While we at Co-Optimus do not generally condone the act of competitive gaming, which, by definition allows you to dominate another player; there is a kind of co-op that does include domination, one we would like to paste a label on. This type of co-op can, if used correctly, be used against that game-hog sibling, spouse or significant other. Co-optimus would like to proudly introduce: B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bitch) co-op gaming. We've looked at a few examples of games that created the B.Y.O.B. co-op genre, all the way back to the days of the Sega Genesis, and culminate the list with recent entries on systems like the Xbox 360 and Wii.

It's barely September, and the fist major game release of the fall rush is here!  Guitar Hero 5 hits store shelves today, and is available for pretty much every console.  Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PS2 gamers can rock out to the new and improved game engine today.  I'm eagerly anticipating this one, and it's scheduled for delivery today; look for our review later this week.

If you're fixing for some Splodin, you might notice a title update when `Splosion Man fires up.  Great you're thinking, finally the avatar awards and fixed lag issues are taken care of.  Sorry, no awards here, no lag fix to see.  Instead the update fixes a leaderboard exploit and clears off some cheaters who abused it to get obscene high scores.  This might be why your co-op score pales in comparison to quite a few people out there.

PC owners can get their hands on some Madballs action this September when Madballs in... Babo Invasion hits Steam on the 17th.  Announced via the official blog, the team is bringing the surprisingly deep game to PCs after their Xbox Live Arcade version released earlier this year.

The PlayStation 3 Firmware update has just gone live, bringing the system's XMB interface to version 3.0.  With it you'll get a “What’s New” section, a redesigned status indicator and Friends List, and support for new avatars and dynamic themes.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a run and gun shooter, similar to old school classics and full of nostalgia.  Want to know how the game rates, and hear about the co-op?  After all, knowing is half the battle, right?

Thinking of heading to Seattle this weekend for the Penny-Arcade Expo?  Don't have a ticket yet?  I'm sorry to inform you that you are out of luck then as the show is 100% completely SOLD OUT. For the first time ever the show, which takes place at the Washington State Convention Center, sold as many tickets as they were legally allowed to do fire restrictions and code BEFORE the show even started.

Can you believe August is over already?  The kids are heading back to school, the pools are closing up, and soon we'll be knee deep in the fall release of games.  Here's what you might have missed on the site this past month.

There's a lot of buzz coming out of the community following the latest batch of Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising videos from CodeMasters. Mixed feelings are flying everywhere, thanks to an unconfirmed statement that console multiplayer would be limited to 8 players (4 vs 4). It's important to note that the game's profile on Xbox.com still indicates that the Xbox 360 version will support up to 16 players online.

An action RTS sequel to a standard RTS game, Kingdom Under Fire 2 is shaping up to be a quality, albeit different co-op game. Kingdom Under Fire 2 looks to be on a massive scale, with massive battles, somewhat resembling a controlled MMO (that is to say, limiting the co-op to 15 players, as opposed to World of Warcrafts numbers around 6million subscribers.) This new gameplay trailer released for Kingdom Under Fire 2 shows some impressive cut scenes, as well as the actual gameplay we can expect from such an epic title.

In a move I think no one saw coming, entertainment giant Disney has bought Marvel for 4 Billion dollars.  With it Disney gets rights to over 5000 Marvel comic book characters and properties, and some truly interesting prospects for video games.

Nevermind the fact that Kurt Cobain has been dead over 15 years, Nirvana's music still lives on today, and the front man is back in virtual form in Guitar Hero 5.  Activision has announced that his likeness has been licensed for the game, along with two Nirvana songs; Smells like Teen Spirit and a never before live version of Lithium.