The stories for this week:

With summer blockbuster movies, for better or worse, come the movie tie-in games. In the case of G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, we're happy to see Co-op, but very curious to know exactly how the game itself works. Kotaku got the chance to play the game at E3 using co-op, and we have their impression to share.

While we haven't seen any official images of the Shi No Numa (Zombie Swamp) map in the upcoming Map Pack 2 for Call of Duty: World at War, apparently the Pack has made it through certification and hits the Playstation Network and Xbox Live on June 11th. Most likely, it will be to the tune of $10.

We all love zombies. Alright, some of us don't love them, but the desire to mow down zombie hordes is nigh universal.  With last year's Left 4 Dead, the zombie co-op survival genre was born, and was quickly reinforced by Call of Duty: World at War's Nazi Zombies mode.  Killing Floor, from Tripwire Interactive, liberally borrows elements from both of these games and a few others to create a wonderful co-op experience that feels instantly familiar, but becomes unique almost from the moment you take control.  With co-op for up to six players being the game's entire focus (its subtitle is "Co-Op Survival Horror", after all), genre (and co-op) fans are in for a real treat.

An instant fan favorite, the Dead Space video game brand has made appearances in comic books, movies, and finally a second game. This game is not anything like the original, while keeping the true to the original idea. Dead Space: Extraction is an on-rails shooter title exclusive to the Wii with our favorite feature, Co-op. We've seen a bit on this game, getting closer to release we're finally hearing some hands on experiences with it which we would love to share!

E3 2009 is over, and most of the staff is exhausted.  55 Stories and 2 podcasts in 5 days will do that to you!  Time to recharge with some hot, steamy video game action.

Bungie posted an article yesterday that shed some light -- no, a lot of light -- on the Firefight four-player co-op mode featured in Halo 3: ODST, and we're lapping it up!

Last month we showed off 'Splosion Man, but with limited gameplay information at the time. Now, the developers sent out a video with commentary on the demo of the game at E3, showing us what to expect with 'Splosion Man's 4 player co-op through over 100 levels in the game. Buckle your seat belts for this one, it's a pretty wild ride!

Start those engines, it's time to take your Xbox Avatar for a Joy Ride! Joy Ride, the fully customizable Xbox Community racing game is ready to blow your mind. You are your Avatar, and you get to customize your vehicle to ride around wacky tracks and do wild tricks. We should probably also mention you can play with your friends, Co-op style. These Avatars just look like they're having too much fun, so how about you watch the trailer and tell us how much fun you'd have racing as your Avatar self with your Avatar buddies.

What? Wo wo wo wo wo! Two podcasts in a week? That's right folks - Mike, Kat, and Nick return to give their impressions on the biggest week of gaming new this year. The Co-Opticrew breaks down the big three press conferences and gives you the co-op gaming highlights from each. They also touch on some of the bigger co-op gaming announcements from 3rd parties. They did all of that out of the kindness of their hearts. Awwww.

Hit the Podcast Page to Listen or Download

Since breaking the news about The Grinder, we've been very interested to learn just a little bit more about the Wii's 4 player first person horror shooter, . Kotaku came to the rescue with many details straight from the developers, and some "visual hands-on" time with the game. We already mentioned that the developers, High Voltage Software worked on 4 player horror co-op with Hunter: The Reckoning. But, what does that mean for the Wii specifically?

As I type this, I'm filing it in the back of my mind for a future Battlefield Report. While it's not an intimiate battleground tactic, DICE has implemented a feature in the upcoming Battlefield 1943 that is cooperative in nature: a "community unlockable map".