A new version of Valve's Steam software launched this weekend and with it is host of new features. First and foremost is a long overdue update to the service's voice chat system, improving quality and reliability across the board for games utilizing it as well as in the client itself. These improvements should help co-op gamers have more reliable conversations while utilizing the client itself and for games like Left 4 Dead.
Sony's PlayStation Portable 3000 has gotten a price cut, dropping $40 from $169 to $129. This new price brings Sony's system in below its main competition, the Nintendo's DSi, which is priced at $149.99.
Once again, we've got a couple Co-Op Classics for you to peruse in visual form. Wolves, tigers, bears, and ostriches make star appearances as we dig deep into the Co-Op Classics vault: Altered Beast, a fine brawler known primarily for its Genesis port, joins Joust, a Golden Age masterpiece.
It’s the end of the short, romantic month of February and we’re wrapping up the Co-optimus Community Voice: My Backlog, Let Me Show You It blog topic. So far we’ve heard of a lot of great backlogs in our blogs section (many of which require co-op buddies to complete, so check them out), and we have one final backlog to share with you before moving forward to March.
Welcome to Beyond Co-Op, a weekly piece that talks about industry stories that may or may not be related to co-op gaming.
The Co-Opticrew definese variety this weekend as there's no less than sixteen different titles on the gameplay buffet. What may start as an unlimited and unhealthy dose of an MMORPG like Rift may end with the desert of a popcorn like first person shooter in Bulletstorm. Of course titles like Dead Space 2, Dragon Age and Killzone 3 are perfect fits for the main course. Whatever gets played, our staff is sure to be stuffed with gaming as February winds down.
Chris Park of Arcen Games has always been a pleasure to chat with, so it didn't take long for me to email him when we found out that their upcoming game, A Valley Without Wind, would add a co-op mode to get the scoop on its features. And boy did we get a lot of great info on the game, which right now, plans no real hard cap on the number of co-op players allowed in a game - though Arcen sees about 16 being the current ideal max.
Has your copy of Magicka been crashing lately? Do your spells not have that zip, or zap? Does is seem like there has been a spell of stuttering cast on your frame rate? Never fear, an shiny new update is here. Steam has just released a title update that fixes many issues in the game. We appreciate it, because we liked Magicka a lot, giving it a 4.5 out 5 in our Co-Op Review. Read on to see what problems have been remedied.
Gamers can get an early look at Gears of War 3 this spring. The public beta will launch mid-April and those of you who purchased the "Epic Edition" of Bulletstorm have a guaranteed slot. This will be a competitive affair, no co-op modes (Horde and Beast) will be available, but gamers can still get a taste for the new weaponry There will be three versus modes on four new maps. The available modes are 5v5 Deathmatch, Capture the Leader, and King of the Hill. Two of the maps have already been selected. Fans can go to the Gears 3 Facebook page to vote on the remaining two.
We've got a few tidbits of Fable 3 info today - both items I'm pretty shocked we haven't seen sooner.
As you play Tales from Space: About a Blob, the blob gets filled with a crazy assortment of things, and this is a good description of the game itself. It uses many different ideas, and manages to combine them together fairly well, but there's something slightly messy about it at the same time.
Left 4 Dead did a lot of things very right. One of those things is creating a campaign of movie posters to represent each scenario the four survivors, Zoey, Bill, Frances and Lewis had to endure. The movie posters were also applied to DLC that came later, and the sequel - Left 4 Dead 2. Some of the original concept posters have surfaced for the original survivors, and some of the art or situations may look familiar.
