Beyond Co-Op is where we talk about other news around the industry that isn’t necessarily tied to co-operative gaming. Each week will see the subjects of the column listed on the front page with more in-depth discussion after the break. If you have any suggestions, please contact us at tips@co-optimus.com with a subject related to “Beyond Co-Op”.

The stories for this week:

- Nintendo DSi Announced

- Penny Arcade Episode 2 Goes Gold, Price Lowered to $15

- Tiberium Canceled

- Wii Punch-Out!! and other Games Announced

- Xbox Live Experience Week 4: Games Store

Nintendo DSi Announced

Nintendo announced a new version of the DS coming in November to Japan and “deep” into 2009 everywhere else. The big specs of the new system are here:

- 12% Thinner
- No More GBA Slot
- 2 Cameras Built-in
- Music Playback
- SD Slot
- Internal Storage
 

So, we lose the GBA slot, but get bigger screens as seen above in the picture, music capabilities, 2 cameras and internal storage. All in all it sounds pretty cool, but may not have been what everyone was hoping Nintendo would announce: an all-new handheld system probably.

Source: Joystiq (announcement), Colony of Gamers (details breakdown)

Penny Arcade Episode 2 Goes Gold, Price Lowered to $15

Coming from our CoG Network friends over at Colony of Gamers comes word that the next episode in Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness has gone gold and will come out sometime in the fall. This would explain Mike and Jerry being gone for a week and having guest writers talk about DRM in games. Anyway, the bigger news is that this new episode will carry the Braid and Castle Crashers price of $15 (or 800 Microsoft Points in Live jargon). The big question is whether the price of the first episode will drop as well. I know I eagerly await this new episode.

Source: Colony of Gamers

Tiberium Canceled

Although this wasn’t too surprising given that EA had pushed it back to Fiscal 2010 back in July, word came this week that the first-person shooter game Tiberium had met its end and will not be released. The game is based in the popular Command and Conquer universe, but even early looks at the game didn’t make it look all that good. EA certainly tried to hit the first-person genre again after the above average Renegade game from long ago, but according to EA this game had not reached the high standards the EA Games Label was looking for. Who knew…EA and high standards? Maybe they are making a move toward respectability after all.

Source: Colony of Gamers

Wii Punch-Out!! Announced

I’m pumped about this because I think the Punch-Out!! games that came on NES and Super NES were some of the best boxing games ever made and I can’t wait to see what Nitendo can do this time around. The game looks a lot like the Super NES version of the game and it is sounding like there will be a lot of returning boxers. Should be interesting with the WiiMotion addition to the remotes, but I’m sure all of our arms are going to get quite tired. 2009 release more than likely.

Source: Joystiq (news), Kotaku (for pic)

Xbox Live Experience Week 4: Games Store

Week 4 of the Gamerscore Blog look at the New Xbox Experience brings information on the Games Store, one of the most important pieces to any gameplayer. The new setup sounds rather cool since each game will have information behind it including the back of the box information as well as all downloads related to that game. It also includes things such as themes, previews, videos and gamerpics tied to the game as well. It sounds quite well organized!

Source: Gamerscore Blog

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