Over the years Xbox Live Arcade has gone through an evolution. While it started as remakes, re-releases, and every so often an original title it’s now evolved into something different. It’s now a service filled with games that aren’t quite big enough for a full retail product. It it feels like XBLA has lost its identity.

When the Indie-Ana Co-Op feature first began, I always intended to one day extend this space to the indie development community to share their trials and tribulations in game making. Today marks the first of what I hope to be many such pieces as Final Form Games, developers of our PC Co-Op GOTY winner Jamestown, share their story of making a four player 'shmup, and the challenges they faced along the way. This is a must read!

Before this fall started there was a battle heating up on the gaming front. It was a battle of military shooters - Modern Warfare 3 vs Battlefield 3. Activision entered the contest as the reigning champion, their franchise selling millions of copies each year across all three platforms; Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. But EA wanted to challenge the dominance with their own storied franchise with BF3. We take a look at both games and ask - "Did their co-op promises deliver?"

We've all heard it before - "Couch co-op gaming is dying." Most of us simply shake our head and nod in agreement, but perhaps it's not doing quite as bad as we previously thought. Today we bring you an editorial that focuses on the myth and explores some avenues around it. We also explore the benefits of couch and online co-op as they compare to each other.

There are two types of co-op campaigns in this world: one that allows a single player to continue, and one that exacts the same fates to both. Which one is best suited for couples, and why?

This month for MMO Co-Opportunities we look at Dragon Nest, a newly open-beta'ed F2P MMO with an action twist and the recently announced various editions of Star Wars: the Old Republic. We also visit the world of MOBAs.

This month MMOCO features a guest writer: the lovely and talented Andrew Gaskill, who is quite possibley writing this very blurb himself. He sure is awesome. Today he'll be discussing his co-operative experiences with the other super hero MMORPG, DC Universe Online.

Splash Damage has a tall order. They always have. Since the announcement and unveiling of Brink at E3 and PAX 2009, respectively, they've held strong to their original vision for a game that seamlessly blends single-player, co-op, and multiplayer experiences. This week the internet is abuzz about Brink, and critics the world over are poised to release their opinions into our laps (including one of my favorite critics, Co-Optimus' very own Andrew Gaskill).

I’m pretty sure there’s never been an online multiplayer mode that forces players to cooperate as much to actually complete it as Bulletstorm’s Anarchy. While other online co-op games suggest, imply, and hand hold their way to co-op play to success, Anarchy literally makes you fail if you don’t.

This month in MMO Co-Opportunities we take a look at one of the superhero MMOs for a change a pace: Champions Online. A deep character customization system and a personalized Nemesis experience offer some unique ways to play with others.

PC Gamers love to boast about how they’re so much smarter than us console gamers because of how much customization and options are available in their games. What happens then when the complexity and customization for PC Co-op game like Magicka gets too complex and relies on a co-op buddy? Hilarious teamkilling, that’s what. Rockpapershotgun.com has written a helpful editorial that very plainly states that you are going to suck at that games spellcasting system, no matter how many times you’ve schooled the enemy cooperatively in Diablo 2.

Over the years Co-optimus has seen the co-op gaming industry expand to include some unlikely sequels (Dead Rising 2) some new takes on old co-op (Gears of War 2's Horde mode) and all kinds of unique ways to bring gamers together. We know it's the co-op that gives these creations life, but what is it about the co-op that really makes it something that developers look forward to sharing with us? IGN chatted the co-op topic up with developer Jason Rohrer (of Sleep is Death) to discuss what makes co-op continue to bring us together.

2010 was an amazing year for co-op gamers with over 150 games and plenty of news to boot. But amongst the masses of titles a few stood out as not only excellent cooperative but as excellent games. Here's our list of the best co-op titles of 2010.

Since this is the first MMO Co-Opportunities of the new year, we'll be looking at some of the anticipated MMOs of 2011 as well as their potential co-opportunities.

Having just gotten out of a 3D showing of TRON Legacy, the sequel to the 1982 film from Disney, one thing left an impression with me.  Sure the colorful visuals, the thumping soundtrack by Daft Punk, and the impressive 3D effects all were excellent; but what really stuck out at me was the reinforcement of co-op throughout the movie.