Last week when Konami announced Six Days in Fallujah, a tactical game set in the current war in Iraq, there was quite a bit of public outrage.  Members of several groups, including the British military spoke out publicly against the game.  "It's much too soon to start making video games about a war that's still going on, and an extremely flippant response to one of the most important events in modern history. " Said Tim Collins a former colonel, "It's particularly insensitive given what happened in Fallujah, and I will certainly oppose the release of this game."

Every once in a while a game comes along that simply looks like a blast to play.  Just watching the game in motion brings a smile to your face, I dare say that Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao is one of those games.  

The Halo 3 Mythic map pack was released this past week for the four player co-op shooter, and while the multiplayer maps don't offer anything new in co-op, they do offer something for Silver members.

The original Painkiller is one of my favorite over-the-top, mindless shooters- right up there with the Dooms, Duke Nukem 3Ds and Serious Sams of the world.  So, when IGN UK received word that a new chapter in the series, Painkiller: Resurrection, is being developed for PC (with a later release on 360) and a fourth quarter release this year, my heart went aflutter.  What's more, the lovely developers at Homegrown Games have decided to include cooperative play! To wit:

The stories for this week:

The never ending quest for the earliest co-op video game continues this week.  Coupled with the quest is a touching, heartbreaking story from my childhood.  What more could you ask for?  Grab an ostrich and a lance as we check out arcade golden oldie Joust, this week's Co-Op Classic.  You may recall a previous Co-Op Classic column featuring Mario Bros.  It seems the "true" co-op gameplay of that game was inspired by that of Joust.  Released in 1982, Joust was a real standout from other arcade games of the time.  For one thing, the cabinet had truly distinctive art.  The biggest appeal though was the simultaneous two player gameplay.  Taking turns in Pac-man is all well and good, but sometimes, you and a friend want to play at the same time.  Joust allowed you to do just that.

Yesterday we unveiled the new visual style that the four player co-op title Borderlands was going to sport.  Today, Kotaku has gotten a hole of the exclusive PC Gamer cover article that reveals the "not cel-shaded" style.  While some may argue what exactly cell shaded means, I'm going to argue that the above character shot, which is a screenshot from the game, is cell shaded.  

It's a long weekend for some, which means extra time for co-op gaming!

Last night we had a very successful Xbox Live Co-Op night featuring Resident Evil 5 on the Xbox 360.  But we don't want to leave our PlayStation fans out in the cold, so we're giving away one copy of the PS3 version of the game to a lucky reader. 

The recently renamed Guitar Hero Smash Hits is coming to consoles in June.  Smash Hits is a compilation of songs from previous Guitar Hero games, this time with full four player band support, adding in drum and singing parts.  Tunes from Guitar Hero 1, 2 and 3, plus the Rocks the 80s expansion, will be included.  A total of 48 songs will make their way onto the Smash Hits setlist.

We never quite covered box art like we did for Left 4 Dead with any other game.  Whether it was German censoring or hand puns, we felt the need to tell the world about the box art for this four player co-op title.  Now several months later, as Valve gears of for some DLC, they've revealed the original evolution of the box art. 

With a title like Burn Zombie Burn a game immediately has a lot of potential. This PlayStation Network exclusive pits co-op players against hordes of angry zombies with only one goal in mind - burn em all. We'll find out if you should crack open the flamethrower for this one, or if it's only luke warm.