Tuesday
Feb092010

How you can participate in CO-OP Live! Or: CO-OP Live Premieres TODAY at 4PM PST/7PM EST

by Authormatt chandronait

You know how people on the freeway always seem to let their foot off the gas as they drive by an accident as though they were in some morbid, cinematic slow-mo; trying to catch a glimpse of whatever carnage ensued moments before? “A few minutes earlier and it could have been me,” some of them must be saying to themselves, drifting slowly by, craning their necks like carrion birds…

This is NOT how CO-OP Live plans to begin its life. There are a million moving pieces to a live production and we’ve been rehearsing them all until they’re as solidly integrated as the blocks of the fucking pyramids. Things will still go wrong, but we can guarantee you that what you won’t be getting is some dues sitting on a couch talking at the camera for an hour. Yes, there will be some dudes sitting on the cough talking about video games, but bear with us, it’s not what you think.

So where do you come in? We’re going to have dedicated fan segments that are going to come near the end of our show or at specifically planned times. In order to keep things snappy, we’re going to be tied to a schedule with someone yelling in our ears (no, really, we’ll have things in our ears like TV anchor people, how groovy is that?) when our time to yap about a game is up. We’ll bring you in afterward to agree or disagree with us, so write down those thoughts ahead of time.

For our first show (SPOILER), we’re going to have a special musical guest. After the first performance, we’re going to sit down with said guest and have a quick fan segment where you can ask him questions. He’ll do another song to play himself out and then we’ll come back to a full fan segment where everything is fair game. Just don’t ask Ryan to dance. Ryan doesn’t dance. Unless he’s drunk. Then he dances AWESOME. If you’re not already, follow @COOP_live on Twitter. You don’t really have to follow our show Twitter to participate, though. Just use @COOP_live anywhere in your Twitter post and we’ll see it! Our hope is that Twitter will be easier to manage than a chat room and that since we can control the flow on the page we won’t have to worry about stuff scrolling off the page before we get a chance to read it. Be patient with us, though, as there was no way to test this part of the show beforehand to any real capacity and it’s going to take us some time to get it running all swimmingly. All question and comments are welcome, but lame ones will be ignored.

Here’s a summary of the details”
- Bookmark http://revision3.com/co-op
- The show starts at 4PM PST/7PM EST SHARP!
- Tweet to @COOP_live during our fan segments to get in on the act
- If you miss the show, it will be recorded and put out on the regular iTunes feed later tonight.

Lastly but not least-ly, we’re going to need your help! We hate lame shit as much as you do and CO-OP Live CANNOT be lame shit! Tell us what you think is awesome and want more of and what you think is terrible and want less of. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you and without you there’s no future for our show. Thank you, and enjoy (*crosses fingers*)!

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Comment39 Comments
Tuesday
Feb022010

CO-OP LIVE Starting February 9th, 4PM PST/7PM EST -- Follow coop_live on Twitter to join in!

by Authormatt chandronait

You may have seen this announcement already, but here’s the post where we spill our guts on all the details. Can we do this?? YES! Can we do it without screwing up, live, for the world to see? Probably not. That’s the theme of this announcement video. Watch it, first, and then read below for how you can be a part of the show!


First off, a lot of people have wanted to know what’s going to happen to their CO-OP iTunes feed. You won’t have to subscribe to a new feed as CO-OP Live will go right into the same CO-OP feed you’ve been using. While we’ll be recording live, once we’re done the show will be re-compressed and uploaded as per the norm and those of you unable to watch the shenanigans (oh, and there will be shenanigans) as they happen will still get the full show delivered to you later Tuesday night. The same series of download links will also be available.

Big thanks to Dylan Kenney for the new theme song we’re going to be using starting next Tuesday! He’s a fantastically talented musician and his music fits the soul of our new show and the new/old logo perfectly! Why is this logo new/old instead of just new? Because it’s what indie game designer Phil Fish originally came up with wa-hay back in the day when we were first slapping our show and our business together! He’s also the creator of the upcoming game Fez and the creator of the Area 5 logo at the top of this page.

That original CO-OP logo was deemed by some powers that be that it wasn’t “gamer” enough, but we’ve always had a soft spot in our collective heart for it and with the launch of a show that will hopefully involve you as much as it does us, it honestly felt more fitting. CO-OP Live should eventually become truly, er, cooperative. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you and now it’s time to bring you into the act. Make sure to follow coop_live on Twitter and during certain times of the show we’ll be using that to talk directly with you. Revision3 apparently has some kind of live chat-room software that could possibly be up by next Tuesday, so keep an eye out for that as well on the Revision3 CO-OP page, though I don’t have the details yet as to how/if it’s going to work.

Essentially, the course of our new show is thus: we’re going to shoot and mix game review/preview, interview and—a first for us—game demo segments live on the show. We’ll have as many guests on as we can as per the CO-OP norm and once a conversation is over, we’ll bring in you, the audience, for your thoughts on what was just said. Now’s your change to tell Ryan and I, directly, that we’re idiots for not liking Demon’s Souls. Also, you’ll have your chance to make fun of us to our virtual faces for making extremely hyperbolic claims or badly forming our sentences as we’re not going to be able to edit them out like we normally do. What, you thought we only edited around gameplay footage? Oh ho ho, if you only really knew the kind of shit that’s hit the cutting room floor… Well, I guess now you will.

We have a lot of plans for other kinds of segments we can introduce thanks to this new format, and most of them would have been impossible in the original CO-OP format (can you say: musical guest?). Still, our goal is to keep as much of our style as we can. We want conversations, not talking heads. Criticism, not just score run-downs and we want to shoot the show in a way that isn’t just static cameras locked to some people in the center of the screen. Our goal is to make the Area 5 mark on the live format and apply as much of our style to it as we can, even though we’re going to be on a regular set instead of shooting guerilla-style about San Francisco as we normally do.

But that’s not to say that pre-edited work is going to go away! We’re actually hoping that the live format saves us enough time that we can go back to making Area 5 Snacks and other shorts. We’re going to have to work up to that, though, so please be patient with us as we work out the kinks in our live show and really spit-polish it to that sheen that we’ve all come to know and love in our more traditional work.

So what about CO-OP? Technically, CO-OP is a separate IP and we’re signing a separate contract with Revision3 for CO-OP Live. That means it could, technically, come back. Will it? Not soon, no. Not unless someone wants to sign a deal with us to do it again, but we’re still very open to the possibility. Our work with the new, resurgent, so-cutting-edge-that-it-practically-bleeds Electronic Gaming Monthly will be the most immediate place you’ll have to see our edited work. So far all we’ve done for EGM is gameplay clips, but that’s going to change, and soon. You’re going to like what we/they have in store :)

Our hope, though, is that CO-OP Live can be even more important to your gaming entertainment life than even CO-OP was! So come back every week. Chat with us directly, comment here or on the Revision3 forums and let us know how we can improve the show. Our new format is going to make us more versatile than ever and more able to quickly adapt to changes and suggestions and while we’re definitely going to need your patience while we get things running smoothly (we think it’ll take us several shows), we’re also going to need your help in making it its very best!

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Tuesday
Jan262010

CO-OP 0315 -- Reflections 2009: Part 2 -- Borderlands, Flower, Dragon Age, Street Fighter IV, and Many More

by Authormatt chandronait

It’s the second part of our epic, 2009 year-in-review special! We assembled a crew of the finest CO-OP regulars to share what their favorite games of 2009 wound up to be. This isn’t a “Game of the Year” rank-a-thon, but rather a recollection of what made 2009 such a freakin’ awesome year for gamers! More after the show:


Since this is a part 2, obviously we’ve got the same, awesome crew of CO-OP friends on hand!
- From Bitmob, Dan Hsu.
- Tyler Barber of RebelFM fame and Eat-Sleep-Game.com as well as regular work for GameSpy.
- Kat Bailey, a frequent, favorite guest of ours and a freelancer at large.
- Long-time blogger Tiff Chow.
- Justin Haywald and David Ellis from 1UP.com.

This week we reminisce fondly about Borderlands, Flower, Street Fighter 4, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mad World, Demon’s Souls, Dragon Age, HALO: ODST, ‘Splosion Man, Spelunky, and more! We loved 2009. You loved 2009! Holy crap-face was it a good year to be a gamer!

Comment50 Comments
Tuesday
Jan192010

CO-OP 0314 -- Reflections 2009: Part 1 -- Batman, Uncharted 2, Red Faction, Infamous, & Many More

by Authormatt chandronait

2009 was a very good year—for video games. While much of the rest of the world is suffering an “economic downturn,” to put it politely, the creators of gaming goodness out there haven’t seemed to notice. We gather a bunch of CO-OP regulars for a giant, two-parter round table that delves into what was truly an epic year for the greatest medium ever invented by humankind. More after the show:


Our 2009 retrospective was too big and too long to fit into a single episode, so our crew and friends agreed to hang around for over three hours of filming so that we’d have plenty of time to go into what was such a huge, packed year for gaming.

We’ve been hugely thankful for all the amazing guests we’ve had on CO-OP throughout 2009, and we’re doubly grateful to have so many of them show up for this show.
- From Bitmob, Dan Hsu.
- Tyler Barber of RebelFM fame and Eat-Sleep-Game.com as well as regular work for GameSpy.
- Kat Bailey, a frequent, favorite guest of ours and a freelancer at large.
- Long-time blogger Tiff Chow.
- Justin Haywald and David Ellis from 1UP.com.

Of course we talked about all of our favorites and, hopefully, some of yours, including: Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, Assassin’s Creed 2 (seeing a lot of 2’s), Batman: Arkham Asylum, Shadow Complex, Fat Princess, Infamous, Red Faction, Trine, Plants vs. Zombies and, yes, MORE! Your favorite not in this episode? Come back next week and you’ll likely see it there.

Comment33 Comments
Tuesday
Jan122010

CO-OP 0313 -- Time Capsule -- Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, Saboteur

by Authormatt chandronait

Do you remember what your gamer self was doing in 2000? Neither did we, but that’s why we made a time capsule. What would have been important enough to us at the time to put in it? More after the show:


Ryan, JayFresh, and Cesar are all huge fans of Capy Games’ new gem, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes. It’s an amazing new puzzle/tactical-RPG almagamation of awesome. They dive into why this absolutely should be part of your DS library.

Exploring an open-world game as a WWII terrorist intent on giving Nazi’s a bad time in Paris may, on the surface, seem like a rippin’ good time, and it is! Of course every open-world experience seems to have its share of quirks and Saboteur is no different. The much-vaunted “boobies experience” actually takes quite the back seat to the slightly marred gameplay of the rest of the game world.

Comment83 Comments
Tuesday
Jan052010

CO-OP 0312 -- Snack Time -- Digital Shorts Special

by Authormatt chandronait

We’re on vacation this week, but we still wanted to get something out there to help fill up all that extra hard drive space you’ve got lying around. Yeah, this week’s show is really short, but we hope the quality makes up for the quantity! If you’ve been following us since the beginning (meaning even before CO-OP showed up on Revision3), you might be familiar with “Area 5 Snacks.” They’re digital shorts that we were putting together in the early days before we found out we needed to make money to stay in business. Here’s all four of them in a row. We would disavow these if we could, but we’ve all got our legacies to live up (or down, as the case may be). More after the show:


These are fun for us. It gives us a chance to flex our filmmaking muscles while being quick to put together. We’re hoping we can get back into doing more of these in the future, but we’re going to have to find a way to expand our asset base, first. Whoa, look at that! I can talk like a business guy! Anyway, let us know what you think. Would you like to see more of this kind of thing or should we stick to game reviews/previews?

Comment29 Comments
Tuesday
Dec292009

CO-OP 0311 -- 10,000 Deaths by 1,000,000 Bullets -- Multiplayer Shooter Special

by Authormatt chandronait

First of all, Jason makes a fashion statement in this show I think we’re destined to see become a gamer standard. Comfort being key and all.

Multiplayer shooters can have an incredibly long tail if done correctly and maintained well by the developer. We assemble a roundtable to talk about our favorites. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Team Fortress 2, Uncharted 2, Killzone 2 Battlefield 1943, HALO, are just the more modern offerings that make an appearance. We even delve into some classics like Quake! More after the show:


And who’s on this week’s multiplayer shooter panel? Why that would be Dan Hsu and Brett Bates from BitMob.com, Kat Baily, RebelFM and Eat-Sleep-Game.com badass Tyler Barber, and representing Area 5: Myself and Ryan. Yes, we know Left 4 Dead 2 didn’t make it into this week’s show. Originally we had planned on it being featured, but the natural flow of the conversation kept it from getting hte full coverage it deserves, so it will get its own, proper segment in our second show in January. I know I’ve been promising it for weeks now in our comments, but I think you’ll agree that it’s better to give it its due.

What are some of your favorite multiplayer shooters? What do you continue to go back to month after month, or even year after year? For my money it’s Tribes 2, kept up and moving thanks to the fantastic community of TribesNext. I installed it to capture the few minutes of footage we needed for this week’s show and I haven’t stopped playing it since!

Comment36 Comments
Tuesday
Dec222009

CO-OP 0310 -- Android Vs. iPhone. FIGHT! -- Mass Effect 2, James Cameron's Avatar: The Game, LittleBigPlanet (PSP)

by Authormatt chandronait

Android or iPhone? Perhaps not a nerd debate to be decided in a single episode, but that didn’t stop Cesar and Rob from taking some … extreme measures. Fortunately their adorable little feud didn’t harm our interview with Mass Effect 2 producer Adrien Cho when we got to go check out the game last week. More after the show:


LittleBigPlanet rightly made an impact upon gamers worldwide when it hit last year. Strange, then, that except for some television commercials almost no one is talking about the PSP version. In perhaps one of the closest handheld-to-console experiences to date, the online, creator-mixmaster nature of LittleBigPlanet isn’t one you’d expect to be so excellently made for a handheld system. Ryan and I talk about why this mostly-overlooked gem shouldn’t be overlooked.

A huge thanks to Adrien Cho, a producer on Mass Effect 2, for taking the time to talk to us during the Mass Effect 2 preview event last week. JayFresh was the lucky bastard that got to represent Area 5 and play the game for a few hours, but these big-game preview events are always a reunion of sorts for us in games media and our friends Jeff Cannata of some show that I hear is both Totally and Rad stuck around to talk with him and Demian Linn and Brett Bates, both of BitMob, about why ME2 is looking (surprise surprise) like yet another BioWare success story.

Biggest movie of the holiday season? Almost definitely. Biggest game of the holiday season? It’ll undoubtedly do well in terms of game sales, but Ryan, myself and 1UP’s Justin Haywald all agree that “meh” is the best, one-word descriptor you can give James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game. It’s not bad, it’s just altogether a mediocre experience. Which, with movie-licensed games, as we all know, is practically a ringing endorsement. Still, if you’re one of the lucky few who has the hardware necessary to play the game as it’s meant to be played—in 3D—then you likely won’t be disappointed. Superfans of the movie may find a lot to like here as well, but as game design goes the bar has been raised so high this year that it probably never had a chance at being a stand-out experience.

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Tuesday
Dec152009

CO-OP 0309 -- Santa Cruzin' -- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, PixelJunk Shooter, Super Meat boy!

by Authormatt chandronait

Is December really the best time to be going to the beach in Northern California? No. What kind of idiot would think that’s a good idea? Santa Cruz idiot native Cesar Quintero would, apparently. Although, there was a method to his madness … Special thanks to 8-bit Vintners for providing our delicious beverage beside the fire! More after the show:


The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the best Zelda to come out in some time. Our good friend Kat Bailey came by to talk with Ryan and Fresh about the many ways this adventure is leagues ahead of Phantom Hourglass in both story and gameplay execution.

Ryan, JayFresh, and I all sit around a warm fire, enjoying some wine kindly provided us by 8-bit Vintners and reminisce fondly about playing a game the previous eve in a way that you should only reminisce about something you’ve enjoyed for years. Q-Games and the PixelJunk series just have that effect and PixelJunk Shooter is no exception. If you’re even a little, kinda-sorta into the PixelJunk games, this one is a no-brainer.

Edmund McMillen invited us down to his apartment in Santa Cruz, California to see a super-early version of Super Meat boy!. You never get this kind of early look at games outside of the indie scene and we feel privileged to have had the opportunity. If you’ve never heard of Edmund before, you’re likely to now. Google him and go play one of the ton of free flash games he has up (including the original Meat boy and Time Fcuk), you’ll love ‘em all!

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Tuesday
Dec082009

CO-OP 0308 -- Go Outside and Play -- Tony Hawk: Ride, Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

by Authormatt chandronait

You punk skater kids! No respect for private property or authority! Who do you think you are? I swear, back in my day we knew how to treat other people with politeness and respect! That’s it, I’ve had it! I’m callin’ the cops! More after the show:


So is it time to add another plastic simulacrum of a real-world object in order to enhance your interactive entertainment experience? Tony Hawk: Ride seems to think so. Our resident skaters Jason and Cesar, however, disagree. If you’re someone like Ryan who didn’t grow up on a board with wheels, you may find more here to enjoy. As the skating video game continues to evolve thanks to there finally being some competition in the space, it’s clear that the latest Tony Hawk is at least doing something interesting if not exactly an unmitigated success.

It’s no seret to anyone that Ryan and I love Assassin’s Creed. We adored the first game in spite of its flaws and Ryan has called the second incarnation of the series one of his “favorite games of all time.” So, big shocker, we had to give Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines a try. Far more akin to the original AC it’s nonetheless a worthy addition to the series for fans or if a PSP is your only opportunity to experience the free-climbing glory and little-input-big-output combat that are hallmarks of the series.

Comment38 Comments
Thursday
Dec032009

Area 5 Joins Bitmob in Joining EGM!

by Authormatt chandronait

Some of you may have already heard via our Twitters, but the announcement just went out last night that we'll be joining our friends over at Bitmob in providing content for the newly rebuilt Electronic Gaming Monthly! Check out both press releases in full at EGMNow.com.

For those of you that don't know the history of EGM, there's a bit of it in the press release, but the salient point is that Steve Harris, original founder of EGM some 20-odd years back has regained the rights to the EGM name and is launching a product both familiar and revolutionary. We're not allowed to reveal many of the details, but Steve and EGM are looking to make a big splash and I'm sure you'll hear more shortly. For those who are curious about what we CAN reveal, both Area 5 and Bitmob staff will be on hand for next week's RebelFM (iTunes link) podcast to talk details.

I've received a few twitter messages and emails from people wondering where that leaves CO-OP, Revision3, and Area 5 as a whole. To clear things up a bit, Area 5 is its own video production company and therefore we simply look to produce content for people who wish to hire us for our services; which means status quo for CO-OP and that we'll be producing new video content for EGM. A good example is the work we're currently doing with 1UP via LiveUpdate. They hired us to shoot and edit the weekly show but that hasn't precluded our other production commitments.

Comment48 Comments
Tuesday
Dec012009

CO-OP SPECIAL -- THE JASON SHOW 2 -- New Super Mario Bros. WII

by Authormatt chandronait

We’re still on holiday for one more week but that doesn’t mean we didn’t cook up something nice for you ahead of time. I actually just got back and this is my first look at what the rest of the team (and by team, I mean Jason) cooked up for our break-week show. And boy am I ever furious! FURIOUS I tell you! Or, at least I will be after I stop laughing. Jason stole Ryan’s camera and all of AREA 5’s backup drives to construct an all-new episode of the Jason Show. Despite our wishes, behind our backs, Jason has filled his episode with outtakes and behind-the-scenes moments that the rest of the crew wishes the world didn’t have access to. More after the show:


But out-takes aren’t all we’ve got in store this week! Thanks to Dan Hsu from BitMob for chattin’ with Cesar and our friend Paul about the incredibly-new, incredibly old-school, thankfully-hard-core New Super Mario Bros. Wii! Nostalgia is in abundance here, as is Nintendo’s M.O., but this offering is the most literal re-creation of a classic yet. With the addition of 4-player multiplayer! It’s a surprising twist that may seem too chaotic at first but creates an atmosphere of laughter and fun for anyone who’s fortunate enough to sit down in a room with three friends and give it a go.

Comment35 Comments
Saturday
Nov212009

CO-OP 0306 -- Assassin's Creed 2 Review Special

by Authormatt chandronait

We’re going to be on our Thanksgiving break next week, so keep your eyes out for a special episode of CO-OP on December 1st that’ll be a departure from the norm. We’ll be back on December 8th with our regular programming. More after the show:

Better than its predecessor in every conceivable way, one of the best games Ryan has played, ever, and nearly-equal high praise from our guests Will Tuttle of GameSpy and Arthur Gies from Team XBox, the RebelFM podcast, and Eat. Sleep. Game. One unfortunate, though important, point raised in the chat this week is that the PS3 version is clearly the inferior product. To be clear, we hate the console wars and find it inane to decry one console in favor of another, but the difference in AC2 is apparent enough to merit at least some quick discussion in this week’s extra-long chat. And extra time is exactly the kind of favor that this game warrants. JayFresh and I are the final two members on the AC2 Love-Fest board of directors.

Comment47 Comments
Tuesday
Nov172009

CO-OP 0305 -- Oscar Mike -- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Part 1), Dragon Age Origins, DJ Hero

by Authormatt chandronait

Living in a large, metropolitan area can be great for midnight launch-lines. Particularly in San Francisco you run the risk—or, shall I say, opportunity—of bringing out the crazies, gamer and non-gamer alike, into one location and being able to observe the menagerie up close and personal. More after the show:

We were there for a San Francisco midnight launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 so that we could cover the single-player, at least, on this week’s show. It’s the first of a MW2 two-parter. We believe it takes longer than a few days to evaluate multiplayer so we’re going to give it a good shakedown before talking about that part of the game. David Ellis from 1UP joined Ryan and JayFresh to talk about the sometimes controversial, usually awesome, sometimes played-out trek through the single-player experience.

Jason Wilson and Demian Linn of BitMob seemed to get as much out of Dragon Age Origins as I did and we all agree that it’s one of the best PC RPGs of all time. While Ryan had tons of other games to play over the last few weeks, he did make a significant dent in the PS3 version. There are some nagging problems to be sure, but it’s hard to go wrong with this latest BioWare epic. If you’re even a sort-of, on-again-off-again RPG fan this game is an experience you simply must add to your memory bank.

DJ Hero definitely seems to be worthy of having yet another plastic peripheral in your living room. Richard Li of 1UP drops by to share his thoughts as an expert with the game with Cesar and Jason.

Comment36 Comments
Tuesday
Nov102009

CO-OP 0304 -- 3D or not 3D -- Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, James Cameron's Avatar, Torchlight

by Authormatt chandronait

The words “movie” and “license” area anathema to gamers when paired and the exception is rare. Fortunately, this week’s coverage of James Cameron’s Avatar may show us a way to one of said exceptions. We were invited to an event at the Dolby Labs in San Francisco to experience the game hands-on (in 3D no less). That begs the question: is 3D gaming a gimmick? Does anyone expect to actually own a “3D Ready” television soon enough to give a care as to whether Avatar is in 3D or not? We’re divided on the issue on this one, but that didn’t stop us from accepting an invitation to put on some goofy looking glasses and try it out for ourselves. More after the show:


Liberty City is an endless playground for ideas and implementation of said ideas and as long as Rock Star continues to deliver quality on the order of The Ballad of Gay Tony it’s likely we’ll keep buying each episode. Ryan, Cesar, and our friend from RebelFM and Eat. Sleep. Game., Tyler Barber get behind the wheel again for some insane, action-movie-esque times in the seedy underbelly of Liberty City’s club scene..

Diablo-likes abound. Excellent ones are few and Torchlight is the best of them yet. Granted, it lacks multiplayer but given the pedigree of the developers (many of which are the same people that brought you the first two Diablo games) it should be small wonder that Torchlight feels like an evolution of the gameplay type rather than an also-ran. Arthur Gies from the RebelFM podcast and Eat. Sleep. Game. came over to talk with Matt about why any Diablo fan not caught up exclusively on multiplayer should give this one a go.

We were invited (and accepted, of ourse) to go see Jame’s Cameron’s Avatar at the Dolby Labs here in San Francisco. 3D in the best audio environment imaginable? Yes please! We got to put the controllers in our hot little hands and give both the Human and Nav’vi characters a go. Check out our preview within!

Comment20 Comments
Tuesday
Nov032009

CO-OP 0303 -- Halloweenies -- iPhone Rhythm Games, R&C Future: A Crack in Time, Borderlands

by Authormatt chandronait

Yes, Area 5 threw a Halloween party! It was awesome! We had the best costumes ever! There’s no way your party was better than ours! Is there any way exclamation points can denote sarcasm as opposed to genuine enthusiasm? Honestly, we’re better gamers than we are party-planners. And, it would seem, better party-planners than we are costume-makers. Oh the inhumanity! More after the show:


Halloween is very special time of year—for everyone but Ryan. Still, he was convinced to dress up for this special occasion. However, he may have been better off avoiding the specialized Area 5 event altogether.

Rock Band iPhone just got released. The Tap Tap games have graced the platform since the beginning and there’s even a Guitar Hero clone: Guitar Rock 2, now in its second iteration. Jason and I are really into all of these games and this genre in general, so it we figured it would be fun to talk about them all in one go and let you all in on the finer points of each.

JayFresh is the biggest R&C fan at Area 5 and Ryan can always be convinced to give them a go even if he’s not the biggest fan of the series. Still, Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time grew on him enough to make sure it made it into this week’s show and it has plenty of charms to worm its way into even the most jaded gamer’s heart.

The MMO genre has generated far more than cash-cows and spectacular flops over the past few decades. It’s good to see some of the better ideas concerning game design take root in other genres. Borderlands happens to be both fun and and interesting take on design choices that most would consider the exclusive domain of its massive cousins. Arthur Gies of Eat. Sleep. Game. and RebelFM comes by to share his thoughts with JayFresh, myself, and Cesar.

Also, big special thanks to our friend Michael James and his new venture 8-Bit Vinters. He sent us some bottles of his classic-game-labeled wine and we plopped them into this episode. Go to the site and buy a bottle or three! They’re really quite good!

Comment50 Comments Reference1 Reference
Tuesday
Oct272009

CO-OP 0302 -- The Animated Series -- Demon's Souls, Eufloria, Canabalt, Geared, Mr. Bounce

by Authormatt chandronait

Yes, this is the premiere of CO-OP: The Animated Series! Except it isn’t. Well, it sort of is … you’ll see. More after the show:


Ray Barnholt from 1UP.com reviewed Demon’s Souls for that site and gave it an “A.” Kat Bailey, an industry freelance writer also thinks of the game as one of her “best purchases this year.” Ryan and I hate it. We attempt to clear up some of the mystery as to why this game appeals greatly to some and causes others to toss it aside after repeated fits of rage. Which side are you on? Does the antiquated game design frustrate the hell out of you? Enough to rage-quit like me? Or are you a masochist who enjoys floundering through bad game design out of some misguided sense of “accomplishment?” Yeah, okay, I’m totally biased and that last sentence is completely unfair, but that’s why we made sure to bring in people that are as much in love with this game as I am bothered by it. Demon’s Souls is the game most-requested by our fans in the history of CO-OP so we had to deliver!

Formerly known as Dyson, the indie darling Eufloria was given some quality play-time by me and it definitely lives up to the hype. The simplified RTS mechanics go a long way to making the graphical gem a playable wonder and were it not for the lack of multiplayer could easily be a must-have for any fan of the genre, even in such a crowded holiday season.

It’s been a while since we got a chance to cover gaming on the iPhone and we figured it would serve you better if we could offer up more than just a single title for your consideration. Within: the simplistic but addictive Canabalt, the groovy and though-provoking puzzler Geared, and a new take on a classic gaming form with Mr. Bounce. Bon appetit!

If you like what we do and have a little spare change, click that donate button over to the right. If you don’t have any spare change, donate a comment! We love hearing from y’all :)

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Tuesday
Oct202009

CO-OP 0301 -- An Age of Wonder -- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Bit.Trip Void

by Authormatt chandronait

Arcades still exist, particularly if you’re willing to expand your definition a bit. The Musée Mécanique is a remnant of a San Francisco past steeped in amusements for the emergent middle class of the late 19th and early 20th century. Within are some of the oldest coin-op amusements to be found anywhere. We take a trip down memory lane (not our own memories, mind you, I’m not that old) with some true cultural predecessors to our favorite form of media. More after the show:

What do you do when Nintendo invites you out to get a quick look-see at New Super Mario Bros. Wii? You say YES! Cesar, Matt, and JayFresh give a quick look at some of the new hotness coming to classic franchise.

Gigantic thanks to the cool guys over at Gaijin Games for letting us come down to Santa Cruz and invade their palatial studios! A pool, a conference room, a kitchen, even a classic game room! Who knew indie developers had it so good? The developers of the deliciously retro Bit.Trip series for WiiWare give us a quick look at their next game in the series: Void. The off-screen footage does a poor result of conveying the scintillating colors inherent in this game, so just take our word for it that it looks awesome!

The superlatives used to describe Uncharted 2: Among Thieves are largely correct. We use many of them in this segment. This should surprise no one. The game has been almost unanimously received positively and we are no exception. This is also the longest segment in CO-OP’s short history, but the game gives so much to discuss that Matt, Ryan, and GameSpy’s and Eat. Sleep. Game.’s Anthony Gallegos can’t help but go on at length about it.

Help us keep the lights on! Click on that donate button over there ->

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Friday
Oct162009

Subscribe to CO-OP on your PSP!

by Authormatt chandronait
A big thanks to Sean Parsons for maintaining a new script that you can subscribe to on your PSP in order to get a version of CO-OP that is formatted for that device. Thanks Sean! The link is here: If you're on a PSP you need to use http://www.futurenotfound.com/area5psprss.xml If you're on a random web broswer, you can see what you'll be getting by using feed://www.futurenotfound.com/area5psprss.xml It comes from the same servers that our show does normally, so if you get it on your PSP it's the same (and gets counted the same) as downloading it from the links below our video or when you get it through iTunes. Sean, thanks man! You rock! If you want to follow Sean on Twitter you can find him at http://www.twitter.com/seanparsons
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Tuesday
Oct132009

CO-OP SPECIAL -- Cesar's Tokyo Travels, GTA4: TLATD, Street Fighter 4

by Authormatt chandronait

The new stuff this week consists of Cesar’s pretty sweet travel log of his time in Japan during TGS. Japan is certainly unique and here within are some great reasons why.

Since we’re on vacation we were struggling with what to put in a show when we’re not even supposed to have a show. The idea came up to post something most of you probably haven’t seen. Prior to CO-OP being part of the Revision3 family of programming, Area 5 produced the show solely for our YouTube channel and it was in Standard-Definition. CO-OP 0004 was a test-bed show for Revision3 where we actually produced the entire thing in HD so that they could try out their compression settings and what not in advance of our first, actual premiere on the network. Here, for the first time anywhere, along with Cesar’s Tokyo adventures from a few weeks ago are the two game segments from CO-OP 0004 in HD:

Dan Hsu may no longer maintain the Sorethumbsblog, but yeah, that’s what the titles for that section say in this episode because back when this segment was shot that was still before the launch of the awesome BitMob. Ryan and Cesar are also in this segment that talks about what makes The Lost and the Damned such a compelling bit of DLC.

Miguel Lopez now works for GameTrailers, but back when he and Ryan had this chat about Street Figher IV he was still going strong at GameSpy. In a an excellent segment that is part reminiscing about past SF glory days and part review of the latest incarnation, it’s one of the segments we are most proud of from our “Season 0” time period.

We’ll be back in full form next week with Uncharted 2, Bit Trip Void (including some awesome time we spent with the indie developer, Gaijin Studios), and more.

If you have a spare nickle, head over to that sidebar and donate. If you don’t have a spare nickle, donate a comment!

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