Earlier this month we brought you news about the Gears of War 3 beta.  If Xbox 360 owners buy the Epic Edition of Bulletstorm, you can can get early access to the Gears 3 multiplayer beta.  Co-founder and president of Epic Games, Mike Capp, recently talked to Gamespot about the tie-in.  He said the beta would be released "sometime around April or so."  Attentive gamers may note that April was the planned release date for Gears 3 before it got pushed backed. to autumn 2011. Looks like Microsoft and Epic want some of that gargantuan holiday sales money games like Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops earned this year.

More affectionately know to some as Earth Defense Force 2, the original Global Defence Force is being ported to the PlayStation Portable. Two -player ad hoc (wireless LAN) co-op will be intact for every mission, which includes the original 71 and then some.

In the craziness of the holidays, you may have missed the launch of the new LotR: War in the North website. The site's homepage makes it a lot easier to see what's new content-wise on the site as well as adding some lore sections just waiting to be filled with Tolkieny goodness. We've kind of caught the notion that you guys are excited about this game, whether it's because it's made from the the same folks who brought us the classic Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, or because it will feature mixed split-screen and online co-op, or simply because you like how it looks, it seems like everyone's clamoring for more information on this game. We're just on the edge of 2011, which can't come soon enough if it means we'll get this game in our hands sooner!

The year isn't quite over yet, which means we still have more goodies to give away!  Up for grabs are two sets of Video Games Live prize packs - included in each pack are:

Capcom sends word that their downloadable sequel to Dead Rising 2 is out now exclusively on Xbox Live.  Dead Rising 2: Case West brings back our old pal from the first game, Frank West, to team up with Dead Rising 2's protaganist Chuck Greene.  Together they are on a mission to clear Chuck's name of any wrong doing with the zombie outbreak.

Earlier this month, Game Informer revealed the new Lara Croft for the Tomb Raider re-boot.  The game will feature a young Lara who is shipwrecked and must hone her skills to survive in a hostile environment.  This will be-wait for it-an origin story.  Everyone loves an origin story, right?  I hope she wins a pod race and has mommy issues.  She looks like the brain child of Michael Bay and Eli Roth: sweaty, filthy, brutalized and jail-bait-y.  It should sell a billion copies.  

2010 is rapidly coming to a close and it was another epic year for co-op gamers.  We took a look back at the news stories and features from the past year and a handful of games stood out amongst the 150 co-op titles that saw the light of day in 2010.  

Tecmo Koei have sent along some new Dynasty Warriors 7 info this morning, including a brand new batch of screenshots showing off the game's revamped graphics engine.

It's time once again for another world famous Co-Optimus Xbox Live Co-Op Night! This months game of choice is Call of Duty: Black Ops and we'll be playing both the Zombies and Combat Training modes in co-op!

Are you still looking for a job this holiday season?  Do you know what esoteric terms like "Software Development Engineer," "Mulitplayer Designer," or "Consumer Products Associate" mean?  Do you live anywhere near Redmond, Washington?  Well if so, 343 Industries may just have a job for you.  Boldly asking applicants to "Come be part of the awesome," 343 Industries is looking for team members for the new Halo project.  The Halo games have always been incredibly co-op friendly, including the latest iteration: Halo: Reach.

The votes were tallied in the contest of the DLC - and it looks like Kain and Raziel have won as the first set of co-op characters to download for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.  The duo beat out Kane and Lynch as the other set of characters that would be available in the game, both sets of characters are available to download now - one free, one not.

It was only a little over a month ago when we told you that Harmonix's parent company, Viacom, was putting the developer up for sale after only owning them for a few years.  Rock Band 3 sales numbers were partially to blame for this, but the $179 million dollar selling price surely contributed.