When looking at game design, a few things are necessary in order for co-op to work properly. Most of these things gamers don’t think about on a day to day basis - and it’s not covered in our Co-Op Terminology guide. It’s the core principles for getting players to work together, which Ubisoft designer Patrick Redding disclosed at GDC. He talks about moments where he is very satisfied with during the co-op test phase, and things that every developer (should) think about during co-op development.

The first "Easter Egg" was coined after a hidden message was left in the game Adventure on Atari in 1979.  It was named such after the Easter holiday where people would give elaborate and often expensive eggs that contained a hidden surprise inside.  Easter eggs are a big part of gaming today, with many games giving references to modern day events, nods to other games, or hiding pictures of the developers buried deep in a level.  Gear of War 3 designer Cliff Bleszinski thinks the hidden gems are not only fun, but could help promote and draw attention to a game.

The very successful, though single-player title, indie game Spelunky from the PC will be making the much anticipated shift to the consoles. Spelunky is a puzzle platformer that takes place in caves, featuring a spelunker. The title has received a lot of attention, and been recently announced on the Xbox LIVE Arcade. During GDC 2011 a few websites noticed a screens that showed multiple players in the game.

Last night at GDC, EA took the curtains off of Battlefield 3 - showing for the first time a significant portion of the game's single player gameplay.  Everyone's immediate reaction after watching the almost 3 minutes of footage seems to be - "is this EA's answer to Call of Duty?"  That may have officially been Medal of Honor, but Battlefield 3 sure looks the part too.

Sometimes you just have to go with it.  After we were told to expect the unexpected for Paradox's GDC announcement concerning Magicka - I gotta say - I never expected THIS.  Today they've announced the first full expansion pack for the game called Magicka: Vietnam.  It's exactly what you think it is - a bunch of wizards running around the Vietnam War making quick work of the enemy soldiers with lightning, fire, and anything else they can conjure.

Paradox Interactive, publishers of recent co-op hit game Magicka, have just announced their lineup for the Game Developers Conference which takes place February 28th through March 4th in San Francisco.  Among the list of game's they plan on showing is something new for Magicka, a game simply titled Magicka "Surprise"