Co-op Games for the Xbox 360

Action/Adventure Co-op Games

• One of the larger genres of Xbox 360 gaming is action and adventure. This genre covers many games played from a third-person point of view. Some of the more popular titles to play co-op for this genre are "Resident Evil 5," "Left 4 Dead 2," "Grand Theft Auto 4" and "Saints Row 2." These games use cooperative play to help defeat foes and solve simple puzzles.

Music Co-op Games

• The quickly expanding music genre of gaming is a great way to introduce children not only to video games, but also to cooperative gaming and team play. Such games usually require external hardware, like instrument controllers, to play. The instrument controllers allow gamers to play individually or as a group. Some of the more popular titles for the genre are "Rock Band 2" and "Green Day: Rock Band."

Strategy Co-op Games

• Strategy games have had some difficulty transitioning from PC to console gaming. This genre of gaming is usually reserved for PC use because the number of keys on keyboards gives players a fuller range of commands that are not available on a hand-held controller. Some titles that have been successful at this crossover are "Halo Wars" and "Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3." These games use teamwork to create small, specialized armies that attack enemy groups.

Sports Co-op Games

• Sports games use teamwork play and logic found in real-life sports to mimic game play. Coach popular teams to succeed in famous events like the Super Bowl. Some of the more popular franchises for this genre are "Madden NFL," "NHL" and "WWE Smackdown vs. Raw."

Puzzle Co-op Games

• The Puzzle game genre consists of card games, board games and other versus games like "Tetris." Recently this genre has branched out to more story-heavy gaming. The most successful of these have been the "LEGO" games. These games cover movies like "Batman," "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" and require teamwork to unlock certain special areas of the game.

Racing Co-op Games

• Racing games have been a consistently popular genre for multiplayer game play since the earliest consoles. Though these games do not usually require cooperative play to solve puzzles, they do provide consistent and fairly balanced multiplayer game play, making this genre good for families. Some of the more popular racing titles for Xbox 360 are "Burnout Paradise," "Need for Speed" and "Project Gotham Racing."

Simulation Co-op Games

• Simulation games are difficult to play as cooperative due to the independent nature of game play. Some of the more successful titles are "Sims 2," "The Urbz" and "Viva Pinata." This genre also covers flight sims like "Ace Combat 6."

Shooter Co-op Games

• Shooters are the largest genre of multiplayer and cooperative play available on Xbox 360. This genre has many direct links to content that can be downloaded from the Xbox 360 online service, Xbox Live. Many multiplayer shooters are available--"Halo 3," "Army of Two" and "Gears of War 2" are all prime examples--that have independent cooperative play in campaign mode, allowing story play as well as online play. Some games like "Borderlands" and "Call of Duty" have massive multiplayer options, allowing for hundreds of additional hours of game play.