There's one co-op title coming out this week, and it's a recent addition to our database thanks to a Co-Optimus reader.  (Thanks Jamie!)  

Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant is hitting the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable this week, and should be on store shelves this Wednesday, October 8th.  The game features a 2 player cooperative mode where the other player takes control of Crash's sister CoCo.  There's even co-op specific maneuvers available while playing with your friends.  Unfortuantely the game is offline co-op only.  Fans of the series should definitely give this one a whirl.

Despite selling quite well in the United States and Europe, the Monster Hunter series seems to avoid mainstream exposure whenever possible. I've always been curious about the games, but have never brought myself to even rent any of the games, because I just can't decide if Capcom is proud of their product...or trying to hide it.

Okay, I'll admit it: I'm no good at sarcasm. I'm actually just thrifty.

Nevertheless, Capcom is still stalling from bringing you the official  trailer for Monster Hunter 3 for the Nintendo Wii. Thankfully, a spectator at the pre-Tokyo-Game-Show Nintendo conference has nabbed it in its entirety, albeit at low quality.

See the embedded video after the break.

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Beyond Co-Op is where we talk about other news around the industry that isn’t necessarily tied to co-operative gaming. Each week will see the subjects of the column listed on the front page with more in-depth discussion after the break. If you have any suggestions, please contact us at tips@co-optimus.com with a subject related to “Beyond Co-Op”.

The stories for this week:

- Nintendo DSi Announced

- Penny Arcade Episode 2 Goes Gold, Price Lowered to $15

- Tiberium Canceled

- Wii Punch-Out!! and other Games Announced

- Xbox Live Experience Week 4: Games Store

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How many of you went to the store...bought Rock Band 2...drove home...opened the package...and then read the instruction booklet through to the back cover?

Most likely very few have even glanced at the instruction booklet for what has to be the easiest-to-learn game since Pac-man. Yet if you had, on the back cover you'd find a redemption code for twenty free downloadable tracks that will be available in the coming weeks for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii rockers.

Harmonix has opened pre-registration for the free download, which requests your e-mail address in order to notify you of the DLC's official release once confirmed. You'll doubtless receive your share of junk mail to complement your free content, but it's a small price to pay, right?

At this time, there's no official set list for the DLC pack; but don't get your feathers ruffled, friends, it's free!

For me, every "This Week in Co-Op" game could be Super Smash Brothers. I really do play it every week, but let's face it, you don't want months of just "dude, Ike is tough." In fact, I never planned to have SSB: Brawl be my co-op game of the week for a long while. However, this week, I was hit with a realization like a ton of bricks. You see, I realized something about video games that is so true, yet I never realized it before. Video games can bring make people actually become friends and become close. And the game for me was Super Smash Brothers Brawl. 

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You know, in video game years, I believe WWII has lasted about four times as long as the actual Second World War.  The upcoming Call of Duty: World at War extends the life of the previously mentioned conflict, but you know what?  That's fine by us!  Because now we can kill Nazi's in style with the help of three of our cohorts in the four player co-op mode.

GameVideos has a brand spanking new video of the title which shows off the game's unique perks and competitive co-op system where players are awarded for completing tasks in style, reviving teammates, and of course killing Nazis.  I especially liked the Molotov Cocktail goal called "Bartender" in which you set 25 enemies ablaze with the tasty flaming beverage.  Ok, so it's not that tasty, but it is flaming.

Call of Duty: World at War hits the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and PC on November 11th. 

Hit the little "Read More..." link for the full video.

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There are literally over a dozen AAA Co-Op titles coming out from now until the year's end.  While most of them have the monicker of "2" after the title, there are a handful of fresh new franchises on the rise.  We've listed our top 5 most anticipated co-op titles for the rest of the year.  Do you think your wallet can handle it?

Over at the official Call of Duty forums, Treyarch developer "JD_2020" has posted an explanation regarding co-op gameplay on the Nintendo Wii version of the upcoming Pacific theater shooter.

In short, he describes the co-op mode as an on-rails shooter for up to two players, nullifying any hopes for a proper co-op campaign. Still, he seems optimistic, and considering amount of fun to be had with the on-rails shooter Ghost Squad, it's fair to say that Treyarch may yet come through for Wii owners and arcade fans.

You can see the entire post here.

IGN has posted their impressions from some hands-on time with Call of Duty: World at War.  As we reported to you earlier this summer, the fifth Call of Duty title will feature co-op play, for the first time in the series.  The WWII-themed title will let players drive vehicles and work together as a squad, teaming up to achieve objectives.  However, there is an interesting twist to the co-op play that is referred to as "competitive co-op".  This feature adds individual scoring to the game; at the end of each round, the winner is the one who has accumulated the most points for kills, head shots, etc.  This little snippet from the article is particularly interesting:

The kicker is that in competitive co-op, if you die, you lose points, and if someone revives you, they earn points. That mechanic is designed to reign in players, because if you charge ahead or take a lot of risks or play wildly and get killed, you lose points. Meanwhile, your rivals gain points for reviving your sorry rear, so you're basically giving your competition points by dying.

While you are competing with your teammates to earn points, you are rewarded for helping each other out, as well.  Beyond the warm fuzzy feeling you get for assisting your buddy, you will also earn the more tangible incentive of a higher score.  Competitive co-op is certainly a good name for this, isn't it?  It should be interesting to see how this plays out once the game is released on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and Wii later this year.

Thanks to "txshurricane" for the tip.

Some of you might know the famous "odd and even rule" in the Star Trek movies, where the odd-numbered movies are inferior to the even-numbered ones. Well, Call of Duty has a similar type of rule, with the Infinity Ward games being rather good and the Treyarch ones being not so good. However, Treyarch is trying to bridge the gap with Call of Duty: World At War and are making some decent strides. One of the strides is co-op, which pleases the crew here at Co-Optimus. The game is still set in WWII, but a recent article by 1up sounds promising. The article discusses some of the featTures, like a destructive flamethrower (and flammable things, like grass huts and people) and an exotic locale (the Pacific).

More important to us is the details regarding co-op in the game. The game features a Halo 3-like competitive co-op mode, where players compete to get the highest score (by killing baddies for points) while still working together as a team. However, the interesting part is that you can use said points on the online multiplayer, which is much like Call of Duty 4. Not much else is discussed about multiplayer or co-op, though competitive co-op is an interesting mode.