CO-OP, episode 0002 - Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage and Skate 2
matt chandronaitIt's the second episode of CO-OP! I know it seems like the third, but the first was a two-parter. Deal with it.
Between the generous donation of some machines and finally being able to spend the PayPal donation money sound gear, we're finally feeling like we can produce up to the quality we expect of ourselves. Hopefully you'll agree. If you don't, comment and let us know why! We're actually really interested to hear what people have to say, so we've worked with a partner to come up with a survey. It's important that the survey come from those of you that watch the show, so we've embedded the URL in the show itself.
This week we brought over Nick Suttner of RebelFM and Eat. Sleep. Game. fame to share a Skate 2 love-in with Ryan and Jason. Then, outside our favorite, local ice creamery, Humphrey Slocombe, Patrick Klepek of MTV Multiplayer joined our Cesar and Philip Kollar (also of Eat. Sleep. Game.) in a conversation about their experiences with the Fallout 3 expansion, Operation Anchorage. In case you haven't heard from his Twitter, Patrick is the latest casualty of an economy-turned-wrong and will be leaving the Multiplayer blog at the end of this month. We're going to miss his contributions to that most excellent of resources, but we know he'll land on his feet. People that talented never go completely off the radar and you can bet that wherever he ends up he--and his hair--are going to propel it into the stratosphere of excellence! All the best, Patrick! We love you man!
If you've been following our Twitters, you may know that this week was a very good week for our team. I wish I could tell you more, but, honestly, but I'm a little afraid of jinxing the shit out of it. There is one thing that will be obvious right away, though, and it's directly related to the donation link coming down. We got a sponsor! There were rumors that Rob had mentioned sacrificing his roommate's cat--in a most insidious way, I might add--in order to bring about such fortuitous circumstances. I haven't the courage to enquire as to whether he actually went through with it. Gift horses and mouths and all that. Thanks to EA and The Godfather 2® game, we know how these next four episodes of Co-op are going to be funded! Even though we've received a ton of messages and comments from people telling us that they'll gladly pay for our work, the ability to continue to offer it for free is something we dared not hope for. Maybe we should have dared. Just a little.
That's not the end of the good news, however, and more will be revealed next week. Keep your fingers and toes firmly in the crossed position for us!
As usual, you can also download the file from Vimeo.
Reader Comments (84)
Good stuff - the intro was charming, in a gawkish sort of way. The video quality does seem worse than the first Co-op episode, but I'm guessing that's just a temporary issue.
Looking forward to next week's episode.
Great to see how the show is taking shape guys. Hearing that you are now funded only adds to the anticipation of what future shows may bring.
Really awesome episode guys, totally dug the discussions and settings. Seeing all the ex-1UP guys float between all these great projects is a lot of fun. Any chance Co-op will start becoming weekly for real now, or will it still be a while before you all will have the tools and the time to do that? Either way, keep it up, this show is incredibly good so far.
Great work guys. I'm happy to hear you got some funding. There is next to no one else doing what you do so I'm glad there are people out there that realize this sponser you guys.
Great show! I'm so glad you guys are back to business. Can't wait to see more from you. Keep up the great work!!
Sounds like things are going well with Area 5 -- glad to hear it! I'm downloading the MP4 from Vimeo as I type this; assuming it plays on my PS3, this is going to be an awesome viewing experience.
Glad stuff is working guys! Another good episode, keep em' coming! I'll definitely be watching!
[...] you can see in the post for this episode over at Area 5 the guys have secured some funding for CO-OP for the next 4 episodes. This is great news as we [...]
I have to say I was kind of skeptical of sitting down and watching a 30 minute piece. I've followed you guys all through one up but I was afraid that given the chance to do your own show with your own rules that the show would drag or be full of things i wasn't interested in.
But none of that happened. I really enjoyed how you took the time and broke down the games you were playing and what you enjoyed about them. It's something I really wanted to do myself in a podcast form but haven't because of work. I love having the visuals go along with your discussion and not having to guess about what your chatting about. It really helps keep the pacing going and not drag. I would like to see the conversations shortened up a little but and possibly have a 3rd game discussed but overall it didn't drag on. I watched it all and went back and watched episode two.
It's also really nice see a face with a name. For some reason I can lock onto that and now match a voice with a name and face.
Anyway, continue your work. I really love it and hope you guys can keep up the funding and stamina to do it.
Havent watched yet, but nice job on the sponsor. I knew you guys could do it! :D
G'day guys,
This is a real step up for you guys and proves that you can produce some high quality material. Well done.
If Cesar likes the Fosters he should also try VB (Victoria Bitter) which is the most popular beer down here in Australia now.
cheers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1nxxVe5pTs&NR=1
Just watched! Holy shit, good show guys. Might pick Skate 2 up.
Wow, seeing the cost of Final Cut x3 is brutal.. I feel your pain.
Loved the episode, guys.. keep 'em coming!
It's great to hear you guys are doing well, and it's good to see you back doing what you do best. Keep up the great work! Friday nights at the office just might become bearable again!
Loved the episode guys! I particularly liked the random bits around the segments, it gives it this "bunch of guys making this out of their apartment" feel.
The sacrifice went as planned. You can thank me later.
Nice one. Excellent editing work again with all the right game footage to match the interesting conversations. But man - that was a long as study ;-). It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. Oh sh.... I hope you can't tie my points to my name now. Gotta go O_o.
ps. Would still pay for the show =). Keep up the good work guys!!
I really look forward to the HD versions of the show! I always wanted HD when the 1UP show still existed.
Great episode guys, am happy that the show is still on. Keep it up!!!
Episode 2 is much improved over the first two. I totally agree when you say that you're getting back to the production quality that we're all used to. Nice work guys!
now with improved sound! congrats on the sunset shots. the apple store trip was a cool bonus.
Great show! Just watching FO makes me want to play T-T. But sadly my xbox has been whisked away to microsoft repair. Anyway I would love to see you guys have a format on your RSS that would be playable on my psp since thats where I listen to 90% of my podcasts.
Cool, new ep! So now that you guys have a sponsor would you put it in itunes?
Pretty good episode, but I think the first episode was better. I guess it's too much to ask that everyone comes back for each episode. But I'm glad that you guys are doing well financially.
Anyone who said they wanted the segments shorter is crazy. I'm really hoping you can get the show to around an hour long a week (kind of how Totally Rad Show does). The more the better.
Keep up the great work guys!
Picky suggestion: less cuts. From 7:40 to 9:00 there are something like 15 cuts for one piece of conversation. Visually, it's very busy and it's hard to focus on what people are saying.
I feel you guys are putting so much effort into making the show look interesting that it's overpowering the actual content of discussion.
mmmyep
Great show guys, glad to see you succeed.
Just one question, I used to watch the show by Miro, on a channel. Will the new show get it's own channel, or am I doomed on youtube website? :))
I should add, though -- I loved the trip to Apple, particularly the one shot that just sits at the light. I just thought it was funny that it was in there.
When Nick, Jason and Ryan are reviewing Skate 2, near the end of their conversation, their faces started getting really dark. Maybe a light turned on from the camara set at a low setting would help the contrast in there faces with the sunset behind them.
Great show yet again. I still feel like I'm watching the 1up Show. Only a few things I'd like, and I don't want to sound like I didn't like it, because I did.
My Wish List/Comments:
-Longer show (An hour would be great!)
-More games (At least 3 games would be nice, but even more would be better.)
-More recent games/DLC (On the 1up Show you featured games that weren't released yet, which I'd enjoy to see again. I understand you guys are just beginning this endeavor and access to earlier builds will only come with time, so I look forward to seeing that. However, I wouldn't enjoy the quality of discussions to be sacrificed for access to games earlier. The one thing I love the most about your opinions is that they are genuine and thought through.)
-The transitions when you have more than one piece of footage on screen at a time to slide. For example, have the game footage slide halfway onto the screen rather than just popping up. I feel it would make the footage less choppy, plus it would go with the feel given by the hand-operated cameras.
-iTunes feed (If this is possible, because this is where I watch/listen to all of my other shows.)
-I liked the fact that the sponsor ad at the beginning was short, audio-less, and didn't interrupt the show at all. I hate it when shows make ads an ordeal, and I found what you guys did to be very acceptable as a viewer.
-The overlapping of the footage from about 7:30 in to about 7:40 was annoying. I liked the overlay itself, but with the game footage behind it, it clashed. It could work for some games, but with an FPS it covered up the focus of the action, so it didn't work right then.
-I like how you put in footage where you aren't playing perfectly. There's moments where you get caught up on a ledge or an invisible wall, and I feel that gives the footage a more realistic look and shows the occasional problems with a game, which, as a player, I appreciate seeing.
-I know it's probably hard, but I loved the retrospective show and how there wer so many people. If you could get intense conversations with maybe six-ish people, that'd be great.
-Going off of my last comment, I think it would be cool if you did a segment where you analyze something about games in general, in terms of mechanics or genres. I like it when they do this on Rebel FM, such as their shooter discussion. I think it'd be a nice addition to the show.
-I really enjoy the variety of guests you have on the show.
I can't think of anything else right now. I hope I didn't come off as critical. I really enjoy the insight of your opinions and I value your input. You, RebelFM, and ListenUP are my go-to sources on whether or not to buy a game. I look forward to future shows, hopefully on a weekly basis, or a two-week schedule with hour-long shows. Thanks for the show!
too many shots? no one kills the party like a film student
Excellent job again guys, the 1UP Show may be dead, but Co-op is a more than worthy replacement.
The only thing you really, really need, is an awesome theme song. That is the only thing I miss from the old days. It just gave the show that extra feeling of legitimacy if you will, decades of conditioning has told me that a show has music at the start and end of an episode. Well, I guess you guys already know this, which is why you had it on the 1UP Show in the first place.
Glad to see you got the first of (hopefully) many sponsors to keep you afloat. The add at the start was very unobtrusive, and I'm perfectly happy to endure a longer advert if that means I get my 30 minutes of gaming show each week(ish).
I don't really need the show to be longer. ~30 minutes is cool.
Good show. I definitely prefer post- over pre-release coverage. But, and I know this isn't something you can really manufacture, it'd be nice to see people with more contrasting opinions on the games you cover.
sdf, I'm not a film student. I simply want the show to be the best it can be and any little help I feel I can offer, I will. If they don't want to use it, they don't have to. The show is already great, I'm just offering my opinion. I also like to use correct punctuation. Have a wonderful day.
Great show!
another amazing show guys another amazing show!
Really though i loved the 1up show and i loved hearing all the new gaming news and how exactly people are reacting about it, not through a set "Review" section or a set "Preview" with strict rules but really with an open discussion about anything and everything. It wasn't a set review or anything they were pure impressions!
And that's what i still love to see you doing. But to be honest you have a chance to do things the way you want. Your no longer tied to a set of games that just came out that you feel like you need to talk about. Your no longer tied to even being a video game show.
That's not saything that you should because you do video games the best. But i really like the change of place with the actual house and i woould love to see alot more places being used. Please take advantages of all the things that you are no longer tied to, take advantage of just the general change.
who's talking to you, Gulo?
Thanks guys. Really liked the two game format with the same approx. time for the show. I think being able to spend a bit more time on each game is a real plus. Also I really liked the between game segments in this episode. I think you guys are really using you current transition in a great way to keep the show fresh. My biggest problem with the 1UP show was how scripted the in between bits felt. Clearly that is still the case to some extent but I think the new "documentary" style your going for is fantastic. Particularly the driving shots in this episode were fantastic - very much a success with the artistic eye.
best of luck with the new sponsorships and maybe something more. I'll look forward to hearing about what the new venture you hinted at is.
Amazing show! Hope you guys get your equipment situation all set only because I really look forward to watching Co-op every Friday. On a side note, ice cream cones, video game talk, and scarves are a lethal mix.
And by lethal I mean weird and uncomfortable. Other then that, A++++++++++++++
DELIGHTED that you got a sponsor. Seeing that ad come up made me grin!
Skate section was great btw - nice comparison shots with Skate 1 in particular. Good stuff.
i forgot in the survey a sponsor id like...UNIQLO!
Hey guys,
Nice job on the show! Episode 002 was great though I would like to see three games per show . Two seems too little and four seems a bit much. I think three would be perfect. The length of the show was around the right spot. 30-45 minutes shows are fun to watch because I can sit down for a long period, relax and hear you guys talk about some games. Video quality wasn't that great either. Not sure if it's youtube or what but I hope it gets worked out.
I really wish that there was a posibility to subscribe to the show via a rss reader so that I could get it automagically to my iPod.
I know you have your reasons but still.
sdf, if you weren't talking to me, I apologize. Considering you didn't specify who you were talking to or what specifically you were talking about, and that you posted right after me, I figured it was directed at me. My bad.
In the coming week or two, we'll provide more information about the future, including what our downloadable formats will be. Where are we going? Please be patient a little bit longer and we'll let you know.
In the meantime, tell all your friends about the show and please take the survey at:
http://area5.tv/survey/
Thanks for all your support!
I really hope that the survey is a clue to the coming news.
I've filled in others very similar recently.
Guys, if you want the sponsors to stick around, the AD has to be much better than what you showed. You guys should look at LEO LAPORTE's podcasts and how he does the ads. As a viewer, I'd definitely would not mind ADS for content this good.
Hope you guys can sustain this business!!!
Really great to see the audio and visual quality get up and running on 'full level'. The show is really comming along great. Please... keep it up, should you be hired by a larger website (which you should), bring the show over! I don't much care if its the 1up show, the area5 co-op or the newsweek games show!
You guys just need to continue making great videogame shows!
Area5, Australian for awesome ;)