Co-op ruled them all in the 2nd Annual Xbox Live Arcade awards.  Castle Crashers beat out the assumed favorite, Braid, for the overall Game of the Year in 2008 on Xbox Live Arcade.

First it was coming, then it wasn't, and now it's finally here.  The Playstation 3 version of Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 releases today.  Dubbed the Ultimate Edition, this version of the game, previously available for Xbox 360 and PC, features enhanced graphics and new content.  You can buy the game from Amazon at a light discount by clicking on the image above, which features significantly more booty than the boxart for previous versions of the game. 

Hot on the heels of our latest Co-Op Casual Friday, Amazon is running an impressive deal on Ben 10 Alien Force.  Regular price is $39.99 but you can snag it today for just $14.98.  That's a pretty good savings on a solid, kid-friendly co-op game.  It'd be perfect for any younger gamers you know who enjoy aliens, cartoons, and high tech watches.  (Probably older gamers like those things too.)  Don't forget that your purchase helps support Co-Optimus.com!

EA has announced that a demo version of their card-based RTS, Battleforge, is now available for download.  If you read our preview of the game, you know we came away more than impressed, so now is the perfect time to see if it fits into your co-op gaming regiment as well.

User created content is always something to look at in games, especially ones with only 8 levels in the story mode. Little Big Planet has taken the user created content one step further by adding an entire community behind it. Building levels co-op style with your buddies, then sharing them online has helped Little Big Planet hit an impressive milestone. Media Molecule has recently announced that Little Big Planet has over 600,000 user created levels!  

Earlier today we had added Sega's Stormrise, a 360/PS3 and PC RTS,  to our database of co-op games.  After further clarification though, we removed it.  Why?  Well it turns out the co-op mode was officially removed from the game before release.  

Valve has confirmed today that the free Left 4 Dead DLC would be released on both the Xbox 360 and PC on April 21st.  

GamePro.com has a nice, optimistic two-page preview of Terminator: Salvation, the prequel tie-in game to the upcoming movie. According to the preview, we will have the chance to blow away Skynet mechs with a local co-op buddy come May 19th:

The game may sound incredibly scary, but it's actually based on the upcoming animated movie of the same name from Dreamworks.   Monsters vs. Aliens releases this week for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii, and PlayStation 2 and all versions feature a local co-op option with drop-in and drop-out support.  

This week kicks of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.  You can be we'll be covering it all week with some good co-op news, but up first out of the gate is a rumor from TheSixthAxis.com.  

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We normally don't cover track releases for Rock Band and Guitar Hero, because well frankly, they just happen far to often and never quite seem that important.  But this week we've got a pretty epic release for Rock Band, one that your co-op band of four are going to want to get back together for.