Microsoft recently announced their XBOX Live Ultimate Sale event that will have 60 games going on sale over the next week.  Each day has a different set of games and today's starting offer is sure to interest co-op and Halo fans as it is a Master Chief bonanza.  Halo 3, Halo Wars and Halo Reach are all down to $9.99, whi...

Since the dawn of Halo 3, Forge Mode has been a massive hit between casual and professional players to make the perfect maps for any occasion. The question these days is, however, will Halo 4’s version hold its own compared to its predecessor’s?

Bungie are no longer the developers of the Halo franchise, but as one door closes another, in the form of 343 Industries' Halo 4, opens. Before bidding so long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu to the Halo franchise, Bungie have released one last statistical overload.  Amongst the multiplayer stats (over 208 billion games played), are some co-op Firefight stats - 29 Billion kills, 350,405,511 games played, 12.8 Trillion points earned.  Check out Read More and open the gallery for a tiny version of this Halo stat orgy.  Or better yet, follow this link for the full image! 

This is one of those news posts that has that meta co-op element to it along side a real co-op element.  If it's been a while since you've played some Halo Reach, you might want to jump back in, as this year marks the 6th year for the Halo FLAG tournament.  Fight Like a Girl is a charity fund raising tournament where players compete against each via Xbox Live and raise money for Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer research.  

A new title update has been launched for Halo: Reach!  Who cares (I hear you ask) when Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is out November 15th?  Apart from the millions of people still regularly playing the game, co-op fans should also take note.  Some of you may remember the co-op controversy at launch, when owners of HDD free 360s could not play the game in co-op.  This has finally been fixed in the latest patch, along with a multitude of other tweaks and twiddles designed to draw Reach and Anniversary together.

Peter and Ruth have been waiting patiently to share their co-op experiences as our run of guest submissions continues! The co-op couple talks a bit about the game's they've been playing lately and why each one is great for a co-op couple.

This week we look at the bonding of a father and his son over a series - Halo. Sure Halo might not be the most family friendly game, after all, its rated M, but Marc will make the case on how it'll promote a healthy relationship in your family - and best of all - some great co-op play.

If there is anyone in the audience that hasn't tried out the latest in the Halo franchise, now's your chance to go at it with your buddies. Halo Reach has finally unleashed its free-to-play demo on Xbox Live. The Demo includes campaign mission "Long Night of Solace," a competitive multiplayer map, and a co-op firefight map for free.

Take a look at your gaming collection. No, not just the shelf by your TV - the whole collection. Is it neglected? Is it collecting dust? Why do you still have it? The Battlefield Report gets shaken up with some food for thought.

When looking at game design, a few things are necessary in order for co-op to work properly. Most of these things gamers don’t think about on a day to day basis - and it’s not covered in our Co-Op Terminology guide. It’s the core principles for getting players to work together, which Ubisoft designer Patrick Redding disclosed at GDC. He talks about moments where he is very satisfied with during the co-op test phase, and things that every developer (should) think about during co-op development.

Microsoft is looking for a few willing participants for their new Xbox 360 System Update Preview.  By "a few" they mean "multiple thousands," so you actually have a decent chance of making it in.  Basically, participants will be previewing updated Xbox 360 Dashboard features.  You can see all the details over at Major Nelson's blog, or you can go straight to the sign-up via this link.  Participants will receive a copy of Halo: Reach for their troubles, as well as "other possible rewards."

This weekend we're going to be firing up Halo Reach, not just for old times sake, but to check out the new Defiant Map pack and its new Firefight co-op map, Unearthed.  We'll be playing with the folks from 343 Industries and racking up as many Covenant kills as possible.  

The Xbox LIVE Marketplace has plenty of co-opportunities this month.  Were more than halfway through March, and there's still a ton of gaming on the horizon.  Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is coming out next week, and there will also be a deal on competitive and co-operative four player games, called Arcade Four-Play.  Is that right?  Really? My sources say, yes, it's called Arcade Four-Play.  Fantastic.  Don't forget, one of the best co-op titles from 2010, Halo: Reach, is coming to Games on Demand.  What are you waiting for?  Start converting you hard earned cash into Microsoft Points now.

Halo: Reach came out way back in September of last year.  Since then it has seen numerous free updates that have balanced and tweaked the gameplay.  Map packs are a different story.  These cost money, and the going rate for the Halo franchise has been ten bucks for three maps.  The Noble Map Pack DLC came out near the end of last November, and sadly, no co-op-friendly Firefight maps were included.  Tomorrow, March 15th, marks the release of the Defiant Map Pack DLC, and this time, a brand-spanking-new Firefight map is part of the deal.  We got our hands on the new co-op map called Unearthed and here are our impressions on how it stacks up.