Call of Duty: Black Ops is getting yet another DLC map pack.  This means more "Zombies."  We got "Ascension" with the First Strike pack, "Call of the Dead" with Escalation, and now we get "Shangri-La" in Annihilation.  CoD: BO's "Zombies" modes have really improved on each other, and the latest one appears to follow suite.  Check out the video below for a glimpse of some of the new toys that will be available (pungi stick claymores!).  Yes, the evil monkey makes an appearance.  We even have a screenshot gallery of some hot zombie action.  

The sequel to the so-bad-it's-good Earth Defense Force 2017 is almost here.  Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon has more guns, better visuals, bigger bugs and (supposedly) functional vehicles.  If you spent any time with 2017, you know that the vehicles were one of the worst features in the game.  Calling them "features" does a disservice to the word.  This latest video introduces the Mech, a bipedal, side-stepping weapons platform.  Here's hoping it controls more like the mechs from Trenched and less like EDF 2017's Vegalta.

There have been reports that save game files cannot be deleted from the Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D game cartridge.  Several gaming sites have reported that the instruction manual specifically states that, "saved data on this software cannot be reset."  This has lead people to believe that Capcom has done this specifically to curb (stomp) used game sales.  Since the saved data can't be reset, people who buy a used copy of the game won't be able to start a new game from scratch.   Gamers have speculated that this will greatly detract from the Mercenaries 3D's trade in value.

Critics agree: Cars 2 isn't as good a movie as Cars was. Does the video game sequel hit the same disappointing note? Our first Redbox rental game becomes our first Redbox rental game review.

This week's co-op releases are a little bit portable, and a little bit niche.  We'll get a reason to dust off our 3DS's as well as mix giant robots - sorry, mobile suits - with the Dynasty Warriors formula.  Are you ready?

The Co-Optimus staff spent a good chunk of this past weekend enjoying F.E.A.R. 3.  The game not only offers a two player cooperative campaign, but two separate co-op survival modes in Contractions and F**king Run.  During our play time we discovered slowly began to gel and learn some tips and tricks to surviving longer and longer.  

Every once and a while we get a glimpse at a game who's co-op mechanics just click as soon as you watch it in action.  ibb and obb is one of those games.

Welcome to Beyond Co-Op, a weekly piece that talks about industry stories that may or may not be related to co-op gaming.

It's been (and is continuing to be) a good year for those of us who are fans of the dungeon crawler/hack-and-slash genre. I used to have to search long and hard for a console dungeon crawler, but this year has provided a vertiable bounty of them what with Dungeon Hunter Alliance, D&D Daggerdale, and Dungeon Siege 3 out already (wow, lots of D's in these names), and Torchlight 2, LOTR: War in the North, Crimson Alliance, and hell, even possibly the elusive Diablo III beta anticipated for this summer. That's a heck of a lot of dungeon crawlers!

It's the week four round-up for the month of June's blog topic: Co-Optimus Community Voice, Photograph My Gaming Rig. For the month of June we've just been asking for your photos, not your lengthy thoughts on the screen. Photos of your gaming rig - big, small, intricate or simple. The two we have this week are from staff members, a sleek PC/console office setup and a comfy couch setting where split-screen is king.

The Staff seems to have their gaming hands firmly in the dirt playing Trenched on Xbox Live Arcade.  With good reason too - it's damn fun.  Another co-op game that's been gracing our visual palettes is F.E.A.R. 3 with a surprisingly wide array of co-op modes.  It's hard to believe there are so many solid co-op releases this summer already - but there are - and that's a good thing I suppose.  

No, you are not having deja vu.  We ran this video from Saints Row: The Third about a week and half ago.  It was pretty good then, but you'll probably find it even better now.  (Not that there's anything wrong with Daemon Hatfield.  He's positively dreamy.)  You'll see this is a cleaner version of the video, with some added developer commentary from Volition's Drew Holmes.  If you didn't catch  the vid before, now's your chance.  It's got people-sploding fists, air strikes, tanks, giant novelty sex toys, the ridin'-the-pony-gettin'-some-dance, and ladies getting punched in the baby-maker.  Just click the "Read More" button.  I guarantee you won't have to read during the video.