Majesty 2 released on Friday, September 18th, a game I've been ridiculously excited about. It's as much a re-imagining of Majesty as it is a sequel, as it's been so long since the original came out.

Gamasutra sat down with lead technical Artist Julian Love, and lead content designer Kevin Love from Blizzard to talk Diablo 3.  Despite the game being shown at Blizzcon twice so far, as well as playable on the show floor of E3, PAX and other conventions - we may be over a year away from its release.  

Halo 3: ODST is out this Tuesday, September 22nd, and despite our favorable review of the game, we had one major complaint - no co-op matchmaking.  Thankfully we got you covered with our first of many ODST co-op nights. 

It's quite surprising sometime the politics that go on behind the scenes of game development.  For a hobby that brings so much joy to people, you'd think things could go smoothly on the back end.  That's not always the case.  When Crackdown 2 was announced, and announced in development by upstart Ruffian Studios, well you can imagine Realtime Worlds wasn't happy.  

It's the biggest franchise on the Xbox, and Halo is back with a brand new game sans the Master Chief. Halo 3: ODST is a more tactical prequel, but can it capture the audience as well as our Spartan friend? We dig into the campaign mode, co-op and firefight in our latest review.

The Battlefield Report is late on two counts this month: not only has it been delayed two days from its usual spot...but we're finally reflecting our experiences with the game that had the most influence on the creation of the Battlefield Report. Team-based online combat and on-the-fly strategy reached a peak with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and we're looking at Killstreaks, a unique reward system that can make or break your team.

Having wrapped up the single player campaign, playing some co-op, and enjoying some FireFight - it's time for our Halo 3: ODST review.  We plan on posting it tomorrow morning, so be sure to check back for that.  Until then we've posted the first two minutes of the game to wet your appetite.

Konami announced yesterday that their 4 player co-op shooter that's "Smash TV meets Left 4 Dead" will be released on the Xbox LIVE Arcade and Playstation Network next Wednesday, Sept. 23, and Thursday, Sept. 24, respectively.  The twin stick shooter that puts you and your friends in the middle of 55 days-worth (read levels) of zombie attacks will retail for 800 MS points and $9.99 on the PSN.  Personally, I'm looking forward to slaying a few more zombies before Left 4 Dead 2 arrives, and the idea of luring zombies into a wood chipper, as highlighted in the Playstation Blog's interview with John Slavin, sounds too fun to pass up.  A copy of the release announcement, as well as a gallery of screenshots from the game, can be found after the break.

The stories for this week:

This week, a major co-op release hit store shelves everywhere.  Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is the latest in an excellent series of action-RPGs, particularly enjoyable for comic book readers or general super hero fans.  We discussed the first game in the series, X-Men Legends, for a previous Co-Op Casual Friday.  Today, we turn our attention to X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse. 

We're starting to build our fortress to hold back the incoming onslaught of fall gaming titles. 

If you missed the first Amazon pre-order deal for Halo 3: ODST, or perhaps you've just been putting off ordering the game, now is your chance to save $15 off the price of the game.