Okay, yeah...I went overboard with that title. But overboard can be a good thing - like when Ruffian Games decided to go overboard with the Crackdown 2 demo, which is available for download right now. Not only does the 30-minute timed demo support 4-player online co-op, but any Achievements unlocked while playing will be automatically applied if you decide to play the full retail version (which will be in stores in two weeks, by the way).

The world of music games has certainly grown and expanded since the days of the first Guitar Hero and Rock Band.  Games like DJ Hero now let players try their hand at spinning up their favorite tracks in a night club, while others like Def Jam Rapstar lets you live out the fantasy of being a major hip-hop artist.  In all of this, then, it seems like the next logical progression is to allow gamers to move into the world of mixing audio tracks and getting behind the producer boards, and JamParty: Be the Music, initially for the PC only but hopes for XBLA/PSN later on, is setting itself up to be just that kind of music game.

Back in April, Capcom held their Captivate event in April to show off a few titles they've been working on as well as reveal some exciting new titles.  One of the titles revealed at the event is a sequel to the popular remake of a classic NES game, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, which included a co-op mode that, while fun, wasn't all we were exactly hoping for in terms of a co-op experience.  As if reading our thoughts, Capcom followed up on this announcement with some official details were released that teased that the "co-op is back and better than ever."  So with that in mind, we were eager to finally get our hands on Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2.

As Kat pointed out earlier in the week, The Conduit 2 is doing a lot for a sequel to a game that many considered the first succesful first-person shooter on the Wii.  Among these additions is the inclusion of a new co-op mode where up to four players will fight off waves of enemies, and is now confirmed as being playable either locally or online over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.  Nick and I had a chance to see a hands-off demo of the game at E3, and while the multiplayer/co-op modes weren't being discussed (a running theme for many of our appointments, it felt like), we did walk away with some pretty favorable overall impressions of what we saw.

The last time we heard from the folks at Twisted Pixel Games about their upcoming title, Comic Jumper, was at PAX 2009 when they announced the new title, along with a patch to fix some of the on-line issues with their co-op friendly 'Splosion Man.  While they had a new trailer of the game at PAX East, we were able to get our hands on the game and give it a test run at this year's E3.  So, despite the lack of co-op in this title, what are our thoughts on Twisted Pixel's latest title?  In two words: pure enjoyment.

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

De Blob was one of those Wii games that seemed intriguing, but I never did get around to playing it.  It was fairly well received, especially for a third party game.  A sequel has been announced, called De Blob: The Underground, and this time around, there's co-op!  That alone would put this game firmly in the casual co-op gamer's wish list, save one small fact.

Next week, the shiny new DLC for Red Dead Redemption hits: June 22nd to be exact.  Though this DLC pack, entitled "Outlaws to the End", is certainly wanted, you won't need to pay much of a bounty, as it will be free!  We've found some details on four of the six new missions, all of which are co-op!

Last year Trine's beautiful graphics and unique co-op caught our attention. After E3 2010 announcements finished up, the new sequel Trine 2 was announced with a teaser trailer. The physics based platforming action will be fully intact for the new downloadable title, so far no official platform is offered yet.

When you're trying to survive and dispatching horrible nightmarish creatures, the last thing you want to rely on is your own personal reflexes and range of movement. Yet the Nintendo Wii horror shooter Dead Space: Extraction proved that waggle immersion can make for a good entry in the genre.

Welcome to Beyond Co-Op E3 Edition where I link up all I can from sister site Colony of Gamers and other trusted locations about single-player games that have little to nothing in relation to co-op gaming.

We got an early look at The First Templar at E3 2010 this year, the two player co-op game is a bit of a rarity.  It's a mix of action with some light RPG elements that make it like a mix of Dante's Inferno and Assassin's Creed.  The game is even semi-historically accurate.