While there is a decent amount of information about Guitar Hero World Tour, the info has always come as a slow drip. Thankfully, IGN is providing a deluge of information on the game, which seems similar to Rock Band, but still is unique in its own right. While the game has similar instruments as Rock Band, it also has many new features, like its create-a-song feature. Of course the game focuses on teaming up with your buddies, but there is also a big focus on customization, like being able to make your avatar unique and "yours." So hit up the link to a four page preview of Activision's entry into the "rock band" genre.

The original Brother's In Arms was a truly great game lost in the sea of dozens of other World War II Shooter titles.  The game was different though, it was a gritty and realistic shooter with an emphasis on squad tactics and cover.  Ubisoft has recently announced that the new Brother's game will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on August 26th.

The Legend of Zelda series is inarguably classic.  Born in the heyday of the original NES, the first game and most of its sequels are wildly popular, and for good reason.  The Zelda series delivers a solid adventure almost every time.  However, we aren't concerned with single player games here at Co-Optimus, so why do we bring up Zelda?  It's a bit obscure, but there has been a version (or two, depending on how you look at it) of The Legend Zelda that was meant for co-op play.  Four Swords for the Game Boy Advance, and its big brother Four Swords Adventures for the Gamecube, are the focus of this week's Co-op Classics. You might be wondering why we are discussing such a recent game here.  Both the GBA and the Gamecube are fairly recent systems, to be sure, but as long as it isn't from the current generation, we consider it fair game for inclusion in Co-Op Classics.  Four Swords for the GBA was included with the port of A Link to the Past way back in 2002.  Four Swords Adventures was released just a hair over four years ago, back in 2004.  That's practically ancient in videogame terms!  In addition, there were some strange hardware requirements to play the game.  This means that many gamers might be unaware of Four Swords, and that is really a shame, particularly for fans of cooperative play.

Seeing Star Wars and co-op come together is a thing of beauty. That's why the crew here at Co-Optimus was pleased to find out (via GamesRadar) that the new Star Wars: Clone Wars game for the DS will have co-op. To be specific, the new Clone Wars game (subtitled as Jedi Alliance) has drop-in, drop-out co-op, which is great. It will be interesting to see this form of co-op on a handheld, but nonetheless, it is a welcome addition.

Today seems like a good day to be a fan of SHMUPs and Shooter games.  Along with the previous news about Raiden IV comes the announcement that Schizoid, another co-op shoot em up, will hit Xbox Live Arcade sometime next month.  Schizoid was developed using  Microsoft's XNA, and is the first such game to be released on XBLA.  The developers call it the "most co-op game ever".  That us certainly a bold claim!  The color-based gameplay  echoes that of Ikaruga, but apparently color changing is not an option.  Players must protect their teammate while avoiding opposite colored enemies at the same time.  Color us very interested in checking out the trial version of this title sometime next month.

Another day, another co-op video about Too Human.  But is that necessarily a bad thing?  I think not!

The Raiden series, particularly Raiden II is the pinnacle of co-op SHMUPs (perhaps next to Ikaruga).  So there's good news that we finally have confirmation that the arcade version of Raiden IV will make it's way to Xbox 360 consoles complete with two new stages and Xbox Live play! 

Just a reminder that tonight is Grand Theft Auto IV Co-Op night on Xbox Live.  We'll be playing GTA IV's co-op modes all night with the Xbox Live Community. 

In preparation for the upcoming Xbox Live Co-Op Game Night, I've been catching up on my GTA IV skills. This week I've mainly been playing Hangman's NOOSE, my favorite co-op mode. What I realized while playing the mode is that in some small manner, the game mode helped demonstrate how games could be considered art. I know that Grand Theft Auto IV is not what most people think of when they hear the word "art," but bear with me.

Another co-op release hits Xbox Live Arcade today.  Elements of Destruction features 2 player co-op, both local and over Live.  If you were a fan of unleashing natural disasters on your poor, unsuspecting Metropolis in SimCity back in the day, then you might want to check out Elements of Destruction.  Players control lightning, earthquakes, and other forces of nature in order to cause as much mayhem as possible.  Elements of Destruction will set you back 800 points, or $10 bucks.

For those of you hidden under a rock, Call of Duty 5 is coming out sometime this year (hopefully). The game is going to have co-op (a first for the Call of Duty series) and is set in WWII. As Wired details, Call of Duty 5, now called Call of Duty: World at War, will have a trailer debuting on Xbox Live. The debut trailer will be on Xbox Live on June 21-22, in all its HD glory. Let's hope for the best, folks.

Shacknews recently showed off a few new screenshots and a video of the upcoming LEGO Batman game.  Hot on the heels of LEGO Indy, LEGO Batman promises more of the clever humor, puzzle elements, and oh so cute versions of characters we all know and love.  The new characters include former Robin Nightwing, the shape-changing horror Clayface, and the man who broke Batman's back, Bane.  LEGO Batman is scheduled for release on pretty much every system known to humankind this September.