Insomniac has just released a new patch for the 8 player co-op shooter Resistance 2.  The patch is version 1.40 and it should be available by the time you read this.  What does it fix?  Lots of stuff, but the most important being the restoration of any character resets you may have had.  Some folks have reported issues with level progression and found their character data reset to level 1.  The good news is this patch should not only restore your previous character state, but tack on any progression you've gained since.  So your level 20 medic for co-op that should have been a level 40 medic will really be a level 40!  Very nice!

Every once and a while a trailer comes along that simply sells you on a game.  We've preached and said it before on here - we hear good things about the latest 50 Cent game.  Now...we've seen good things. 

Dawn of War 2 is one of the most anticipated PC games this year, and there's good reason why.  Gritty sci-fi action meets fantasy set in the Warhammer 40k universe.  Relic's next RTS masterpiece will feature true co-op play throughout the entire campaign.  We talked with members of the development team to get the skinny on the co-op.

Want to make Left 4 Dead PC assault you with more infected hordes, less boss infected, near-impossible difficulty, and zero AI or co-op players?

Rough economy got you down? Here's your chance to keep your money in your pocket and still acquire some new toys!

Poor framerate got you down in GTA IV on the PC?  Perhaps the latest patch for the game can alleviate your troubles.   Among numerous performance improvements across the board, there's now some additional graphical sliders in the options menu to get your Niko running as smooth as butter.  Now you can't blame your computer's performance lag when you crash the helicopter into Kenny during the Hangman's Noose co-op mode.  

Callling in sick today?  Perhaps you want to.  And maybe you should call a friend and have him do the same.  The Resident Evil 5 demo is now available on Xbox Live.  The demo features two full levels, all featuring 2 player co-op with drop-in/drop-out support.  Co-Op can be done either split-screen or via Xbox Live.

No, nobody got married on the Co-Opticast.  Your regular hosts Nick and Mike are both already married, and I don't mean to each other.  Nick and Mike did appear on Episode 83 of The Married Gamers Podcast, hosted by Chris and Kelly. The podcast takes a slightly unique approach to video game podcasts getting both the male and female perspective from a married couple.

Windows Vista got a pretty bad rap of being a poor gaming operating system.  Probably rightly so as it was a bit of a resource hog.  Microsoft hopes to correct this with Windows 7, which really, is a very streamlined version of Vista.

Pardon the lateness of this week's beyond co-op column.  Things are a bit hectic around Co-Optimus HQ.  I think our espresso machine is on the fritz. 

GoGamer is having a monster sale on the Guitar Hero: World Tour Bundle for the Wii and Xbox 360.  Right now you can get the full setup which includes guitar, drums, mic and game for $99.  That's a savings of $100!

It's not often we get to put up a link to Metallica's website, but that's our source for this news item.  We'd previously reported a rumored list of songs for the upcoming Metallica-centric Guitar hero title, but now we have it straight from the horses mouth.  If you like Metallica, you'd like the list.  I'm a fan, and I'll probably be picking it up at some point, as my love for "Battery" is greater than my dislike for giving Activision my money.  Also, "Fuel" is one of the songs, and my son, as a toddler, sang that song like this: "Gimme food, gimme fries, gimme something on the side!!"  I feel that memory is funny enough that I just have to pick that same song up in rhythm game form!