Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2 is the latest RTS game from veteran developer Relic.  Set to hit PCs in the spring it combines big Gears of War style Space Marines with World of Warcraft style characters like Orks and a mysterious race called the Tyranid.  The latest trailer highlights the marines and shows off some of their classes including the likes of the Tacticle Marine Squad, Devastator, Scout, Assault Team, and Force Commander.  Like Relic's other popular RTS, Company of Heroes, Dawn of War 2 focuses on the action rather than resource gathering and base building.  

We looked at experiences like Team Fortress 2, in which there are dependencies on classes, and games like World of Warcraft, in which there are large amounts of people working in tandem, creating this kind of epic synergy to overcome these encounters that wouldn't be overcomeable as an individual. We really wanted to focus on teamwork and the buzz that comes from people working together online, because even though there's some downtime when you're not playing together, the buzz is that much higher when the group locks together and everything falls into place.

Nick and Mike both talked about Red Alert 3 on the latest podcast, and we have some news for co-opers who own the PC version of that game.  A patch is now available, taking the game to version 1.05.  Besides your standard bug fixes adn balance tweaks, one item of interest to Co-Optimus readers has been added:  a lobby is now available for the online co-op mode.

Xbox 360 and PS3 owners have been enjoying the new songs, improved instruments, and added features of Rock Band 2 for over two months now.  To this point, Wii and PS2 rockers have been left out.  We have a bit of good news for half that group, namely the Wii owners.  The Wii version of Rock Band 2 will be shipping on December 18th, which means if you're lucky, you can be playing it on Christmas Day.  The Rock Band Forums have the official news, coming from Harmonix themselves.

We still don't know too much about Demigod, but we did have some hands on time with it back during PAX.  We came away impressed with the Diablo-ish RPG action combined with an RTS style game.  

As we previously reported, Fable II's DLC Knothole Island is coming this month, and as per Lionhead Studios' official announcement, both the host and henchman in a co-op session would need to have the content installed come December 12th.

It's a holiday extravaganza on the Co-Opticast as we chat it up about our holiday gift guides. Not only that we find out what we've been playing lately from the dreaded fall season that's full of co-op gaming goodness. Finally we dive a bit into the uncharted world of user created content. Be sure to give this show a listen, as next episode we want to hear from you! That's right we're taking user questions for the final podcast of 2008.

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Looking for some fresh new maps to slaughter the Locust Horde in with four of your friends?  Then look no further than the "Combustible" Map Pack for Gears of War 2.  The three new maps;  Flood, Gold Rush, and Fuel Station, are available in both versus and co-op Horde mode form.  

Billy seems like a happy robot, doesn't he?  Sometimes, though, things happen in the world of co-op that make him sad, and even angry!  Today, we let Billy rant a bit about a feature near and dear to our hearts: user created content!  Also, we interview Dennis McCauley of GamePolitics!

 In many ways, co-op gaming is going through a sort of renaissance. The past few years have been a rebirth for co-op and 2007/2008 could be considered “Co-Op Year.” With most systems having several AAA titles featuring co-op (including Halo 3, Resistance 2, etc.). However, many would say that this renaissance of co-op gaming could not have happened without online co-op. This is because the rebirth of co-op seems to have coincided with the rise of online co-op.

Our friends over at GameDaily are running a super contest celebrating the holidays.  Called the Holicraze, today's giveaway should interest you fine folks.  By simply sending an email and telling them who you'd spend a zombie apocalypse with, you can be entered to win some fine co-op friendly prizes.

Forget the traditional chocolate advent calendars this year and check out neighbor site The Blue Skittle's special treat for the gaming community...