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!

I don’t have a particularly strong backbone. In the past, I worried so much about what people thought of me that I slowly stopped being myself. Fortunately, in recent times I feel very much myself, and feel very much comfortable with who I am. I went out for dinner with a friend tonight that I care a lot about. And she made me think a lot about my life in general. I never thought that writing a blog would negatively affect some of my friends and the people that I care dearly about. I just wanted a place to share my musings and photographs. There’s no ulterior motive. I don’t comment on other people’s blogs to become more popular. I just know that comments mean a lot to bloggers because it means people are actually reading your posts. So to anyone who thinks I am commenting on their blog to raise my own popularity — I apologize for that misconception and I promise that is not my intention. I will stop commenting unless you want me to continue. To any friends who may be offended by things I have written or turned off by the tone of my blog — I’m sorry. I am who I am, but I never intended to hurt your feelings or come across as full of myself. It’s pretty much the opposite. I promise this blog will never have ads. I have never and will never delete comments (unless they are pure spam) or modify comments. I will have never and will never advertise anything without being transparent about it, if I even ever advertise anything at all. I promise I have always been honest in my posts and will continue to do so. I won’t lie or embellish. I will tentatively continue to blog, but not at the expense of my friends and loved ones. So, moving on.

Image Credit: http://gearsofwar.xbox.com

GEARS OF WAR 2 is coming out on Friday and I could NOT be more excited. I have my pre-order in with EB Games (even though I despise them), and can’t wait to pick it up. I played co-op and multi-player for hours on the first Gears of War and to date, it is still my favourite Xbox 360 game. I imagine to spend just as many hours on this one. (Finishing it on the Insane level and trying to collect dog tags, of course )

Image Credit: http://gearsofwar.xbox.com

The first Gears of War ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, with Marcus and Dom killing Raam and setting up the bomb that really didn’t do all that much I’m looking forward to finding out what happens and more about the Locust (and the Queen!) and their motivations for earth.

I also hear that there will be more cutscenes and cinematics which is great for Campaign/Co-Op mode. I love getting invested in video game characters, if it is supposed to be better than the first, then I know I’m in for a real treat.

Co-Op is supposed to be just as good as the first, so I can’t wait to get on there with my long-time gaming buddy Keith. Believe it or not, I used to play quite frequently in a bit of an Xbox clan, but I just haven’t had much time lately. It’ll be good to sit down and blow hours on a bit of gaming. Fable II will be my next game to play, but it is definitely Gears 2 all the way first

Anyone else excited about this game? Want to play multiplayer. Add me as “Buggo” on Xbox Live.

Image Credit: http://gearsofwar.xbox.com