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.  

The Top 5 Ways to make Crackdown 2 not suck?

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.

We had previously looked at EA's Battleforge back during the NY Comic Con, but due to some server issues, we decided we didn't see enough to warrant a full preview.  Now, after playing the game's beta for a few days we bring your our latest impressions of this unique RTS and Card Game hybrid.

Now developers can get in on this   Game developers versus the used market is a battle that has waged since stores like Gamestop started offering "deals" to those of us willing to purchase a used game, at an insane profit to themselves. The Gamestop style scheme is to purchase games from users at an insultingly low rate, then tur...

Now, I'm not one to stir up hype (!), especially about a Call of Duty title (!). I also don't buy games that are scary or gory (!), and I don't play PC games (!). So now that we've gotten that out of the way, I can start my impressions post!

Blizzard has launched their new Battle.Net Website in preparation for the launches of their next big sequels - Diablo 3 and StarCraft 2.  The site sports a fancy new look, and you'll need to create a new account to get started.  But what does the account get you?

After a few ups and downs, possible cancellations, and everything else - Red Alert 3 has finally come to the PlayStation 3.  The game, titled Red Alert 3: Ultimate Edition, releases next week; but you can get your hands on a demo this weekend on the PlayStation Store. 

The stories for this week:

If you've been around any young kids, boys especially, you have probably heard of Ben 10.  First a Cartoon Network show, the series has exploded in popularity and has taken over toy store shelves everywhere.  Unsurprisingly, Ben 10 has made appearances in the video game arena as well.  First was Ben 10: Protector of Earth, and more recently, Ben 10: Alien Force.  Both of these games feature two player co-op, but are they any good? If you look at the Co-Optimus home page, you'll see a list of top games for each system down the right hand side.  Joining powerhouses like Left 4 Dead and Castle Crashers is Ben 10: Protector of Earth.  Surprising, isn't it?  You wouldn't expect a cartoon tie-in to be one of the better co-op experiences on any system, even the Wii.  This high rating is likely due to the fact that the game is fairly old school, similar to classic arcade brawlers, and it has some wild character designs that are quite fun. In case you aren't a Cartoon Network junkie, Ben 10 is about a young boy, Ben Tennyson, who discovers the Omnitrix, a sort of cosmic watch.  The Omnitrix allows Ben to take the form of ten different alien creatures.  This translates very well into a video game.  In Ben 10: Protector of Earth, Ben is limited to five forms.  One is a flaming, human torch style alien.  Another is a four armed, super strong, red humanoid.  My personal favorite is Wildvine, an odd, malleable plant with all sorts of wacky powers.  A bowling ball shaped alien and a blue, skate-footed speedster round out the mix.  Each alien has upgradeable powers, allowing for some visually interesting attacks and even helping to solve the game's light puzzle elements.

 Yesterday, Map Pack 1 for Call of Duty: World at War went live, and Nazi Zombies burst from their graves around the world. Fortunately for us Xbox 360 zombie slayers, an immunity spread through the Live billing system, so we were completely unaffected by the invasion.

We had one 60 degree day in the North East, and then it decided to drop into the 40s again.  I guess we're stuck inside playing games for now....