As part of my lockdown this month, I’ve been playing a lot of Xbox 360. It’s nice because I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had much time to play… and now I finally do have a bit of time! Oh, and I finally finished Gears of War 2.

My Xbox 360 Gamercard

While I do play some single-player games, the majority of games that I play are for co-operative or multiplayer experiences.

Photo Credit: Xbox.com

It still surprises me that in 2009, video game developers still haven’t fully taken advantage of the huge untapped market that is co-op players. While many hardcore players do play by themselves, the vast and growing casual gamer market often prefers to play with friends or family. Whether it is their coworkers, fathers, brothers, boyfriends, girlfriends, or buddies… many gamers enjoy the feeling of playing video games with others. And while multiplayer gaming against one another is and always will be popular, I think many of us prefer a “chilled out” game session playing TOGETHER with a buddy instead of against him or her… to be a very attractive experience.

So where are the co-op games?

It’s not like the game companies haven’t been trying.

Photo Credit: http://consoleupdates.com/2008/05/22/gears-of-war-2-no-squad-ordering/

Gears of War 2 (and even Gears of War 1) has been the best co-op game to date in my opinion. Full online co-op, drop-in, drop-out, gameplay made for 2 players, a good storyline involving two players, and achievement points for finishing the game regardless of if you are solo or co-op (not to mention some co-op only achievements!). Halo 3, Left 4 Dead (which I’m going to pick up this weekend) and Army of Two had comprehensive co-op, but 4 major game titles is not enough!

Fable 2 recently game out with co-op support but it’s pretty miserable. No co-op achievement points, and not really able to fully interact or play the game as you would if you were solo. The same pretty much goes for Grand Theft Auto IV. Call of Duty: World at War has co-op, but if you finish the game on co-op you don’t get the achievement points. So lame! The same goes for many of the popular games that have come out in 2008.

Will it get any better for 2009? We’ll have to see.

Photo Credit: http://www.co-optimus.com

Titles I am looking for to in 2009/2010 for co-op include Resident Evil 5, of course the next Gears of War installment, any new Tom Clancy installment,

I’d like to see more game companies focus on making a much better co-operative experience. There’s a reason why Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead became such huge hits… great co-op and multiplayer! I think being able to drop in and out, being able to share the FULL story experience with your partner(s), and being able to earn the same achievement points that you would be able to in single-player mode is extremely important.

Bring it on!