Nintendo's Pikmin series of real-time strategy games didn't start out as a cooperative series. The first game was single-player only. That changed when Pikmin 2 arrived on the Gamecube way back in the innocent year of 2004, adding a cooperative Challenge Mode. Switch owners can now experience that classic co-op razzle dazzle, because Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 have just been released as digital downloads. Buy them individually (2 is the one to get) or together for a nice discount, play the heck out of them, and then you'll be ready for the upcoming Pikmin 4.

Replica arcade cabinets are popular among collectors nowadays, with three sizes commonly available: 3:4 scale cabinets from Arcade1Up, 1:4 scale cabinets from Quarter Arcades, and 1:6 scale cabinets from Replicade (New Wave Toys). Numskull's Quarter Arcades line is stepping up their game (and prices) with today's announcement of 1:4 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and TMNT: Turtles in Time cabinets. Both miniature cabinets are fully playable and support 4-player local co-op.

Today, we continue our look back at two video game consoles released one decade ago. Last week, we covered Microsoft's first console, the Xbox, and its most notable innovation to co-op, online play through Xbox Live. But the Xbox wasn't the only console to arrive in stores in time for the holiday shopping season in 2001. NIntendo's GameCube hit the shelves on November 18 of that year, and brought some excellent cooperative experiences to gamers that were unavailable on any other system.