Super Mario Galaxy was superb, as a single player experience, but the limited co-op was disappointing. Shooting star bits was OK, but experienced Mario players wanted more. Super Mario Galaxy 2 has delivered improvements in this respect, though the co-op is still not ideal.

As you are reading this from a site that caters for co-operative games, it is easy to assume that you are a co-op fan. But as the genre continues to grow and expand, there's one question that keeps coming up - "Where does co-op stop and the solo experience begin?"

To round out a great co-op year, Game Informer took polls asking community members how they feel about specific co-op aspects in games, and asked a few key co-op developers how the co-op process works for them. Out of these community polls, statistics arose that made Co-Optimus.com very proud of the gaming community at large. For instance, 51.9% of all gamers surveyed responded that they'd rather play social games than single player. Of those social gamers, 64.5% of them prefer friendly co-op to competitive multiplayer.

Lets face it, the Wii's graphics leave a lot to be desired for gamers with shiny HDTVs.  It especially rings true if your gaming is primarily done on the 360 and PS3 - only to move to the Wii and see a jaggie mess on your 52" beauty.  But there is hope!  

The new column has a name!  It seems totally obvious in hindsight, but what better title could there be for a series dedicated to the casual gamer that happens on Fridays?  Congratulations to Co-Optimus reader "roland", who won our "Name the New Co-Op Column" contest.  He'll get a brand spanking new copy of casual-friendly title Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360 and a set of the critically acclaimed Co-Optimus stickers!  Read on to find our thoughts on a colorful, family friendly title for the Wii!

It was a bit difficult to pick the first game to cover for Co-Op Casual Friday.  When I was writing the review for Mortimer Beckett, I thought perhaps that game would be appropriate.  But it's too close to the date of the review, and I know you want new content.  I even thought about Lips, which was a huge hit with non-gamers in my family.   However, I really wanted to cover something for the Wii , the system that has earned the casual console crown this generation.  I decided to save it for later, so for now, the Lips are sealed.  (Ba domp BOMP!)  I wanted something big, surprising, and still appealing to the kiddies as well.  So, I chose one of the finest titles available for the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy.