Way back in the middle of the summer, we gave you the first details about a quirky upcoming game called Flock.  Now even more information has been made available.  First of all, the game will be made available on XBLA, PSN, and PC sometime in January.  Second, a batch of screenshots are available, including the one shown above.  The game is described as a puzzler, and looks to be similar to Lemmings, with one important addition: co-op gameplay.  Two players online or local can team up to abduct all those sheep and take them to your base ship, the Mother Flocker.  (RIM SHOT HERE.)  No price has been revealed at this time.  Sheep + spaceships = I'm downloading the demo, for sure.  Hit the link below to see the rest of the screenshots for Flock.

A few weeks back, we had a contest, giving away three copies of Duke Nukem on XBLA.  A nice bonus for the winners was the promise of playing co-op Duke Nukem 3D with the Co-Optimus staff.  Last Saturday night, one of the winners got together with us for some old school, one-liner spoutin' action.  Since Duke Nukem is such a classic, and features co-op, it's only natural that our report on the action would be the topic of this week's Co-Op Classics.

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As it may be clear to you, Castle Crashers has claimed the "co-op game of the week" title for me in a previous week. Though, as I've said many times, I almost always play the game at some point in the week, every week. Often, the more I look into a game, the more there seems to be, and Castle Crashers certainly fits this description. I mean, the first time I wrote a "This Week in Co-Op" column about Castle Crashers, I was impressed with the fun co-op aspects and the games pure joy and humor. However, after a week dedicated to playing Castle Crashers (and basically nothing else), I can see what is even more impressive about the game: it is an incredible time sink, in the best possible ways.

To get an idea of what makes Castle Crashers a wonderful time sink, we must define what exactly a "time sink" is. A time sink is basically anything that requires you to put a lot of time into in order to get some results/prize/reward. However, Castle Crashers is a good time sink, in that you only need to play a little bit to have fun. However, to enjoy the entire game that is Castle Crashers, you must sink some serious time to unlock everything. Let me explain.

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International Talk Like A Pirate Day was last month, but it's not too late to celebrate.  This week, another pirate game (about pirates, not pirated, matey!) hits Xbox Live Arcade.  Age of Booty is today's co-op release.  Up to four scurvy dogs can play locally, and a full fleet of eight "Cap'n Colorbeard" types can play together online.  The co-op is said to be squad based, but still, that's better'n walkin' the plank, eh?  Each villainous captain will control but one vessel, making good strategy more valuable than a handful of Spanish dubloons.  The game's rated "E", so I guess the booty must be of the monetary varrrrriety, morrrrr'es the pity!  If you do download this title, keep an eye out for green clad flying boys, ya heaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?!

Castle Crashers is a nice little game, probably at or near the top of most people's list of best XBLA titles.  However, as we've previously reported, it has been plagued with connectivity issues.  A patch to resolve these problems has been in the works ever since the game was released, and now that patch is one step closer to reality.  The Castle Crashers Development Blog reveals that a patch build has been sent to Microsoft for certification.  If all goes well, we may be just a few weeks from public release.  Then, everyone can join in on the amazing old-school co-op action.  If you've held out for the patch to purchase Castle Crashers, though, you might just want to hold off a little bit longer.  We do like to have contests and giveaways, after all...

A week has come and gone, and it's time to announce the winners in our Duke Nukem 3D Caption Contest.  If you haven't had the chance, you can check out all the entries here in the original news post.  I'd be nice and say that all the entries were great, blah blah, but I ask you, What Would Duke Do?  Would he be nice?  Nope, he'd laugh at a few of them, and use a rocket launcher on all the rest.  So, without any further delay, here are your winners, in no particular order...

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I have stated many times my love of Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2. It's a great game for both single player and cooperative experiences. Indeed, I've had Geometry Wars RE 2 as my co-op game of the week once before. However, until recently, I've not dumped a large amount of time into the game. I've played it for small bursts, but not really enough to truly appreciate it. Well fortunately I had a dull week and a roommate willing to try some Geometry Wars.

I play Geometry Wars and Castle Crashers on a nearly daily basis, but just for a little relaxation, like 5 to 10 minutes. However, this week my roommate and I spent a solid half hour (a few times, too) figuring out what we liked about the game so much. Well, we came away with a great deal of info and opinions, most all of them rather glowing.

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Castle Crashers has finally arrived, and we couldn't be happier.  Is the game worthwhile?  Do the network issues break the deal?  Or does the appeal of hilarious hacking and slashing knights swinging swords and slinging spells overcome these obstacles?  Read our review to find out!

It's confession time, folks.  I am a Magic: the Gathering nerd.  I started playing the collectable card game two months after its creation, and upon my first game, I was hooked.  I got so addicted I dropped college hours to devote more time to playing.  I was invited to the Pro Tour, once, even.  I don't play "Paper" Magic much anymore, but I've played the Online version regularly.  I find myself, then, trying to figure out if the news of Magic: the Gathering hitting XBLA is good news, or bad.  It's good, in the sense that it looks fantastic, and will surely draw many more people to the game.  It's bad in that I just might get hooked all over again!  Duels of the Planeswalkers is scheduled for release in Spring 2009.  How is this co-op news?  You can partner up with a buddy, sharing life points in the "Two Headed Giant" style of play.  Needless to say, I and many other lapsed Magic junkies will be following this title very closely in coming months!

Some questions will be hotly debated throughout time.  Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  Who was a better Starship captain, Kirk or Picard?  But possibly the most important question of all can be answered tomorrow: which are better, pirates or ninjas?  Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball hits XBLA for 800 points in just a few short hours.  As if pirates and ninjas weren't good enough, you can also choose to play as robots and zombies!  (Sounds like the last level in Too Human, eh?  Sorry, been playing that a bit as of late.)  The Gamecock developed title will feature 4 player local co-op, and up to 8 player co-op online, plus some versus modes as well.  I'll definitely be grabbing the demo; let's hope it plays as fun as it sounds.