It's hard to believe, but tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the release of Castle Crashers.  It is still among the finest co-op experiences in modern games, particularly for gamers who like a little old school in their new hotness.  In celebration of the game's first birthday, the Necromantic Pack is now available for download, for the value price of a mere 160 MS Points.

I know I'll be getting this one.  It's always fun to go back and play this game again, and I never did get the King DLC pack.  Besides, who doesn't want a dragon pet, or a chainsaw for a weapon?

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We're a mere two days away from the first birthday of the four player co-op game Castle Crashers on XBLA.  With a PSN release later this year, you wouldn't think The Behemoth would have any time to create some new content.  Alas, that is not the case.  

Just announced is the Necromantic Pack, which contains two new characters, a new animal orb and two new weapons.  The animal orb is a fiery dragon, the Necromancer's magic is "pure awesome" - and you get a chainsaw.  No word on price or date, but I have a sneaking suspicion we'll see it this Wednesday when the game turns one.

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The San Diego Comic-Con has been a reliable source of gaming news in the past few years, and this one's no different.  PlayStation 3 owners rejoice, you're finally going to be able to play one of last year's finest co-op experiences!  Gamespot had some hands-on experience on the SDCC floor and chimes in: 

As far as how the PS3 game looks and plays, the demo that we checked out was already running well and certainly looked to be on par with the Xbox 360 game. The action is smooth and responsive, and the colorful visuals look as crisp as ever. From the look of things Castle Crashers should be a good addition to the PlayStation Network library. A straight port of the Xbox 360 game will be a lot of fun, but we're hopeful that the PS3 version might also benefit from some additional content.

We can always hope for new content, but I'd much rather have more people experience this fantastic title. No release date was given, but I hope we can expect this one soon! 

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Over 1 Million Served!

One of our favorite old school cool co-op titles is Castle Crashers.  Apparently, we aren't the only ones who enjoy the game, either, according to the Behemoth development blog.  Just two days ago, on June 22, the one millionth player was listed on the Castle Crashers leaderboard.  This achievement makes Castle Crashers the fastest growing title ever released on Xbox Live Arcade.  It's good to see that such an honor belongs to a very strong co-op title!
 

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Castle Crashers is one of the greatest co-op titles on Xbox Live Arcade.  Old School beat em up gameplay, charming, hilarious style, and 4 player co-op are a recipe for a good time.  Apparently there are many others who share our high opinion of the game.  In fact, that number is quite large: the Castle Crashers leaderboards include over 900,000 players!

To celebrate, Behemoth is running a contest.  All you have to do is guess the date and time that the leaderboard reads 1,000,000 players.  The prize is unknown at this time, but is promised to be "awesome, nay, SPECTACULAR!"  I'm sure it will be quite amazing.

Speaking of amazing, have you checked out the adorable Castle Crashers figurines?  I know at least one staff member has a set, and I think they'd look great next to my Transformers Mighty Muggs...

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"Yes, dear..."

 This week we're featuring another Co-Op Couples submission, this time from guest writer Ethan Kaye . Ethan helps us revisit Castle Crashers , Xbox Live's 2009 Live Arcade Game of the Year, as well as some other favorite co-op titles. Read on for a musing romp through the living room of a friendly new Co-Op Couple...

It's Episode 15 of the Co-Opticast, and we discuss the latest breaking Co-Op news. First up is Bioshock 2 - should it or shouldn't it have co-op.

We examine trailer #3 from the Behemoth to determine if this is the next Castle Crashers. Finally we top it all off with some Ghostbusters co-op info and a splash of the new Battle.Net.

Marc guests on the show to discuss the sites family oriented features and columns and Mike and Nick review Resident Evil 5.

All of that content packed into a 45 minute nugget of audio goodness.

Hit the Podcast Page to Listen or Download

Co-op ruled them all in the 2nd Annual Xbox Live Arcade awards.  Castle Crashers beat out the assumed favorite, Braid, for the overall Game of the Year in 2008 on Xbox Live Arcade.

Behemoth's four player co-op hack and slash also took in awards for Best Original Game and Best Co-Op game.  All very promising considering the trailer we just saw for their third game.

The full list of winners can be found right ahead.

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As promised, the Behemoth has delivered a trailer for their 3rd game.  It is perhaps the most dramatic, musical and emotional trailer for a video game you'll ever see - and you won't have a friggin clue what the heck is going on.

The good news is the game, still very very early in development, looks extremely co-op-able.  There's sections where players help lift each other up, similar to what players do in Army of Two.  We also see plenty of gameplay bits with multiple players fighting baddies on the screen at once, and it appears there's some sort of puzzle element to the game.

Of course Game #3 features the same iconic art style of Dan Paladin and the trailer shows this well, including some pretty interesting cut scenes.

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The Behemoth, makers of the ridiculously awesome four player co-op Castle Crashers, have announced that they are announcing their new game; aptly titled Game #3 on March 18th.  Got that?  The developers are announcing and announcement which is actually a video of a game that's yet to be announced.

With game #1 having co-op, that's Alien Hominid; and game #2 having co-op, that's Castle Crashers - we think the chances are pretty good that game #3 will support our favorite multiplayer option.

The only thing revealed so far is the above piece of artwork.  There's not much to grasp from it - glowing red eyes from an army of some strange creature adore the background, while the foreground shows someone attempting to purchase, or perhaps pawn, and emerald.  And is Mr. Top Hat crying there?  Perhaps tears of joy for co-op.  

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