It is done. 2022 is over and we wish you a happy new year. 2023 is special to us because Co-Optimus celebrates its 15th Anniversary. On January 28th 2008, the site finally went public. But that's a topic for a different news item. We're instead here to talk about December 2022, a month our very own arcade aficionado, Paul Acevedo, enjoyed very much thanks to releases like New Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja, River City Girls 2, Jitsu Squad, and Bubble Bobble for Nintendo Switch. Otherwise, it was actually a rather quiet month with "only" around 42 new releases. So at least during the holidays we did have a bit of time to work on that dreaded backlog before the madness continues in the new year.

Welcome back to Beyond Co-Op Reviews, our critical look at games that don't feature co-op modes....

63 releases across all platforms and 107 new additions to our database - that's the TL;DR for November. Yes, we want to finish writing this news post as quickly as possible in order to continue playing Warhammer 40.000: Darktide. How can you blame us? It's really good, and not just compared to the sea of other Warhammer games releasing each second on Steam (only a slight exaggeration). It also holds its own and is well worth a look.

PlayStation 5-specific retail copies of games are a thing for some reason. Nobody wants a physical copy that says PlayStation 4 on it nowadays! Merge games knows this, and so they've just released new TMNT: Shredder's Revenge physical editions for PlayStation 5. Available in both standard and Signature editions, these PlayStation 5-specific versions of Shredder's Revenge can be ordered online or bought at retail in the UK and other international markets.

Earlier this year, we reviewed the Brook Wingman XB, an accessory that allows the use of PlayStation, Switch, and other controllers on Xbox consoles. Several months later, Brook is set to follow that release with the Brook Wingman XB2 on November 30. The new Wingman XB2 adds improved controller compatibility and additional turbo modes, which should make it an exciting accessory for Xbox gamers who own controllers for lots of different systems.

There are many different gaming strategies out there, but not all of them are effective. By making this extra effort, you'll be a much better gamer beating your opponents left and right. This article will discuss the most effective gaming strategies that you can use to improve your gameplay.

Today is the annual Extra Life Game Day celebration, so we'll be spending all day raising donations and playing games. We're streaming on our Twitch channel, so stop by and chat with us. More importantly, shoot us a donation! Sixty-two children enter a Children's Miracle Network Hospital every minute seeking quality medical care for all...

Hey, you! Yes, you over there! You need to stop that! Another month down the drain and we once again didn't have nearly enough time to play even a fraction of all those sweet new releases this month. So either stop publishing new stuff or stop time itself. Doesn't matter as long as the result is us having more chances to play games with our friends. All those survival horror games hitting the Steam Store don't play themselves after all and now we need to switch over to the Christmas events starting up in our favorite titles. So even less time to enjoy that barrage of new games still coming.

A few months ago, Sega launched the Astro City Mini V in Japan. The Astro City Mini V is a miniature arcade cabinet with a vertical screen, so it excels at playing vertically-scrolling shoot 'em ups. 23 games are included on the unit, including several co-op shmups like Raiden, Out Zone, Gunbird, and more. Classic gaming fans no longer have to import the Astro City Mini V from Japan, as Limited Run is now offering the unit and accessories for preorder!

On November 5th, Co-Optimus will be joining thousands of other gamers for a day full of gaming and fundraising for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Donations through Extra Life go straight to the participant’s chosen CMN hospital to help kids in need. You can help our cause by joining or donating! The Co-Optimus team is open to all co-op fans, and we’re always happy to have more teammates!

ROCCAT is back with a new keyboard in their Vulcan line, the Vulcan II Max - a full sized keyboard with plenty of bells and whistles set to compete with the likes of the Razer Huntsman and Corsair K100. 

What a month... Almost 240 new entries made their way into our database - mostly new and upcoming games thanks to all the announcements during TGS and several other publisher showcase events. On top of that, 54 titles across all platforms are listed on our release calendar for the month, and it will only get "worse" with everyone starting to fire all cylinders in preparation for Christmas.