Microsoft's Kinect peripheral offers some fine opportunities to get in shape while having a bit of fun. Earlier this year, learning also entered the mix thanks to Kinect Nat Geo TV and Kinect Sesame Street TV (only the former of which is co-op). As I explained in our co-op review, I wasn't crazy about the actual game portion of Nat Geo TV, but I did approve of the concept as a whole. It seems the wider Kinect audience appreciated the idea too, as both games will receive a second season on January 7th, right after the holidays.

We're a smidge late in reporting this since it started on Tuesday, but the Xbox Live Countdown to 2013 Sale may be the single best sale the Xbox 360 has ever had. Each day until December 31st consists of themed daily sales, with today's Platformers sale knocking co-op standout Rayman Origins down to just ten bucks. And on top of that, more than ten XBLA and Games on Demand titles are on sale for the diration of the promotion, such as fantastic co-op titles Sonic 4 Episode II and Simpsons Arcade. Head past the break to find out which games feature cooperative multiplayer!

Co-Op International has already looked at the little-known Japanese Turbografx CD version of River City Ransom. This time we return with a River City Ransom sequel/spin-off that was never released outside of Japan. Downtown Special – Kunio-Kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zenin Shuugou! for the Famicom (Japanese NES) looks and plays even better than River City Ransom, but it takes place in Japan. And thanks to the magic of an English translation patch, anyone with an NES emulator can fully enjoy it.

As we reported last week, Double Fine's Kinect Party (the follow-up to Happy Action Theater) will debut on Xbox Live Arcade this Tuesday. From that day until December 31 it will be free for anyone to own. But how much will it cost to buy if you don't grab it within that time period? After the game switches to a paid model, it will actually be sold in a fairly interesting way. Read on for the details.

Pid is a game I so badly wanted to love, only to eventually call it the most disappointing game of the year in our Co-Op review. The game just turned out so frustratingly difficult that playing it felt only slightly better than putting your groin in a vice grip and spinning the handle, to say nothing of the horrible collectible system. Well, developer Might & Delight has taken the widespread criticism to heart and released a major patch for Pid's PC version that smoothes out the default difficulty as well as adding a new Easy mode. We've got a few exclusive details on those tweaks to share with you today.

The iPhone/iPad and Android are already home to a fine port of Metal Slug 3, one of the best entries in SNK's arcade run-and-gun shoot-em-up series. Now the Japanese game maker has ported the original Metal Slug to mobile devices under the highly appropriate title Metal Slug 1. Like the previous port, this one boasts several enhancements like an all-new Mission Mode and of course, Bluetooth co-op play. New for this installment: adjustable controls.

Happy Action Theater, Double Fine's collection of Kinect minigames and visualizers for XBLA, is probably the most beloved Kinect XBLA title besides Fruit Ninja Kinect. It really shows off what the Kinect can do and doesn't allow clumsy menus or motion controls to get in the way of the fun. As such, we've been anxiously awaiting the sequel: Kinect Party. Many gamers (particularly parents) would probably have paid 800 MS Points for the second game, but it turns out they won't have to. From December 18-31, Kinect Party will be completely free. Party time!

Sadly, the US release of anime-style versus fighting game Phantom Breaker has been put on indefinite hold due to publisher 7sixty's financial troubles. However, the game's actual developer 5pb remains in good shape. They're hard at work preparing a spin-off called Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds for Xbox Live Arcade. Even if you were unfamiliar with the series before now, this lovely new batch of screens should peak your interest.

Japanese shoot-em-up maker CAVE is one of the few developers responsible for keeping the shmup genre alive (and, some would argue, for the genre's ever-dwindling popularity). We've covered several of their Xbox 360 shooters in our Co-Op International column, including Dodonpachi Resurrection and Espgaluda II. Now Japanese fans who have somehow abstained from buying most or all of the company's Xbox 360 output have reason to rejoice. The Cave Shooting Collection is coming to retail overseas, complete with a whopping 9 retail shmups, all of their DLC, and the company's sole XBLA genre entry, Guwange.

Licensed games have a reputation for being rush-jobs that only a fan of the original property could like. Ben 10: Omniverse from Viscious Cycle and D3 Publisher does not break from that mold, but it still ends up being pretty fun regardless. Omniverse faithfully adapts the fourth and latest Ben 10 animated TV series in videogame form, featuring numerous transformations for the lead character and actual voice talent from the series. More importantly, it packs pretty good 2-player local co-op.

Dead Island: Riptide screenshots aren't exactly in short supply, as we saw a batch themed around the new chef character near the beginning of the month. But series fans demand more pictures of survivors slaughtering the undead, so it would be irresponsible of developer Techland not to dish new pics out. The highlight of this latest array of images is undoubtedly the one pictured above, in which a man with a bad haircut fends off an undead attacker with a boat oar. When the zombies come a-calling, who has time to get a proper haircut?

A couple of weeks ago, Co-Optimus broke the news that 'Gangnam Style' would become available for Dance Central 3 on November 28th. As promised, the DLC came out yesterday for the standard price of 240 MS Points ($3). If you enjoy Psy's crazy popular K-Pop song, you won't be disappointed with Dance Central 3's interpretation. Read on for our full impressions and a trailer!

The ToeJam & Earl series is fondly remembered by people who played the Sega Genesis, including yours truly. Sadly, the series remains largely forgotten by everyone else, despite ToeJam & Earl III appearing exclusively on the original Xbox. The cause may stem from SEGA not actually owning the characters. The rights belong to one of the series’ two creators, Greg Johnson. Thankfully he worked out a deal with SEGA, who have just released the first two games as SEGA Vintage Collection: ToeJam & Earl.

As a smartphone gaming enthusiast, I don't feel as much need for a 3DS system as I would have a few years ago. In fact, there are only a few third-party 3DS exclusive titles I really long for: Resident Evil: Revelations, Code of Princess, and the upcoming single-player opus Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate. Well, the 3DS is pretty popular, but game makers can obviously reach a much larger audience by branching out to actual consoles. If the Korean ratings board is to be believed, Capcom has wisely decided to expand RE: Revelations to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 sometime in the near future.

Disney's latest animated feature Wreck-It Ralph is chock full of videogame references, some more obscure than others. For instance, the final boss of Altered Beast makes a brief cameo in his rhino form. That gives us the perfect excuse to look at an obscure Japanese port of the game in our latest installment of Co-Op International. This month we look at Altered Beast (called Juuoki in Japan) for the PC Engine, an 8-bit system known as the Turbografx-16 in the west.