The Xbox Live Marketplace has some pretty sweet deals on co-op games this week. Trine 2, Shoot Many Robots, and X-Men Arcade are all 50 % off. This trio forms a nice sample of genres. Trine 2 is a beautiful puzzle platformer. Shoot Many Robots is a frantic side-scrolling shooter. X-Men Arcade will scratch that old-school brawler itch. 

Recently, Co-Optimus staffers were given an assignment: play online co-op with random strangers.  The idea was that it's good to sometimes get out of our comfort zone.  For me, I am most at home when I am literally at home, playing couch co-op with one of my kids.  I only rarely venture online, and when I do, it is with friends I have met through Co-Optimus, or even folks I know in real life.  Heading into the wilds of Xbox Live was a daunting proposal for me.

There's a lot of co-op love in XBLA's Deal of the Week sale!  Four out of the five games feature co-op.  Hard Corps: Uprising, X-men Arcade, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Reshelled are all 50% off.  These four games have an average score of 4 out of 5 in our Co-Op reviews. Comic Jumper, and excellent single player game, is also for sale for half price.

One of the finest co-op beat 'em ups of all time, X-Men Arcade, is coming to a phone near you.  The mutant slugfest is now available for iOS devices, for the relatively low price of a dozen quarters ($2.99).  Multiplayer is supported for up to four players, and leaderboards and Facebook integrations round out the game's mutant abilities.  The game is only compatible with third gen and beyond devices, so iPhone 3G users are out of luck.  It's great to see more and more classic games available on a variety of platforms these days!

Instead of long-term gaming, what have I done instead? Spent my time playing smaller games with quick missions or games that are easily picked up and put back down. Though it’s difficult to tear myself away, I feel that this limited gaming has helped preserve my sanity during these dreaded finals...

Last one on plays as Dazzler

Mutants everywhere rejoice!  Apparently, one of Professor X's mutant powers is to go on sale on the day when no one believes anything they read on the internet.  Today only, X-Men Arcade, the Xbox Live Arcade version, specifically, is on sale for 75% off.  That's 200 MS points, or two fiddy in US dollars.  You'll recall we were quite impressed with the update of the early 90s classic.  Any fan of co-op should go get a copy immediately, at this price.  But hurry, the deal will BAMF away, just like Nightcrawler, very soon.

Though the gameplay is repetitive, and the challenge level is minimal, X-Men Arcade is still a lot of fun to play. It is certainly not the greatest co-op beat-em-up ever, but it's one of the few that allows more than four players, even when compared to other modern downloadable games.

This edition of On The Download addresses the dangerous mental, social, and emotional disorder known as Hoarding. Hoarders are people who feel they need to hold on to everything they’ve ever touched. This week we’ll be taking a look at a handful of dragons effected by Hoard-ing on the PSN.

Earlier this week we told you that X-Men Arcade, Konami's re-release of the classic title featuring 6-player online co-op, would be an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive for two months.  But it seems that's not entirely true, as Konami has confirmed to Joystiq the game is releasing next week on the 14th for the PlayStation Network and on the 15th on Xbox Live Arcade.  

Everyone who wants to play X-Men Arcade next week step forward!  Not so fast, PlayStation 3 owners.  The PS3 faithful will have to wait to get their old school mutant brawl on.  X-Men Arcade will release next week, December 15th for Xbox LIVE Arcade.  The game is slated for a February release for the PlayStation Network. 

We were giddy with delight earlier this year when we brought you the news of X-Men: The Arcade Game's release on modern consoles.  Though we still don't have an exact release date, the initial time frame indicated a late 2010 release.  Well, it's now about as late in 2010 as you can get, with no game in sight; however, we do have the achievements for it, which means the wait is likely coming to a close.

Once made popular on the arcade style cabinet, X-men Arcade is bringing the good old co-op fight (from 1992) home. For the first time ever (18 years after the games innitial release), X-men Arcade will be playable on home consoles. Comic Con this year gave us a quick Sneak peek at the side-scrolling brawler, and now we have some more details to add to that.