Original caption by Nicholas "bapenguin" Puleo

Our friends at Loot Ninja have worked up an editorial not too dissimilar from our 2008 retrospective "Co-Op Successes and Failures" (by Jason Love) and more recent "Innovations in Co-Op Gaming" (by Katrina Pawlowski feat. the staff)...the Loot Ninja staff seek the definitive answer to a question that has been hounding our forum-goers for several months now: Do All Games Need Multiplayer or Co-Op?

Hot on the heels of Naughty Dog's confirmation of both multiplayer and three-player co-op in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves comes the news that Bioshock 2 will also feature multiplayer (although, sadly, no co-op). Today's gaming news in particular has been ripe with teases of Modern Warfare 2, a game that we steadfastly hope will also include four-player co-op. Tomorrow, Fable II DLC See the Future hits the Xbox Live Marketplace, leaving us still wondering why the co-op in that game was gimped. Not to be outdone, Killzone 2 falls in the same category as Fable II -- although without co-op in any form -- and also makes its way to Loot Ninja, where they use the Sony headliner as an example of a high-profile game that may well have benefited further from a co-op campaign.

What's very gratifying to see is the general attitude of the comments as of this writing:  apparently Loot Ninja's readers are as attached to co-op as we are. We've gone over this before, but please take a look at the editorial piece and put in your two cents...then come back over here and continue our ongoing discussion.

Source: Link

Perhaps the Co-Op is out in the ocean somewhere.

Boy has the Internet been noisy with debates about the announcement that Bioshock 2 would feature co-op. The rumor started from a supposed Game Informer article, and while the article was real, the internet made up the misinformation and it quickly spread.  

Based on what folks read there were numerous mixed reactions.  Is this be a good addition to the series? Is it a bad addition to the series? How would co-op even work in this situation? What is this Big Sister thing? Oh wait, that last one is unrelated.

Well, now this debate will look pretty pointless. Developer 2K Boston spent some time debunking rumors around Bioshock 2 on the Cult of Rapture website, briefly mentioning the co-op.

"I will let you know that there won’t be any spliced-up rhinos, Soviet invasions, or co-op, but you may very well see a Big Daddy or two.”

Director Jordan Thomas reiterated that sentiment by telling Game Informer:

"Single-player is obviously BioShock's legacy, and it's extremely important to us."

Laying the Co-op rumor to rest, I'm still curious what Co-optimus thinks. I've expressed my thoughts on horror with a friend, now it's your turn! How would Bioshock 2 have changed in your mind, had it supported co-op as initially promised?

Source: Link

Astute Co-Optimus forum reader Tino got his latest issue of Game Informer magazine.  The cover exclusive is details and screenshots of the upcoming Bioshock sequel called Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams.

While the cover had a major revelation of showing off the new female "Big Daddy" units called "Big Sisters" - there was another gem hidden between the pages.  That gem is co-op gameplay.  There's no details yet on what exactly the co-op entails,  and or how it will play into the story.  Hopefully it won't just be a Big Daddy and Little Sister mini game.

Bioshock was released in 2007 on the Xbox 360 and PC to critical acclaim winning over a dozen game of the year awards.  It was later released on the PlayStation 3 and the series has gone on to sell over 2.5 million copies.  Bioshock 2 is confirmed for all three platforms.  Needless to say, we're excited about the prospect of co-op!

Update:  It looks like at least part of the information on the net is untrue.  No word on what exactly is what yet.  GameInformer has responded.

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