Yoda's light saber was of impressive length

We get a lot of press material regarding computer and console accessories and hardware.  Some of it is co-op related, some if it is just generally cool.  We're all gamers and geeks so its hard not to oggle at some of these sexy devices.  So to share that with you, we'll be posting round-ups of cool hardware from time to time that we've gotten.

Ah, zombies. There are few things more satisfying than dismembering the undead. For those of you who address this primal desire via Call of Duty: Black Ops, you'll already know that Black Ops gets its First Strike Map Pack DLC this Tuesday, February 1st for Xbox 360 owners. It consists of 5 new maps including a new Zombies mode map (obviously the one we're most excited about here!), called Ascension.

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

Video games in general owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Space Invaders, but fans of co-op especially should recognize the tremendous impact it had on gaming. It was in one of the variations of the Atari 2600 version that introduced cooperative elements to Space Invaders.

We've had quite the snowy winter here in North America, especially the Central and North East regions.  Many of us will be recovering from shoveling a foot of snow or more by sitting on the couch and playing plenty of games.  Here's what the staff is playing this weekend.

When Spore released in 2008 it was an ambitious title that followed the evolutionary progress of a microscopic organism to a spacefaring creature.  It was a critical and commercial success.  How could Maxis improve upon the formula?  Simple.  Take the creature creator from Spore, add loot, and make it an action RPG.  Darkspore is born.  

It's hard to believe this site I conceived over 3 years ago has grown into such a vibrant community and a resource used by millions of people.  Today Co-Optimus turns three and I'm extremely proud of everything we've accomplished during that time.  Co-Op gaming is incredibly popular with bigger and better co-op releases announced every year; developers, publishers, and gamers have all joined in on the Co-Op Revolution.

We've been sitting back patiently for a while now, waiting...hoping... and wanting SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy Seals developer Zipper Interactive to announced co-op support for their upcoming tactical shooter.  While it wasn't some grandiose reveal, we did finally get confirmation today that the game would support 5 players in co-op - though details of it were not mentioned.

We were quite excited about Magicka, but were disheartened to learn that the game has launched with a myriad of problems.  Thankfully the developers have been true to their words and have released patches for the game every 24 hours since release improving stability as well as tweaking the game based on user feedback.  

Is there anything better than classic co-op gaming from the awesome consoles of yesteryear?  How about CHEAP classic co-op gaming from the awesome consoles of yesteryear ON YOUR PC?  A new collection of Genesis gems (no, not Columns) is now available through digital download services.  It's a tremendous bargain, featuring 10 games for the quite low price of $7.50 (on Steam).  Included in the set of games are co-op greats Gunstar Heroes, Streets of Rage and its sequel, and a title I am less familiar with, Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair. 

We're big fans of the LEGO games here at Co-Optimus.  Charming interpretations of beloved movies combined with kid-friendly two-player co-op is some good.  The best of the LEGO games, as we recently determined, are the Star Wars titles.  Thus, we are very excited about the upcoming third game in the series, based on the Clone Wars television show.