I've been a huge fan of Basic Instructions for quite some time now.  Scott Meyer seems to nail the finer points of human relationships.  The concept of the comic is simple; it's a guide on how to approach and handle the many situations that life presents itself.  Actually I'm pretty sure what you are supposed to do is read the comic and do the complete opposite.  

I was ecstatic to see that the latest comic tackles the one thing near and dear to our hearts here on Co-Optimus: co-op gaming.   Whether it's passing the controller, playing Rock Band, or giving helpful tips to your partner; Basic Instructions lays it out for you in only the way Scott Meyer can. 

Source: Link

I'm not sure, but I'm pretty certain the cover of the official Tekken 6 comic, written and drawn by the folks from Penny-Arcade, has a Kangaroo punching a fighter jet.  I'm also pretty sure I don't need to tell you anything else about it other than that to make you head over to the official site to check out the first 3 pages.

The comic is set in the official Tekken universe, but with the traditional Penny-Arcade humor we all know and love.  Tekken 6 will feature an online two player co-op campaign that plays in a similar fashion to old school beat em ups.  For the first time players will be able to not only punch and kick, but pick up weapons like guns, staffs, flamethrowers and even giant robots to use to dispatch enemies at will.

I'll just take the giant Kangaroo that punches fighter jets. 

Army of Two...the Phantom Menace of video games.

Senior producer Reid Schneider made a comment to PSW magazine staff that the first Army of Two game was an over-ambitious title, boasting vehicle sequences and boss fights that weren't really "grounded in reality".

According to Schneider, the team is aware of the hyper-cinematic nature of the first game, and are seeking to rectify their faults this time around.

We're trying to make something a little more grounded in reality. You're going to have waves of enemies and harder enemies to kill but the notion of boss fights... we did it a little bit in the first game but here we want to keep an air of credibility to the events.

I couldn't help but notice that the senior producer neglected to mention the outlandishly macho behavior of Rios and Salem... Hopefully, the team at EA Montreal will take note of this inspired comic strip and catch on  to the gaming crowd's thinly veiled reprehension.

Source: Link

Ahh, the Gears of War Lancer.  As far as weapons go, it's about as good as they get.  Chainsaw + machine gun = it's full of stars.  We've had a few news articles about this legendary weapon alone.  Our own Mike "pheriannath" Katsufrakis has done a particulary nice rendition of the weapon for good ol' Billy in our current banner.  Apparently, other artisitic types across the interwebs think as highly of the Lancer as we do here at Co-Optimus. 

First up is a funny little bit from CTRL+ALT+DEL.  Ever wondered what the lancer runs off of?  Batteries, plutonium, or maybe the dying wails of your enemies?  Read the comic to find out.  Penny Arcade presents a battle of the fall release titans: replicas from Gears of War 2 and World of Warcraft square off.  Which will reign supreme?  You'll have to check it out for yourself! 

Source: Link

Sure we clamor for Co-Op in just about every game that's released around here...but I think CTRL+ALT+DEL has a point.

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!