Here in the UK the sun has finally come out and a summer to remember is just around the corner.  June promises to be a good one this year; a four day weekend for the Queen's Jubilee, a European Cup to look forward to, the Olympic Games on home turf and Babel Rising finally comes out on PSN and XBLA.

For denizens of co-op boardgames, Scotland Yard is a name that should have crossed their path.  It is a classic game in which up to 5 co-op partners play police officers as they hunt for the mysterious Mr X around London.  The boardgame is a co-op experience for most of the players, except for Mr X who must run on his own.  The new Scotland Yard iOS for iPad and iPhone aims to remedy this and can be played pure co-op if 5 players chose to go up against the Mr X AI.

At Co-Optimus we like to cater for all tastes, so for every ten headshot heavy, gun blasting violence-athons, we throw in a family friendly title.  Brave: The Video Game is one such family affair; due alongside the Pixar film on July 24th across PS3, 360, PC and Wii (27th in the UK).  The new trailer features gameplay, of the solo variety, but also some bear action.  That is bear, as in furry mammal and not bare as in nude.  If you want that sort of thing please read an article on one of the more adult games - try Catherine.

With Ghost Recon Future Soldier only weeks away (22nd May date fans), Ubisoft are doing their utmost to make you prepared for the game.  Only the other day a new trailer arrived that followed a prisoner's point of view after being captured by the Ghosts.  An even newer trailer flips this idea on its head and concentrates on the life of a soldier.  In a documentary style, the unnamed combatant informs us exactly what it’s like to fight battles in the near future.  Want to know more?  Check out the trailer.

The Ghost Recon Future Soldier hype express has been gunning full throttle for some weeks now, as you would expect from a game out on May 22nd in the US and May 25th in the UK.  Most of the trailers have been on the technical side, showing off aspects such as the guns, combat or multiplayer.  This new trailer forgoes all this and sets the mood of the game as a badly beaten man tells his tale of the Ghosts.

The latest Arcade Next event on XBLA has had some good co-op action in the form of Fable Heroes, but arguably the best has been saved until last.  With co-op spanning 4 player local and 8 player online, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition looks like the most fun you can have with 8 people when no whipped cream is involved.  Out Wednesday 9th for the princely sum of 1600 Microsoft Points, Minecraft 360 may be on the expensive side, but looks packed with entertainment.  Watch the new trailer if you don't believe me.

Wednesday has come and gone - did you pick up either of the co-op friendly titles released on XBLA?  It might be worth downloading the trail versions of Awesomenauts and Fable Heroes whilst you yearn for the definitive co-op review from Co-Optimus.  Whilst we wait no one said we have to be bored, check out Read More for the launch trailers for both games.

Who is the Ultimate Warrior?  For many it will be the former WWF star with that namesake.  However, in my opinion a truly powerful fighter is unlikely to be covered in tassels and face paint, whooping at his enemies. Give me the Barbarian from Golden Axe any day.  The Warrior character in Realms of Ancient War (RAW) follows in these barbarian footsteps.  A new trailer highlights his belief that what you can't say with flowers, say with a sword.  Check out the trailer for some in game footage of this 2 player local drop in co-op dungeon crawler, due some time later this year on PSN and XBLA.  It is certainly looking like potentially one of the best the genre has to offer.

At PAX East, I had the chance to be walked and talked through the upcoming D&D Online expansion, Menace of the Underdark (MotU). As would be expected of a DDO expansion, MotU is story-driven. A fissure has opened up right in the middle of the capital city in Eberron which leads to other D&D realms, including the worlds of the Underdark and the Forgotten Realms. The Spinner of Shadows, Lolth’s agent in the DDO universe, is behind all this madness. Players will travel through four huge areas (the Demonweb, the Underdark, Evening Star, and King’s Forest) as a hero from another world, trying to unravel why the drow are invading the town of Evening Star and the nature of “the thread of the weave.”

The jury is still out on whether Kinect Star Wars is going to be the Star Wars game we have all been waiting for.  This Xbox 360 Kinect exclusive is out on the 4th April and has been well hyped.  One element of hype that has certainly stuck in my Rancor's craw is the sterile preview trailers that have fake families 'enjoying' the game.  Not one to change tack, LucasArts have produced a launch trailer with an all new fake family trying out lightsabers, the force and being a Rancor.  Strangely absent are any Stormtroopers dancing to the Y.M.C.A., what are they trying to hide?  Check out Read More for the launch trailer and may the farce be with you.

The Nintendo 3DS has been around for a while now, which means it has little excuse for having so few co-op games.  Square Enix are planning to rectify this misdemeanour when it releases Heroes of Ruin on the 31st March. The game is an action RPG with 4 player drop in/drop out co-op.  Previously Co-Optimus has given you a taste of how Ruin's co-op works, now have a glimpse at the story in this new trailer.

Last time you joined us LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes was in great peril.  The game had just been announced and suddenly the Riddler had sprung a trap and all news of the game was hidden.  Bang!  Biff!  Bonk!  In today's thrilling news item, Batman and Robin have escaped bringing with them all new screens for the game and a trailer - holy smoking public relations Batman!

That's right, everyone. Earlier this week, Nintendo announced via an online news broadcast that the Last Story would be coming to the U.S. this summer. Though the game has been out for well over a year in Japan, it only released a few days ago in EU and AUS - and until this week, there had been no real verification whether it would be coming to the U.S. or not. 

"Dundun dun derr, dun dun dun dun derder." The Sonic games have the type of music that will haunt me to my grave. The recent revamp, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, may have had the music, but did not have the co-op gameplay of Sonic 2. This is being rectified in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II, according to the Xbox marketplace; they mention 2 player co-op both offline and online. Who could this second character be? Big the Cat? Of course not, it’s Tails - check out the latest gameplay trailer to see the speedy duo back in action.

February 2012 was brought to you by the number 12, the letter K and the video trailer term Epic. Mass Effect 3 and Borderlands 2 have shown us how a great trailer can make Co-Optimus readers giddy with excitement. The next game to try and achieve this is Inversion.  If you are confused by the 10th Feb release date the trailer reports (a date now gone), you may also be baffled by the fun physics the game will offer.