Happy Victoria Day, Canadian readers! According to reputable sources, this holiday traditionally represents the beginning of the summer season. Well, we do things a little differently down here, south of the (Canadian) border.

There was a time when we thought we'd see Aliens: Colonial Marines in the Spring...of 2010.  There was also a time when we thought we'd see the game coming this Fall.  Sadly I've run out of movie quotes to use for the latest delay.  Today, Gearbox and SEGA have announced the "official" release date for the four player co-op game - and that date is - February 12th, 2013.

Man, there's been a lot of Serious Sam news lately. First there was story about Serious Sam 3: BFE and Serious Sam: Double D XXL coming to the XBLA this fall. Then Amazon announced a big sale on Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter and its new accompanying DLC. Not to be outdone, Steam is having their own Serious Sam sale.

We here at Co-Optimus have been anxious to play Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II ever since we learned it would feature the return of Sonic 2-style co-op. The game is now live on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, and Steam, so teams of players can once again step into the shoes of Sonic and his effeminate pal Tails and take on the dastardly Eggman. To drive the point home, SEGA has released a short-but-sweet trailer showcasing many of Episode II's highlights (as well as the choice bonus content for Episode I owners).

Everyone knew that Serious Sam 3: BFE was eventually going to make an appearance on the Xbox 360, but we didn't known it was bringing a friend. That's right, Serious Sam: Double D XXL is coming to Xbox Live this fall, and it will include a two player local co-op mode.

This Week in Co-Op, Tally and Nick take you on an epic journey into the Torchlight 2 beta and their live streaming of the event from last week.  

Believe it or not, there ARE other games coming out today besides Diablo 3.  One of those is called Akai Katana, a side scrolling shooter from Japanese developer Cave and published by Rising Star Games for the Xbox 360. The game features two player local co-op in an industrial inspired Japanese setting with slick HD visuals and gameplay.  The good news is the game is priced at a budget friendly $40.

Welcome to Episode 4 of Good Coop. Bad Coop. - a tale of two three friends who love playing games together. After taking a break from from killing insects in Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon in the last season, our co-op friends are ready to try their hands in another game - Call of Juarez: The Cartel.

Japanese developer CAVE's latest shoot-em-up Akai Katana hits stores this Tuesday, May 15 courtesy of Rising Star Games' newly-opened US branch. Bullet hell shmups like Akai Katana are notoroiously difficult, filling the screen with hundreds of enemy bullets at once. Rising Star knows this and has considerately created an orientation trailer, explaining just how the gameplay works. It won't make your reflexes any faster, but at least you'll know how to use the ship's various attacks and Phantom mode transformation before you play.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier launches in 11 days. Are you ready for some DLC news? Yes, you heard me right, Ubisoft has DLC slated for a July release.  

Good games never die. They just get cheaper. Unless they're rare. Then they get ridiculously expensive, but I digress. Luckily for us, and fans of good games everywhere, Sony is offering all of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves DLC for the low, low price of el zilcho. That's right. It's all free.

Website NeoGamr talked with Valve about Portal 2 and the recent level editor that was released.  During the interview it was revealed that over 4 million copies of Portal 2 have been sold to date across all platforms.  To celebrate the milestone, as well as celebrate the release of the Portal 2 Perpetual Testing Initiative, the game is now on sale on Steam for just $6.79.  

Starhawk, the build and battle space shooter, launched exclusively for the PlayStation 3 today. It features intense multiplayer battles, an epic single player campaign, and (I hope) and equally satisfying co-op mode. The latest launch trailer looks very promising. Somehow it manages to be awesome even though it lacks a single "wub." Amazing.

We recently received a tip from former Co-Optimus editor extraordinaire, Katrina Pawlowski, concerning a hot new indie game. SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance is a four player cooperative twin-stick shooter - in space! We've mentioned it from time to time. It's being developed by a few current and former members of the Co-Optimus staff*, along with some other people who I'm sure are equally great.

Blizzard have released a new animated short which sets up part of the story for Diablo 3, which, in case you didn't know - comes out NEXT WEEK.  Long before the creation of Sanctuary, the Eternal Conflict between angels and demons raged on for untold millennia, this 7 minute video tells that story.  The short was created in part by Peter Chung, of Aeon Flux fame.