Amazon is running a deal today on Xbox 360 Platinum Hits.  Buy two games, get one free!  Hard to argue with that value.  There are some co-op gems in there: All three LEGO games are less than $20, before the promotion!  The original Gears of War, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and even Burnout Paradise are all available.  Of course there are some single player games included as well, if you want a bit of alone time.  If you haven't checked these titles out, now's a good time!

Source: Link

Yeah, it's tasteless, but at least on topic!

Achievements are one of the most innovative features of games for this generation of consoles.  Hearkening back to the old arcade days when you had to play just one more time to see your name on the high score list, achievements add play value to games.  Maybe you're gamerscore isn't up to snuff, though, and you are looking for some co-op games to keep the achievement points rolling in?

Testfreaks has you covered, with a list of the best and worst games for getting achievements without much trouble.  Wondering where your favorite co-op titles stack up?

Best:

Any LEGO Game, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Any Viva Pinata Game, Mercenaries 2, Halo 3, Crackdown, Left 4 Dead, Saints Row 1 & 2, Duke Nukem 3D, DOOM, Aegis Wing,

Worst:

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, C&C Red Alert 3, Army of Two, Gears of War, TMNT 1989 Arcade.

Source: Link

Far be it from us to promote ignorant claims like the one you're about to read, but we just couldn't help it. In truth: palm-to-forehead stories like this belong in other, less scrupulous blogs. And yet, we felt compelled to let our readers in on the irony.

The source link in this post directs to the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a group with all good intentions but apparently less-than-intelligent advocates. On February 15th, they plan to announce their 2009 TOADY award to all twelve of the people that actually read their announcements.

Among the candidates for the winner of the category "Toys Oppressive and Destructive to Young Children" is the video game Lego Batman. The redonkulous page of Terrible Toys rails the co-op game for its promotion of the "violent Dark Knight movie series" and for " turning your toy into a video game...instead of deciding what to build next". Unfortunately for those twelve people who take the TOADYs seriously, the page blissfully forgets that the video game is modeled after the real Batman Lego toy sets, which despite being a "creative" toy, also promotes The Dark Knight to children (leaving parents to have the ultimate decision in the matter...*gasp!*).

Click "Read More" for the excerpt and some more gloriously sarcastic commentary (remember to add your own as well)...

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The caped crusader and boy wonder join forces to battle the evil blocky villains of Gotham City.  Grab two controllers, a coke and get ready to do battle.   Does LEGO Batman hold up as well as it's predecessors like LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Star Wars?  Read our review to find out.

The only thing we like around here more than co-op gaming is FREE co-op gaming.  Thankfully a new Amazon.com promotion that is catered towards family gaming titled "Family Game of the Month" seems right up our alley.  Thanks to the recent Xbox 360 Price Drops, you'll be getting an Xbox 360 Arcade Bundle for $199 and LEGO Batman for FREE!

So hit this link and get some batty 360 goodness, and help support Co-Optimus in the meantime!

This week you'll need to make a tough decision, or perhaps if you are rich, and easy one.  LEGO Batman hits just about every platform known to man.  Every single version supports 2 player co-op (local only) but all in drop in/drop-out fashion.  Score!

Sandwiched between all the Bats and Robins is a gun slinging, ass kicking, gum chewing dude named Duke Nukem.  The classic 3D title returns to Xbox Live Arcade this week with full 8 player co-op support online, and the added ability to save replies and rewind gameplay. 

This should be a solid week overall.  Anyone picking either of these up?
 

While the previous LEGO games of LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones were great co-op experiences, nothing is going to be quite like riding side by side with your bat buddy into battle.  Warner Bros Interactive have released over a dozen new screenshots showing off just how you'll be riding into battle in LEGO Batman.  Batmobile?  Check.  Batcopter?  Check.  Alligator!?!?! Check.

Hit the jump for all the screens.

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Shacknews recently showed off a few new screenshots and a video of the upcoming LEGO Batman game.  Hot on the heels of LEGO Indy, LEGO Batman promises more of the clever humor, puzzle elements, and oh so cute versions of characters we all know and love.  The new characters include former Robin Nightwing, the shape-changing horror Clayface, and the man who broke Batman's back, Bane.  LEGO Batman is scheduled for release on pretty much every system known to humankind this September.

The folks over at Wired got to spend some hands on time with LEGO: Batman.   For fans of other LEGO video games, LEGO Batman continues the tradition: over the top action, great co-op play, and a strong sense of humor.  The good news is, the designers of the next game in the series have tweaked things up a bit to make the game more co-op friendly.

The core elements such as co-op gameplay, Lego blocks, and collectible studs remain, but the rest has been refined, polished and tweaked to provide an even more satisfying and solid experience.

Anyone playing Lego Star Wars with a partner experienced the frustration of not being able to wander more than a few steps away from your playmate before being stopped by an invisible tether. Lego Batman vastly improves the distance two players can separate, making it far easier to play with a pal.  The camera pans far back to allow both players to move freely while staying on the same screen; during the demo I saw at GDC, the camera panned so far back that Batman and Robin were scarcely bigger than your thumbnail on screen.

With this and LEGO: Indiana Jones, there's going to be plenty of LEGO cooperative action this year!