Way back in the middle of the summer, we gave you the first details about a quirky upcoming game called Flock.  Now even more information has been made available.  First of all, the game will be made available on XBLA, PSN, and PC sometime in January.  Second, a batch of screenshots are available, including the one shown above.  The game is described as a puzzler, and looks to be similar to Lemmings, with one important addition: co-op gameplay.  Two players online or local can team up to abduct all those sheep and take them to your base ship, the Mother Flocker.  (RIM SHOT HERE.)  No price has been revealed at this time.  Sheep + spaceships = I'm downloading the demo, for sure.  Hit the link below to see the rest of the screenshots for Flock.

Puzzle fans who own a Wii will be glad to see this week's WiiWare release, Magnetica Twist.  The original Magnetica was a well regarded DS release back in 2006.  The addition of several co-op modes may pique Co-Optimus reader's interest.  Taken from Wiiware-World's review:

In co-op there's Todays Pick, which is a set of random challenges that change on a daily basis; Annihilation, which has you clearing a set number of marbles before time runs out; Colour Split, similar to Annihilation but each player is assigned just one colour and Co-Pilot, whereby two players share a cannon with player one firing the marbles and player two piloting angle.

Magnetica Twist is available now for 1000 Wii Points. 

Several reviews are popping up all over for the recent Wii title, Boom Blox.  While generally these reviews are favorable for the unique puzzler, it seems the multiplayer, and the co-op mode in particular, is somewhat lacking.  The game's controls are praised, and the single player Adventure mode is described as addicting.  But as deep and innovative as the title is in these areas, co-op is quite shallow in comparison.  This snippet comes from Kotaku's list of things they hated about Boom Blox:

Weak Co-Op Gaming: After playing through the addictive adventure mode, I was looking for a similar experience to share with my son. Unfortunately I didn't get one. The co-op levels felt more like something meant for training or to show off the tech than for fun.

For those of us who prefer to play with a friend, this is bad news.  It's particularly upsetting to those of us who game with our kids, as there are so few co-op titles that appeal to adult gamers and yet are appropriate for kids.  Boom Blox looked to buck this trend by having the depth and innovation that older gamers like, all wrapped up in a kid friendly package.  For a system that caters to families like the Wii, you'd think good co-op games would be the norm.  Unfortunately, that isn't the case.  We'll just go back to playing minigame collections with our kids for the umpteenth time now.

May will be a busy month for Steven Spielberg.  The acclaimed director's collaboration with EA, Boom Blox, will be released on May 6th.  Boom Blox is a unique game, hard to classify, but will include some puzzle and building elements as well as (of course!) co-op play.  The game looks to be a nice fit for the Wii, and we look forward to its release.  (We also look forward to Spielberg's other May project, for what it's worth.)

Fans of co-op puzzle action will be pleased about this week's XBox Live Arcade release.  Ti-Qal is the (almost impossible to know how to pronounce) name of the latest XBLA offering, from Slapdah Games.  Ti-Qal is a puzzler of the color matching genre, and will be priced at 800 points ($10).  The style of the game is supposedly inspired by Mayan artwork; given the screenshots, apparently there has been recent archaeological evidence that the Mayans used lens flares and fiery explosions.  Co-op play will be available, both online and off, and 120 levels are included.  Look for Ti-Qal this Wednesday, March 26.

Boom Blox may sound like a run of the mill Wii title, but recent details have come forth that may pique gamers' interest.  The title is the first in a series of collaborations between Steven Spielberg and EA.  Considering the success of Spielberg's last foray in to the video game industry, a certain degree of skepticism about his new game is to be expected.  However, it would appear that Boom Blox discs will not be filling up landfills anytime soon.

The most unusual aspect of Boom Blox is that it will allow for head tracking.  Head tracking, in a puzzle game?  It sounds outrageous, but Joystiq confirms that it is for real. All you need is two Wii remotes on top of your TV, and some form of LED headset.  Head tracking has been included as a sort of nod to Wii modders, and probably won't make the manual, but still, it's interesting to see it included.  You might want to start looking for a wireless LED sensor bar, some duct tape and an old hat.

Read More...