We've got some exciting news today for SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance, the upcoming indie co-op twin stick shooter for Xbox Live Indie Games and PC. Along with a new trailer we have some info about the game's upcoming release, including a possible date. Brain Shape Games have just submitted builds to both DreamBuildPlay and the PAX 10 contests with hopes of gaining exposure for their flagship title.
Ah, the weekend... A perfect time to catch up on sleep, video games, and gaming news. As the visions and impressions of E3's co-op goodness continued to dance through our heads this past week, there were some interesting news pieces floating around this week that didn't necessarily have a co-op element to them. Fortunately, that's where our Beyond Co-Op feature comes into the picture.
We recently gave you guys our E3 impressions of upcoming MTG game, Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013. One of the new features we mentioned, which is quite highly anticipated, was the fan-requested manual tapping system. A recent dev diary can show the curious exactly how it will work. It's the little things, right?
We've told you before that Overkill Software, creators of PAYDAY: The Heist, had a surprise which included some sort of collaboration with Valve set in the Left 4 Dead universe. It's now been leaked as to exactly what that is. It's called PAYDAY: No Mercy and looks to be a map or a set of maps for PAYDAY: The Heist set in the familiar Left 4 Dead level No Mercy. But that's not the interesting part for the four player co-op game.
We're (mostly) recovered from all the E3 goodness and now it's back to playing games. A little known fact about E3, when you go to the show to work - you don't actually play that many games. So it's time to catch up. It seems the staff has been bitten by the strategy bug, with DOTA 2, Civ 5 and Sins of a Solar Empire all popping up on our play lists. Don't worry - we're still playing Diablo 3 too.
There are plenty of "love it or hate it" games, and Resident Evil: Operation City is a good example of such. Okay, it's more of an "accept it or forget it" game, but that's neither here nor there. The point is, it's getting a patch that should greatly improve several gameplay elements.
E3 has come and gone and so has our coverage of the show. We're wrapping up our last few stories today, but there is one story we haven't covered - what games we nominated for Best Co-Op Game of E3 2012. It's a prestigious award that any game would love to keep in their trophy case - but only one can win it.
There were some awesome displays at E3. Borderlands 2, Aliens Colonial Marines, Skylanders Giants, and the Big Three come to mind. Despite all the eye candy, on Day One my attention was focused on the simple Dark Souls banner at the Namco Bandai booth. Two monitors played looped footage of one of the game's new bosses. (Hint: Aim for the tail.) I was devastated to realize content from the upcoming "Prepare to Die" edition wasn't playable. I made the best of the situation, and picked the brain of of one of the gentlemen displaying the game.
Our final hardware appointment from E3 2012 was with Roccat, the German gaming hardware company. When it comes to design, the Germans have been among the elite for decades. Roccat is taking this same prowess and applying it to their new lineup of mice, as well as bringing a slick app that all gamers should embrace.
Co-Optimus' recent interview with Visceral Games has got many of us hot under the collar as Dead Space 3 is going to have an innovative campaign that will allow gamers to play solo and/or co-op for a different playing experience. Whilst 360 and PS3 owners can look forward to Isaac Clarke and John Carver (not of Mars) forming a new bromance in Feb 2013, Nintendo Wii U fans won't have such luck as the studio announce there are no plans for a Wii U version.
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, for all intents and purposes, is a HUGE success on the console. Selling over a million copies already, the 8 player co-op game is insanely popular... and for good reason. Our review tells it all. But like the PC version, what keeps people coming back for more is the slow and steady stream of updates to the core game. Many wondered if the 360 version could keep pace. Today you have your answer as a huge update with a ton of fixes and enhancements goes live.
I was pretty stoked to hear that Soul Sacrifice would be coming stateside. The four player co-op Vita title focuses on sorcerers who physically torment themselves, sometimes to the point of death, to learn more powerful magic. Gruesome. I was disappointed that the game wasn't playable at this year's E3. At least there was a pretty sweet trailer:
