It's a musically inclined week this week for co-op gamers with not one, but two music video game releasing. On top of that we have a game coming out that I mistakingly though was out last week. 

If music be the food of love, play on; and if said music also gives me achievement points, play harder. Fantasia: Music Evolved is a 2 player co-op musical extravaganza coming to Xbox 360 and Xbox One later in the year.  Many of the tunes are magical, whilst some are just manic.   

One of the things I loved most about Fantasia: Music Evolved is that it truly is about the music. From watching trailers and gameplay you may think the concentration is on dancing, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, I'd argue you don't dance at all. A music game that requires Kinect but isn't a dancing game? It's true. And it's pretty fun too. 

In a new trailer for Fantasia: Music Evolved, the latest music and rhythm game from Harmonix, we get a glimpse at The Capsule, a level (or realm) in Fantasia where a lone monkey is cut off from the outside world. The trailer shows off co-op and single player gameplay to Elton John's "Rocket Man."

Our last coverage of Fantasia: Music Evolved was at E3 2013, but that hasn't stopped the makers of Rock Band from putting in work on their new rhythm and music game. Of course, this time you don't need to break out the miniature drum set or the squeaky plastic guitars every time you want to have a jam session with your buddies. Merely stand in front of the Kinect and wave your arms a Conductor for the world's most erratic orchestra, and listen to the madness unfold.

After my Disney Infinity preview, I was treated to an in-theater demo of Harmonix' upcoming Fantasia: Music Evolved. Now, I had heard that this was going to be a game based on the classic Fantasia films, but with the inclusion of modern music, which seemed to clash with the theme. I went in skeptical, but Harmonix decided to get experimental on me and now I'm warming up to the idea.

On Wednesday night the Co-Opticrew headed to the Nokia Theater to relax a bit after 3 solid days of hard work.  We were set to see Video Games Live, a concert which features music from various video games played with a full orchestra and mixed with visuals from said game.  The show was created by industry veteran Tommy Tallarico, a video game composer himself of over 250 games including Earthworm Jim, Prince of Persia and Advent Rising.  Tallarico also used to host a TV Show on the G4 Network, which you would think would make him the perfect host for something like this.  You'd think.

The causes of the great video game crash of 1983 were complex, but over-saturation of the market and poor quality game releases were major factors in the outcome. In the past two years, the once thriving music game industry went through a similar downturn. At one point, the genre seemed invincible, and yet it still crashed, hard. The similarities between the great video game crash of 1983 and the demise of the music genre are impossible to ignore.

Harmonix has confirmed that there will be no new Rock Band game this year. They have no immediate plans for a sequel, but are currently working on new concepts to advance the Rock Band franchise. The good news for all you Rock Band fans out there is that there's plenty of DLC planned for this year instead. Reportedly, tracks from Ozzy Osbourne, Lady Gaga, and the Foo Fighters are planned to be available for download later this month. 

You may recall Activision announcing a couple months back that no further DLC would be released for the Guitar Hero franchise.  Desperate fans cried out across the interweb, and the powers that be relented, releasing more new songs to download once again.  Alas, even the reprieve turned out to be quite brief, and no more DLC is scheduled to be released.  

The year isn't quite over yet, which means we still have more goodies to give away!  Up for grabs are two sets of Video Games Live prize packs - included in each pack are:

Harmonix has long set atop the music game pecking order, and Rock Band 3 is another very strong effort. The gameplay we've enjoyed for years is as good as ever, and arguably the best it has ever been. But the inclusion of an entirely new instrument and Pro mode are Rock Band 3's true focus.