If you've never played Earth Defense Force: 2017 on the Xbox 360 - do yourself a favor and go out and pick it up - it can easily be found for $15 or less.  The original game was this campy, sci-fi, B movie style co-op action game where players tackled swarms of giant bugs, robotic aliens, and more as you protected the world from certain doom.  The game was actually a launch title on the Xbox 360 in Japan, so graphically, it left a lot to be desired - but this was also part of its charm when it hit Stateside.  The game's sequel, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is set to release on the 360 and PS3 this summer and we got some hands on time with the game at PAX East 2011.

It was only last week that Fallen Frontier was announced and we were immediately gripped by its unique art style and developer backing from ex-Halo team members.  At PAX East today we got some extensive hands on time with the co-op platformer from Moonshot Games  and walked away mightily impressed as well as a bit bummed we'd have to wait until 2012 to get our hands on the title.  

While cruising the show floor waiting for our Duke Nukem Forever appointment, a little game called Bastion demanded my attention. I had heard a lot of buzz about it recently, and once I laid my hands on it, I knew I was playing something special. Sporting a unique art style, and even more unique narration technique and some of that old-school isometric gameplay we all love, Supergiant Games' first effort appears to be a classic in the making.

Welcome to Beyond Co-Op, a weekly piece that talks about industry stories that may or may not be related to co-op gaming.

I must say, I was a pretty big fan of 2007's The Darkness, from 2K Games and Starbreeze. While the sequel had been acknowledged in the past, it was only recently revealed that Digital Extremes had taken over development duties, and have put together what appears to be a worthy followup to an already solid original.

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.