The stories for this week:

What happens when you take the Bikini out of Bikini Zombie Slayers or Bikini Samurai Squad?  You get a girl in a cowboy hat with samurai swords and a backache. 

If you are looking to try out Phantasy Star Portable, a game that was recently bumped up in release date, then look no further than your PSN Store on either the PlayStation 3.  Sega has release a fully featured demo of the title, one that supports four player ad-hoc cooperative play.  As we mentioned before the game is set for a March 4th release date, a date moved up 3 weeks earlier than previously announced.

Short and to the point.  If you want to get your hands on the best co-op game currently available, and don't have Left 4 Dead yet on the PC - now's your chance.  Valve is offering the game for 50% off this weekend only.  That means the game is only going to set you back $24.99!

It's your last chance to enter to win a copy of Space Siege (and bonus copy of Supreme Commander) to promote our upcoming Games for Windows Co-Op Night.

This week Sega decided to announce a new game in the Aliens franchise, in fact, it was a new game in the Aliens vs. Predator franchise.  There was a bit of turmoil when the game was announced, because it appeared as though Aliens: Colonial Marines got delayed when an official spokesperson stated that "..by adjusting the release of our other Aliens titles to accommodate [Aliens vs. Predator], SEGA will ensure that every title lives up to the high expectations of Aliens and AvP fans."

Yes...love is in the air.  And with any good pair comes co-op gaming.

 After getting our hands on HAWX at the New York Comic-Con we knew we had to dig deeper into this 4 player co-op title.  Thankfully the game's community manager Adrian Avaram came to the rescue and answered our questions concerning the game's cooperative mode. 

Last week I purchased Titan Quest for the PC when it was on sale.  I'm playing through the campaign right now, and I must say it's fun.  When it came time to write this week's Co-Op Classics, I considered using Titan Quest.  I decided against it, as the game was just released in 2006, and it feels "current gen".  Since we just do previous gen consoles and older in this column, Titan Quest gets disqualified.  Don't fret, though, because playing through Titan Quest reminded me of an older, similar co-op game: Neverwinter Nights. Dungeons & Dragons was a big part of my youth.  I read the Dragonlance books, and followed the adventures of Drizzt Do'Urden in the Dark Elf series.  My first experience with the gaming end of D&D was the Adventure Gamebooks, which were basically Choose Your Own Adventure stories with stats and randomization.  By the time I was in my mid to late teens, I was meeting regularly with my buddies for some role playing fun.  I'll admit I enjoyed the gaming part more than the role playing, and I am a "min-max-er".  Dark Sun, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft... if it was a D&D product available from 1988 to 1994, chances are I was playing it. Fast forward to 1999.  I am now married, and my D&D playgroup has long since scattered across the country.  Luckily, EverQuest came out, and I was able to stay in touch with my friends this way.  (I could write many columns about my experiences in EQ, good and bad, but not today.)  EverQuest was great, but it was missing something: customization.  With only a limited amount of classes, spells, and abilities, most characters felt too similar to the others.  That didn't stop me from playing it for years, but it didn't quite scratch the D&D itch like I wanted.

Stardock, publishers of the upcoming co-op game Demigod, have unleashed a few details of their newest version of their digital distribution client.  Famous for their "we don't treat our customers like criminals" line - Stardock's Impulse Reactor service will be very fair in terms of DRM. 

Yesterday's PlayStation store update came and went and there wasn't a HAWX demo to be found.  Unlike our 360 brethren, PlayStation owners haven't yet flown the unfriendly skies with the likes of a co-op squadron. 

Name: Billy Age: 20-something Seeking: Player 2