The Co-Opticrew is still trying to catch up today from the events we've attended. Mostly this is due to some extremely crappy internet at our hotel. Fret not! Our coverage is continuing to come and Marc, Jim, Kat, and Loren are doing an excellent job holding down the home front.
If you missed Microsoft's Press conference, you missed the first gameplay footage of Gears of War 3's four player co-op campaign. Luckily for you we were there with a camera to record it. We'll see Marcus and crew take on the new lambent enemies which definitely don't look like push overs. So sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the full 5 minutes of gameplay.
The House of the Dead franchise is familiar to many gamers, though a lot of folks might not remember the quirky game Typing of the Dead set in the same world. If you do remember it, you have a pretty good idea of what Rock of the Dead is like already - though Rock of the Dead is not a license HoTD game.
One of the most-hyped titles from this year's E3 has to be Gears of War 3. A new gameplay mode for the game was revealed, called "Beast Mode". It is described as the opposite of Gears 2's Horde Mode. Instead of a group of COGs teaming up against the invading aliens, players will actually take on the role of the Locust, cooperating to take down the humans! It sounds quite similar to Left 4 Dead's Vs. Mode, but apparently Beast Mode is more like Horde Mode in that the enemy is controlled by AI, not human opponents.
As no doubt hundreds of adoring fans are finding out at the E3 Halo: Reach event tonight, Halo 3: ODST's popular Firefight co-op survival mode is being confirmed for final Bungie chapter, due this September. Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb and the Halo Waypoint have both broadcast via Twitter that Firefight 2.0 will be a featured mode.
Welcome to Beyond Co-Op E3 Edition where I link up all I can from sister site Colony of Gamers about single-player games that have little to nothing in relation to co-op gaming.
Valve has made their E3 debut appearance, giving us the wildly brilliant official trailer for Portal 2, complete with a familiar voice, turret buddies, some interesting game modifications, and a lot to look forward to when Portal 2 unleashes co-op shooter-puzzle action on us. Having Valve appear during the Sony press conference also implies that the once-Xbox 360 and PC exclusive title will be appearing for PS3 owners as well.
Little Big Planet 2 has finally shown its colors in this beautiful, inspiring trailer encouraging us to build our own games. The game doesn't need much explanation to the co-op community, but Little Big Planet 2 will focus a lot on the build-your-own Sackie world. Go create something.
We try not to give our hopes up based on a rumor, but it would appear the new Castlevania: Harmony of Despair will feature full campaign co-op. This is great news for Castlevania fans, and will be the next up on the list of XBLA's Summer of Arcade lineup.
The announcement of a new video game system is always newsworthy, but especially so when it concerns a new Nintendo handheld. The next iteration of the mega-successful DS hardware is here. Dubbed the Nintendo 3DS, the obvious focus is on three dimensional display of games and movies. The upper diplay screen has been revamped, and will be in widescreen ratio, 3.5 inches across. The resolution of the upper screen is 800 by 240, and it will enable 3D viewing without the need for special glasses. The user can adjust a slider bar to increase or decrease the 3D effect to his or her preference.
Some big news is coming out of Nintendo's conference at E3 today. Amid the news about the new 3DS handheld (which we'll cover shortly) and the latest Zelda game (The Skyward Sword) comes news of a revival of a classic Nintendo co-op series. Donkey Kong is coming back to the Wii! In the quite literally titled Donkey Kong Country Returns, Donkey and Diddy will be teaming up for adventure once again. The gameis being developed by Retro Studios, and is coming "this holiday season". That's some fantastic news, as the Donkey Kong Country games are well regarded. The co-op elements were a bit too simplistic in the originals, so perhaps that will be fixed in the new title. We'll keep you posted with further developments!
A while ago we caught wind of a sequel to the successful, yet under appreciated PS3 game Valkyria Chronicles. Now, we have a few screenshots of Valkyria Chronicles 2, which will be a PSP exclusive.
