The day that retail games can be downloaded on consoles for cheaper than being bought in the shops is when the mass market will begin to truly shift towards a digital download only model.  We are not there yet, but if Sony can keep producing sales like the one that has just hit the PlayStation Store, the future may be sooner than you think.  Among the multitude of games on offer is the 4 player co-op Red Faction: Armageddon for $9.15 and non co-op titles such as Batman: Arkham City for $14.45 and Darksiders 2 for $14.95.

The Humble Bundle has a batch of THQ goodies for you today. Appropriately titled "The Humble THQ Bundle," you can name your price and pick up Darksiders, Metro 2033, Red Faction: Armageddon, and Company of Heroes, along with its two stand alone sequels, Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor.  That's not all. If you beat the average price, which at the time of this writing is a criminally low $5.31, that's right, five dollars and thirty-one cents, you can get the awesome open world cooperative game, Saint's Row: The Third. 

The Humble THQ Bundle will grant you access the each game for Windows through Steam. You can split your payment between THQ, The American Red Cross, Child's Play, and the operators of The Humble Bundle any way you wish. They even provided a handy video to show newcomers how to get in on the action.

THQ sent one of their giant insects to deliver the bad news

Witnessing a franchise being mothballed is never a pleasant thing, especially when that franchise has only just started to introduce co-op elements.  This appears to be the fate of the Red Faction as THQ head honcho, Brian Farrell, said in a recent investors call:

Given that that title [Red Faction], now in two successive versions, has just found a niche, we do not intend to carry forward with that franchise in any meaningful way.

It would appear that solid niche sales are no longer enough to survive in the games industry.  Co-Optimus found the recent Red Faction: Armageddon Infestation mode a fun addition to the series, giving it an impressive 4 out of 5.  However, this horde like co-op mode has not been enough to improve sales - perhaps a full campaign co-op should have been considered?  The words "meaningful way" suggest that Red Faction may not be completely dead, but the chances of any future retail games in the franchise, be they single player or co-op, seem remote.

Farewell my Red Planet Prince, your geo-modding will live on in our memories.  Follow Read More for some slightly disturbing insight into the direction modern gaming is going.

Holy Cow!  We missed two weeks of Co-Op Release Alerts.  We're sure that your wallets are absolutely bristling with money, since we haven't been there to tell you which co-op games are available.  Without these weekly notifications you may have missed out on games like Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters, Men of War: Vietnam, Operation Flashpoint: Red River, Red Faction: Armageddon, Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, and The Adventures of Shuggy.  Wow.  Looks like a lot of stuff came out while some of us were absorbed with E3.  Luckily, the rest of the Co-Optimus staff was on the ball and delivered awesome co-op reviews for Lantern, Red Faction, and Magic.  We even have an Op Flashpoint cooperative review coming soon!

So what's in store this week?  We have a duo of threequels, and a fine game from Double Fine.  Read on to see what the heck we're talking about.

One of the reasons I created Co-Optimus was because of the confusion that occurs simply by reading a game box and trying to determine what kind of co-op the game includes.  A perfect example of this is the recently released Red Faction: Armageddon, a game we gave a favorable review to here.  If you picked up the Xbox 360 game box you may have noticed the back of it states it has local "Co-Op 2-4 Players."

Most assume this means split screen or couch co-op play of some sorts.  As many gamers quickly found out, the game only supports online co-op, something our database clearly states.

Normally the Battlefield Report is reserved for games that aren't inherently co-op, but this story beat the rest to the top of the list. A non-traditional

A hardware accident leaves Red Faction: Armageddon’s campaign unplayable. Is the game ruined, or can even a scratched disc turn out to be a swarm of alien-killing fun?

Okay, show of hands. When Red Faction: Armageddon announced co-op, how many of you sighed and said: "It's about time!" I know I did, and I'm glad the series finally made that leap. I feel I may have actually finished Red Faction: Guerilla if I had played with a friend, what with the group of rogues that have been present since - well, the first Red Faction. With the goal of improving the series then, that Volition Inc has explored the realm of co-op.

In an interview with GamingUnion.net, studio manager Eric Barker discusses the transition from PvP (versus) to co-op, and some of the other details of Red Faction: Armageddon, all of which I'm personally looking forward to trying out with my friends.

Instead of long-term gaming, what have I done instead? Spent my time playing smaller games with quick missions or games that are easily picked up and put back down. Though it’s difficult to tear myself away, I feel that this limited gaming has helped preserve my sanity during these dreaded finals...

We've given a surprising amount of coverage to rainbows throughout the years here at Co-Optimus.  However, we've had an equally surprising lack of unicorns.  Today, the two warm fuzzy icons collide with Red Faction: Armageddon.  Apparently, one of the most devastating weapons known to humankind is a rainbow-hued unicorn fart.  Doesn't make sense, you say?  Well, check out the video below.  If you want to wield the appropriately named Mr. Toots in the game, be sure to download the demo.  If you and 999,999 other people do the same, Volition promises to include the unicorn as a playable weapon.  Because, hey, why not?

Welcome to Beyond Co-Op, a weekly piece that talks about industry stories that may or may not be related to co-op gaming.

The stories for this week:

- RedBox to Rent Games Starting June 17
- Red Faction: Armageddon Pushed Back One Week to June 7
- Volition Founder and President Resigns
- F.3.A.R (or FEAR 3) Pushed Back One Month to June 21
- Thor and Motorstorm: Apocalypse Highlight Releases This Week

THQ have announced a release date for Red Faction: Armageddon on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.  Its currently slated to release the week of E3 2011 - with a June 7th release date in North America and a June 10th release date internationally.  

Red Faction: Armageddon has one planned co-op mode called Infestation where four players take on waves of enemies online.   Its your traditional survival/horde style mode - but with a Red Faction twist.  Players will be able to manipulate the environment using various weapons that destroy as well as put the landscape back together.  The latter is key in creating defensive areas to survive in.  

THQ also announced that a playable demo of Red Faction: Armageddon will be available on the Xbox 360 on May 3rd.  No word on any other platforms for the demo.

Volition has the sort of track record that we at Co-Optimus like.  They recently decided to ditch their online versus modes for the upcoming Saints Row: The Third, in favor of improving the co-op campaign.  This was great news for co-op fans (admittedly not for versus fans), but what of their other popular IP?  Time to dig out your dynamite reserves and structural engineering degree because Red Faction: Armageddon is getting a co-op mode as well.

Entitled Infestation Mode, this 4 player online co-op mode will follow the tried and tested horde formula, as made popular by the Gears of War franchise.  Whilst the Gears have some awesome weapons (who hasn't dreamed of attaching a chainsaw to a machinegun), they are unable to alter the land itself.  The Red Faction series is famed for its destructible environments - can you and your friends use the earth you stand on as a defense?  For more details and a brand new Infestation Mode trailer check out Read More.

This year's PAX East 2011 show floor was jam packed full of gamers and gaming goodness.  The show saw a record breaking 69,500 atendees - the biggest PAX convention on any coast to date.  Despite that many people the new convention center was wide open with plenty of space.  With that many people and that many things to see we don't always get a lot of in depth time with soemthing.  Still, there were plenty of things we saw that we want to share with you.  

Here's some of our highlights.

THQ's latest investor report has pushed Red Faction: Armageddon back from this fall to May of 2011.  The delay shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone following the title as news has been almost non existent.  The game is scheduled to ship with a unique co-op mode outside of the main story, but details on it are still sketchy at best.

Other THQ titles on the schedule for next year include Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, which is listed as a "summer" release.  Once again, it's a title we don't know much about in terms of co-op but we've been following it with great anticipation.  Finally next fall will see Saint's Row 3.   All in all it sounds like a solid 2011 for THQ and their co-op lineup.