Look, we love co-op gaming as much as the next guy.  But I'm not quite sure we love co-op gaming as much as THIS guy.  He goes by the name of the GamingGoose - and he's pissed off at developers, publishers and just about anyone that gets in his way.  Why?  Because he can't figure out what games have co-op and what games don't.  He's pissed that games that say they have co-op don't really have a cooperative mode at all but rather a "2 player simultaneous mode."

Welcome to another edition of Beyond Co-Op, where we take a look at the most interest and important gaming news in the industry.

Twenty years ago today, the Sega Genesis was released in North America.  Known as the Mega Drive in Japan, the Genesis was a big hit.  The NES was dominant at the time, but that fabled console was a bit long in the tooth.  With the help of truly superb marketing (Sega does what Nintendon't!), and a certain blue hedgehog, the Genesis became Sega's most successful console.  It was also a great way to play co-op with a friend, with many stellar co-op games in the Genesis library.

Every Friday afternoon from 3:00 until 5:00, the employees of Grinnell Computers shoot the crap out of each other for stress relief. Kevin Grinnell himself even joins the fray, in the hopes that his small company's productivity will stay high. You see, he pays his employees to play video games, and does so in the name of team bonding.

We're exactly three weeks away from PAX - and the staff can't wait!

The two player co-op RTS/FPS hybrid, Raven Squad, hits the Xbox 360 and PC next week.  To celebrate we've got a fresh batch of screenshots showing off both perspectives of the game. 

Valve revealed in last night's GameTrailers TV preview that a new area we'll be visiting in Left 4 Dead 2 will be a carnival! Officially called "Whispering Oaks", the creepy amusement park is the centerpiece of the latest campaign to be revealed: The Fairgrounds. Along with the campaign news comes the world debut of the katana, yet another melee weapon (magical flashlight beam included). We've got the video embedded for you.

Doom on the Xbox Live Arcade was a solid port of the game, and if my count is correct, it's the 37th system to get such a port.  Yes I'm counting graphing calculators.  But if you've had your fill of the first game, then it's time to upgrade to the double barreled shotty and play Doom 2 in glorious four player co-op.

It's always great when a game gives players a variety of vehicles to choose from to get from Point A to Point B.  It's even better when the vehicles allow multiple players to ride along in co-op.  The latest video for Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising shows off some of the game's vehicles ranging from jeeps to helicopters and everything in between.

Starting August 19th, which is the first day of GamesCom in Germany, Xbox Live Gold members will be able to snag the Lost Planet 2 demo on Xbox Live.  The demo is the same one that's been on display at E3 and Comic-Con.  

It would appear that Wii gamers, jealous of the easy online capabilities offered by the Xbox 360 and the PS3, will be pleased with this news.  Game specific friend codes might be on their way out!  Guitar Hero 5 will be among the first games to use the Wii console codes for online play.  No more entering long codes for each game you want to play online sounds pretty good to us.  Vicarious Visions CEO Karthik Bala gave more details to the folks over at IGN.

Sometimes a relationship keeps people apart. The long distance relationship was always considered difficult, but thanks to modern technology there's no reason to feel apart from your significant other. Our latest co-op couples looks at using co-op gaming, movies and chat to keep connected.