Hey all you Twisted Metal fans out there! It is my pleasure to inform you that the downright nasty character known as Axel will become available to all players with the free patch as of today!

The two player local co-op action game Twisted Metal, featuring brutal car on car action, is on sale today over at  Amazon for only $39.99.  While the co-op felt a bit lacking, overall the game was a solid experience.  Now that it's at a more affordable price point it might be worth checking out - especially if you are a fan of the series.

It's been a hectic week for gaming. Truthfully, the last six weeks have been filled with mayhem.  My second child, Player Four, began the big game of life back in January.  Since then, finding time to play more frivolous games has become a daily struggle for us.  "Struggle" being a relative term.  It's not like we're freedom fighters.  We're just trying to get our game on without getting baby poo on our controllers.  Is that too much to ask?  According to Player Three, it is.  

A proper Twisted Metal game returns after an eleven year absence. The latest incarnation of Sweet Tooth and friends features a host of new deadly vehicles.  Has the series returned to glory? Find out in our Co-Op Review.

I know that many of you were preoccupied with your true love yesterday (the Mass Effect 3 demo), so you may have missed the return of the Twisted Metal franchise.  I was able to spurn Commander Shepard's advances long enough to get some quality time in with the car combat title.  After looking over the game's many multiplayer modes I realized I didn't have a clue as to how to set up an online co-op campaign match.  I knew the game supported online co-op, TM head honcho David Jaffe told me so (via Game Informer).  I sure as hell wasn't going to consult the manual, so I sought help from the almighty Google.

Twisted Metal is almost upon us.  The demo has dropped, and no doubt interested parties have already had a taste of the carnage.  I've played the demo, and I've gotten my rear end handed to me on numerous occasions. If you're curious as to whether or not Twisted Metal is the game for you, these two new videos may help.  The first video covers many of the weapons.  It does a pretty good job of explaining how each one can be used to your advantage.  The second video re-hashes a bit of the first, and then it covers some tactics and vehicle profiles.

Happy Valentine's Day!  What?  You forgot?  Dang.  You're screwed.  Nah, I'm just kidding.  Valentine's Day isn't until tomorrow.  Buy someone something nice.  Or don't.  It's your call.  If you're really smooth you could buy your significant  other (or mom) a sweet PlayStation Vita launch title, you know, drop a little hint for the February 15th release of the Vita's First Launch Bundle.

If you are like me you have been playing the Twisted Metal demo religiously over the past week, trying to squeeze out everything you can out before the release of the game on February 14. The demo is exceedingly fun, that is, if you can get into a match. There has been trouble on the server side of things and connectivity has  been mediocre at best, where some nights it would take over fifteen mintues to get into a match.  Once in, however I was back in my glory days, and as a huge Twisted Metal fan I am anxious to get my hands on the full version.  

The reveal of the new Twisted Metal's online pass may have inspired some negativity among used game afficianados, but Sony seems intent on squaring that away with free goodies. Now that the game has gone gold (it comes out on Valentine's Day after all), the publisher has announced a new bonus: all new copies of Twisted Metal will include a Sweet Tooth multiplayer skin for Starhawk, the upcoming space-faring sequel to Warhawk. Gamers won't get to use the skin (pictured) until Starhawk launches on May 8, but it's definitely a cool incentive to pick up both tiles.

Way back in December we reported that David Jaffe, director of the upcoming Twisted Metal reboot, did not want the game to include an online pass. Jaffe's concern: the negativity associated with online passes could slow the game's adoption rate. Be that as it may, the decision ultimately falls on Sony, the game's publisher. Not surprisingly, Sony has indeed chosen to include an online pass withTwisted Metal.

David Jaffe, Co-Director of Twisted Metal and founder of Eat Sleep Play, took some time out of his busy day to make a special video announcement to fans of the vehicle combat series.  Gamers who get first printings of Twisted Metal (2012) will also receive a voucher/coupon for a free copy of Twisted Metal: Black.  Yay, free bonus game!  In case you didn't know, TM: Black has two player split screen co-op throughout the entire campaign.

These days, online passes are a point of contention between gamers. People who purchase mostly new games (like me) don’t mind them, while used game aficionados hate the idea of an online pass cutting into their welfare checks (just kidding). The whole purpose behind online passes is to allow developers to recoup some of the lost profits from used game sales. But at least one developer doesn’t want one included in his game – namely David Jaffe, director of the upcoming Twisted Metal reboot.

We just reported on the Japanese Armored Core V delay, and now a co-op game that even more people are looking forward to has been delayed. I speak, of course, of the new Twisted Metal for Playstation 3.

Twisted Metal is fondly remembered by many a classic gaming fan.  The upcoming revival of the series is bringing the over-the-top action to the modern console era.  This time around, Twisted Metal's trademark violence has apparently been ramped up considerably, as evidenced by the screenshot above.  In fact, one scene in the opening cinematic was so disturbing that it earned Twisted Metal an 'M' rating. Designer David Jaffe indicated that they were fine with the more lax rating because "without blood, it felt a little weird, frankly."

E3 2011 kicks off next week in Los Angeles, CA and Co-Optimus will be there all week to bring you the goods on all of the biggest upcoming co-op games and beyond.  Nick, Andrew and Kat will be bringing you news, pictures, video, tweets, and audio direct from the show floor all week.  To kick things off the Co-Opticrew thought they'd talk a bit about their most anticipated titles of the show.