The world and its dog may be playing Borderlands 2 this  week, but please note that there are other co-op games still out there.  You can take your fancy graphics and 4 player co-op and I raise you old school graphics and 6 player co-op with X Men Arcade on XBLA; reduced to 400 Microsoft Points for one week only as of Wednesday 26th September.

This past weekend I packed my bags and headed south to Washington, DC to check out Magfest - a festival that celebrates videogames and videogame music.  The show has plenty of stuff for folks to do including a free play arcade with many classic cabinets (including my favorite Moon Patrol).  There's also a LAN party area, table top gaming area, and plenty of independent artists selling their wares.  

Recently, Co-Optimus staffers were given an assignment: play online co-op with random strangers.  The idea was that it's good to sometimes get out of our comfort zone.  For me, I am most at home when I am literally at home, playing couch co-op with one of my kids.  I only rarely venture online, and when I do, it is with friends I have met through Co-Optimus, or even folks I know in real life.  Heading into the wilds of Xbox Live was a daunting proposal for me.

One of the finest co-op beat 'em ups of all time, X-Men Arcade, is coming to a phone near you.  The mutant slugfest is now available for iOS devices, for the relatively low price of a dozen quarters ($2.99).  Multiplayer is supported for up to four players, and leaderboards and Facebook integrations round out the game's mutant abilities.  The game is only compatible with third gen and beyond devices, so iPhone 3G users are out of luck.  It's great to see more and more classic games available on a variety of platforms these days!

Last one on plays as Dazzler

Mutants everywhere rejoice!  Apparently, one of Professor X's mutant powers is to go on sale on the day when no one believes anything they read on the internet.  Today only, X-Men Arcade, the Xbox Live Arcade version, specifically, is on sale for 75% off.  That's 200 MS points, or two fiddy in US dollars.  You'll recall we were quite impressed with the update of the early 90s classic.  Any fan of co-op should go get a copy immediately, at this price.  But hurry, the deal will BAMF away, just like Nightcrawler, very soon.

Though the gameplay is repetitive, and the challenge level is minimal, X-Men Arcade is still a lot of fun to play. It is certainly not the greatest co-op beat-em-up ever, but it's one of the few that allows more than four players, even when compared to other modern downloadable games.

Earlier this week we told you that X-Men Arcade, Konami's re-release of the classic title featuring 6-player online co-op, would be an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive for two months.  But it seems that's not entirely true, as Konami has confirmed to Joystiq the game is releasing next week on the 14th for the PlayStation Network and on the 15th on Xbox Live Arcade.  

Everyone who wants to play X-Men Arcade next week step forward!  Not so fast, PlayStation 3 owners.  The PS3 faithful will have to wait to get their old school mutant brawl on.  X-Men Arcade will release next week, December 15th for Xbox LIVE Arcade.  The game is slated for a February release for the PlayStation Network. 

We were giddy with delight earlier this year when we brought you the news of X-Men: The Arcade Game's release on modern consoles.  Though we still don't have an exact release date, the initial time frame indicated a late 2010 release.  Well, it's now about as late in 2010 as you can get, with no game in sight; however, we do have the achievements for it, which means the wait is likely coming to a close.

Once made popular on the arcade style cabinet, X-men Arcade is bringing the good old co-op fight (from 1992) home. For the first time ever (18 years after the games innitial release), X-men Arcade will be playable on home consoles. Comic Con this year gave us a quick Sneak peek at the side-scrolling brawler, and now we have some more details to add to that.

I am ecstatic with glee today, as my favorite arcade game of all time is finally heading to Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.  X-Men The Arcade Game is coming soon to a console near you, though certainly not soon enough for me.  After eighteen years, the legal issues surrounding the classic brawler have cleared up, allowing Konami to release the title to a new generation of gamers.  While the game appears to be largely unchanged, a few tweaks like difficulty levels, a new HUD, and the ability to swap between the US and Japanese releases of teh game will be included.  The best part?  6 player online co-op, with drop in/out support!  And yes, you can mix and match local and online players however you'd like.  We'll keep you posted on any furtehr developments, but for now, enjoy the announcement trailer straight out of Comic-con.

As you can imagine, a lot has changed here at Co-Optimus since we started Co-Op Classics, not the least of which is our video capabilities. Today, we'll take a look back at two Co-Op Classics, this time in video form: X-Men The Arcade Game, and Space Invaders II.

We here at Co-Optimus.com are always on the lookout for content for our users.  This article is the first of a new column, "Co-Op Classics", that will come your way every Friday.  The focus of this series is great co-op games of the past.  We'll be looking at all sorts of older games that featured co-op, from the golden age of the arcades up to the last generation of home consoles.  Some of the titles we feature might be available today, perhaps on XBLA or Virtual Console.  For those games we feature that aren't available, well, perhaps we can get the powers that be to do something about it!  As soon as I knew I'd be writing this weekly column, my favorite arcade game came to mind instantly.  I knew I had to use it for the first Co-Op Classic! 

Older gamers likely have fond memories of video arcades.  Back in their heyday, arcades were wildly popular, filled to the brim with video games of all types.  These days, there are few arcades, and those that remain are focussed on DDR, Claw machines, and light gun games, for the most part.  But back then, it was different.  There was no feeling like walking into an arcade with a pocketful of quarters, and spending an afternoon with a buddy trying to beat high scores and talking trash to each other.  In all my time in the arcades, though, there was no other experience like that of X-Men: The Arcade Game.