukem Forever today is in a way, unbelievable to me.

Another week has come and gone, and the weekend stretches before us, ripe with gaming possibilities.  Half of your devoted Co-Optimus staff are enjoying dusk til dawn gaming, and the rest of us... well, we wish we were there.  Alas, we will have to settle for actually playing games that have been released.  The horror!

A few weeks ago, Co-Optimus traveled to Irvine, California to check out Obsidian Entertainment's new digs. We came away with some hands-on time with Dungeon Siege 3 and a great co-op focused interview.

This weekend kicks off PAX East in Boston, MA.  Co-Optimus will be there to bring you coverage all weekend of plenty of great co-op titles.  To whet your appetite, some of the crew have weighed in on the show, giving you an inside look at some of their deepest, darkest, thoughts on the show.  We've got three questions we asked Mike, Kat, Tally and Nick...

Are you wondering which console will have the best version of Portal 2?  Valve has insisted that each version of the game is the same across all platforms.  This may not be the case.  For console gamers who value cross platform play, the PS3 version is "the one to get." Why?  Content-wise, both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 versions are supposed to be exactly the same.  Valve writer Chet Faliszek recently explained the differences between the Xbox 360 and the PS3 versions to Eurogamer:

TimeGate Studios, the makers of Section 8: Prejudice, has a sweet contest available for PAX East 2011 attendees.  A 250 GB Xbox 360, four controllers and headsets, 42" LG flat screen HDTV, and a copy of the game itself will go to one lucky winner.  To participate, all you have to do is follow these easy steps:

Traveller's Tales, the UK-based developer currently hard at work promoting LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, mentioned the prospect of a future Kinect LEGO game to Eurogamer last week.

Perhaps you didn't get into PAX East because it was sold out.  That's ok, there's still a chance to participate in some gaming goodness if you happen to be in Boston this Friday, March 11th from 8 to 11 PM.  Taking place at the "Black Falcon Terminal," the team from Splash Damage and Bethesda are hosting a community event for the 8 player co-op shooter, Brink.

Serious Sam 3: BFE has just been announced with its insane 16 player online co-op mode, but that's not the only co-op Croteam and publisher Devolver Digital are creating.  Both companies have teamed up with several independant developers to create three smaller Serious Sam titles for various platforms.  

Tozai Games, creators of the co-op platformer Lode Runner for Xbox Live Arcade, have announced the game has gotten a permanent price drop from 1200  to 800 .  The game is now featured in Microsoft's new "Sales and Specials" section of Xbox Live Arcade.

Rambo doesn't need a tank as back up

The latest thing to come about for the co-op-eriffic Fable 3 is a handful of DLC. We've seen dog skins, weapon packs, new locations, and a bit more storyline to supplement the royal storyline for Fable 3. Traitor's Keep is one of those storyline packs that gives you a taste of life beyond the mainland. Life in a giant island prison facility called Ravenscar Keep, and boy is it the very definition of "Oops."