CO-OP 0205 -- Trine, 'Splosion Man, Critter Crunch -- 1337 h4x0r
matt chandronaitTrue story: my World of Warcraft account got hacked, my shit stolen/sold and my character transferred off my account. The rest of this narrative is fiction (mostly). Still, it’s a sort-of-followup to last week’s “Little Brother, Big Brother” which is something we don’t do all that often. More after the show:
Oh, indie games, why must you impress us so? With your endless surprises and incredible inventiveness, ne’er shall you fail to impress! Trine is but the latest-and-greatest example in this regard, as Giant Bomb’s Brad Shoemaker arrives to attest to. An intensely creative game and extremely well-done, the critiques are few and far between, but meaningful (we hope). Currently only available on the PC, you consolites should be aware of the game’s eventual arrival on your platform of choice and you’d do well to make purchase of it! Not sure why my language is so, em, antiquated today, but whatevs (there, that’s better). Due to an equipment error, Brad’s audio is kinda shitty in this week’s episode. First off: sorry Brad! Second off: sorry, audience! We waved around our best Wand of Audio Clarity +2 (the +5 was out being cleaned) and he’s at least audible if not exactly clean and reverb-free. Still, Trine is awesome.
A while a go, we intended to cover ‘Splosion man. In fact one of our earlier episodes even has it in the title. *ahem* Oops! That was actually my fault. I put together the final show-file that week and simply didn’t cut n’ paste properly. It feels kinda like Michael Bolton’s mistake in Office Space; just another one of those “mundane details.” The developer was extremely kind, however, and not only worked to get us an actual build of the game, but gave us a never-before-seen level to capture footage of! Jason and JayFresh have been loving their brief interludes into the ‘Splosion man universe and we think you’ll be as into the game as we are once you’ve watched this segment.
It’s an oldie, but since it came out wa-hay before we launched CO-OP, it made sense to us to give Critter Crunch for the iPhone some love. It’s been in the modern gaming news recently thanks to the announcement of an PSN version and I wanted to give it a showing since it’s still on my iPhone nearly a year later and is still a regular diversion for me due it’s most-excellent gameplay. As one of the iPhone’s first, big games, it still holds up extremely well and is something you’ll probably want in your library.
Reader Comments (51)
thanks for another great show guys. Really interested in Trine and Splosion man.
Thanks man! They are both awesome :)
Hahahaha one of the best episodes yet. Great show!
Speaking of "follow-ups", what about mother mission 2? really loved that episode, and i crave more.
Love the show, only good thing about tuesdays...
Thanks for all the great work you guys do.
Sorry bout your WoW character Matt :(. Thanks again for the show. I can't wait for Trine to hit PSN. No release date has been announced has it? And here is to getting frustrated yet addicted to Battlefield 1943.
area5 rules!!!!!!!:)
Great show! I feel errr felt your pain on the wow account thing.My account was also stolen a few weeks ago and even after sending in all the forms and keys and shit.Still never got it back.Oh well gives me time to catch up on the 3 years of console gems i missed.Hope you get your shit back Matt.Keep up the good work guys.
Awesome show...again, again, again! I'm definitely getting Trine and Critter Crunch after hearing you guys talk about them, once they hit PSN! Although the last level in Trine does sound gamebreaking for me...hope they fix that for the console version!
i can take care of your little brother problem
all you need is some bleach, a rubber ducky, and a toaster
we can talk later after you prepare the bathtub of DOOOMMM!
(Evil Laugh)
all of you should start playing hacky bottle
it's awesome
look it up on youtube
type in "preview to hacky bottle" its the one with all the guys standing in a line with thier backs to the camera
then after you watch the video go to incredilee's page and watch his other videos!
all shall bow down to the flag
the flag is the holy one
he or she shall live on forever
the end is near
run for your life!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick un deux trois quatre cinq eat pie six sept huit neuf dix onze douze treize cake is bad quatorze quinze seize dix-sept dix-huit subliminal messaging rules! dix-neuf vingt!
great job kids you just learned the first 20 numbers in french
au revoir
je te mange!
(I eat you)
where i'm from, which happens to be 45 minutes from san francisco, in novato, people like to call me the ramblin, gamboling, fence- hopping, abyss-living, river-dancin, guitar-hating, fly fishing, madame baird hating, Steger motherf***er!!!!!!!
this is actually true
and this is also why i hate myself
goode day
@Jonathan ... yeah man, no release date announced yet for either the PSN or XBLA versions. :( -- it's just a weird situation all around. Totally with ya on 1943 :)
@Stoolcat ... Ryan's been whining like a little lost puppy about doing another one of those episodes, so it'll happen, if only to shut 'im up!
@Senten ... yeah, it looks like I'll get it back (knock on wood) but I'm not gonna count my dragons before they're hatched. See? I'm a nerd! I typed "dragons" instead of "chickens!"
@ramblin ... your name is well-earned.
@Matt
If you (or anyone else) weren't i wouldn't even be here man :P
Another fantastic episode. Looking forward to Trine on PSN. Not sure whether to get Critter Crunch for my iPhone or wait for the PSN release, or both, lol!! :P
Keep up the good work, looking forward to next week's now!!
Ah Matt, so sorry to hear about your WoW troubles! I hope you get resettled soon. :)
Getting your WoW account hacked may have been a blessing in disguise.
I was wondering if there's a noticeable difference between the HD and the Large Quicktime versions of your program if I'm watching it on an iPhone or an iTouch. I'm sorry if this was covered before but it's not in any area on your site that I can find -_-;; The show is great, just don't know which one to download!
I liked the pedophile joke. It was icky and funny at the same time.
Good job as usual. 'Splosion Man looks awesome, can't wait to get it.
Really good. It looks really awesome. I like looking at your video.
I don't want this to come off the wrong way because I love your show. I really do. One of the very best on the internet or TV. However, I think the fictional narrative portion isn't necessary. I think most of the people that will give you feedback are ok with it and maybe even enjoy it, but I find it to be a little awkward and pointless. The parts of the show where you are reviewing or previewing games is perfect. I can't say enough how great of a job you guys do, so I hope this isn't coming across bad. I just wanted to give some constructive feedback. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think for this show to appeal to a larger audience, you should really drop the fictional part. Thanks for the great show you bring us every week! : )
Has anyone played this new online game yet? http://www.playvirtualcity.com
@DanOD ... yeah man, that's kind of a dilemma if you don't have Critter Crunch already. For what it's worth, I think the art in the iPhone version is cuter, heh.
@Steve ... on an iPhone, probably not. The 30fps version is mainly meant for people watching it on HDTV's or that are just interested in making sure the game footage looks as close to how we captured it as possible. You're better off with a smaller download on the iPhone, methinks.
@AJ Jenkins ... Ryan is definitely the #1 with pedophile humor here at Area 5. That shit's unscripted, yo!
@Carole ... thank you! It's always great to hear that people outside of the United States enjoy our show :)
@Nate ... No problem Nate! And not the first time we've heard this criticism, so don't worry about it and we always appreciate the feedback! We've heard just as many of the opposite response, however, and that the narrative allows some gamers to watch the show with their non-gamer friends and spouses and so on, so we're not ready to drop it just yet. Still, you may have noticed that we've scaled it back somewhat since we started as I'd agree that the "payoff" from the narrative isn't large enough to warrant the man-hours we were pouring into it. A big reason why we do it, as well, is to stretch the filmmaker muscles of our crew and to avoid getting stale in our production processes. Thanks for the feedback, though, man, as we always appreciate it!
@Robert Pereda ... the idea of using real money in a virtual space is still anathema to me. I'm glad they have a "play money" option but I'm not sure that buying/selling real-estate is going to get my gamer-needs satiated. I kinda had the same problem with Eve Online.
after five years of waiting i finally made my first comment on a video game website and i couldn't be happier that it was area 5
it took me five years because every other website told me i had to become a member of something
so screw them!! (ign gamespot gamesradar redvsblue g4 and sadly 1up)
i'm so sorry 1up
if only that time machine had worked i could of prevented that horrible day (tears)
i've been a huge fan of 1up and purchased egm monthly
PS
please tell 1up to stop sending me maxima magazine!!!!!!!!
it's annoying!
PSS
go see harry potter so that you can make daniiel radcliffedouche even richer!
HOOARY FOR CORPARATIONS!!!!
you know what they say
RANDOMNESS IS BLISS
or was it smores?
i don't remember
but anyway blah blah blah blah video games blah blah blah blah toasters blah blah blah blah spongebob blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
awards ceremonies blah blah blah blah blah blah simpsons blah blah blah blah blah antidisestablishmentarism blah blah blah blah BAM!
@nate: I agree with your sentiments regarding the the "fluff" pieces added to the show. Having said that, I'm glad they scaled down the teenage humor. The cribs episode was probably the best non-joke material they produced so far (not to mention, the most enjoyable) and the worst was the over-long "brutal legend" bit (where an Area 5 member dressed up as the main character).
You have to give them credit for trying to avoid falling into the sort of 'bad comedy' and 'bathroom humor' that other shows (x-play or good game) or even podcasts get into, which damages any hope for the people working on those to get any respect or credibility. That's why Ngai Croal, Michael Pachter, etc.. are considered influential journalists and analysts while Adam Sessler (who is knowledgeable when it comes to games but gets into all sorts of shenanigans like dropping his pants on-camera) doesn't get the respect he deserves from people in the industry.
Now if coo-op could only get rid of that god awful intro song and replace it with something better and shorter, that way I wouldn't have to skip the intro every time I watch an episode ;-)
I giggled.
ANYWAYS, I could tell most of that was fake, but mostly only because YOU'RE RUNNING XP UNDER THE '98 THEME.
YAY!
Side note: I would have no idea what I was doing if I opened up WoW, and Green Day sucks.
Also, that email address made me lol.
Same with the classic smouch.net.
Keep it up.
- Yer bro
Also, mostly this episode proves that one certain Co-Op cast member sucks at NOT ONLY CELLFACTOR, BUT ALSO BF 1943.
Have a nice day :3
http://apps.facebook.com/conquestresurgent?a=a&source=554032605&tag=mytag
I'm sad to say it but the show is getting less and less interresting every week. Iphone games segment? Sure, I understand that you guys have bought into the iphone-greatness-mass-psychosis, but many of us don't like broken products, or products that have to be broken when bought. I think this segment should be dropped right away.
It used to be a pleasure to watch 1up and coop, now its just... somewhat annoying. Change is necessary. To keep me watching - drop the iphone segment and keep Matt behind the camera. If you think you found the right way to go already I wish you all the best in the future, cheers
adwhores
Really enjoying your focus on downloadable games over the last couple of weeks. I do not have an iphone but it is good to see what it has to offer. This year has been all about downloadable games and DLC for me. As I get older (now 31) I am prefering low cost, shorter game experences. In resent months I have bought.
All the Fallout 3 DLC
Fable 2 DLC
Battlefield 1943
Monkey Island
Peggle
looking forward to getting Splosion man, Shadow complex and Trine
@Dasan ... Haha, we thought it was a good follow-up to our "falling out" episode ;) -- Miss you already, man! And Jason doesn't suck, he just likes to take one for the team for narrative reasons. Way to go Jason! ;)
@Al DLC is the wave of the future! er... present! I just finished the last two Fallout DLCs last week and am really looking forward to Mothership Zeta. I wish more games had that kind of dedication and planning to expand their gaming experience so far beyond retail.
@Nick ... Sorry that it hasn't been appealing to you, recently. The iPhone segments seem to be pretty popular, which is why we keep doing them. I think part of that is just that there isn't any other video programs out there doing iPhone at all, so it leaves that market pretty open to us. It may not be your personal cup o' tea, but it IS working for the show so we'll be sticking with it. That, and we genuinely believe in it as a gaming platform and feel that it's potential as a profitable venture for indie game-makers is unparalleled given the access they have to development tools and distribution so we feel that supporting the platform supports the smaller developers/publishers out there. This is also the notorious "summer slump" in the games industry where the big releases have all come out or are-coming-out later in the year. It's a great time to zero in on DLC (something Microsoft has latched on to thanks to their Days of Summer) so that's what we've been doing. We also enjoy it as we can take the chance to highlight, again, the smaller games that really should receive support from the gamer community without the pressurized media shuffle surrounding high-profile releases breathing down our necks.
Taco bell rap song
LYRICS:
Iʼll start with a taco, soft like a cloud
I want mine crunchy, I like to eat loud.
Iʼll choose a chalupa, Iʼll grab a gordita,
and two taco salads for our senoritas.
And a Burrito Supreme, with extra sour cream
Itʼs a cylindrically shaped seasoned beef dream.
A taquito. An enchirito. Some cinnamon twists.
A chicken border bowl. Are you gettinʼ all this?
And you know that nothing beats a
hmmm, mmmm...Mexican Pizza...
Weʼll take two of those, but please hold the diced tomatoes.
And I admit, Iʼve always felt,
like Iʼm in love with the meximelt.
Make mine with a little extra love, and think of me...
as the cheese drops from your Taco Bell glove.
and thatʼs it.
No! Iʼm not done...Iʼll also take a...
Double-decker taco cause Iʼm feeling wild
And make my sauce Fire. Uh, heʼll take mild.
and weʼll take two Mt. Dew Baja blasts
for a chance at 25 dollars cash
Iʼm told thereʼs a winner for every 5 minutes
Iʼm stealing your online code if you win it.
Why would you do that? You owe me 25 bones
I owe you 5. Plus interest--it was a loan.
And I think weʼll be satisfied, if we get some mexican rice on the side.
And thatʼs it.
look it up on youtube
its quote "LOL"
i have seven friends who are going to comic con and one of them is actually going to be on attack of the show on g4
lucky bastard
also the 7th friend didn't know that comic con is in san diego
he went there to see his relatives
but then he heard about comic con and he found his way in
if only i could of gone
sniff :(
sam will be on tv sometime between 1:30 - 2:30
Hey guys, I don't know if you've heard about this, but Petri Purho (maker of Crayon Physics) posted a time-lapse making-of video of his latest game, Post-It Shooter, on Youtube, and there's a part in the video where he takes a break to watch Co-Op. Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdx8dBGbi4c
Man, another good show guys. In response to some of the criticisms on the goofiness of the show, I'm kind of on the fence. Maybe if they were toned down just a bit, and you focused more on consoles again (or major games, I don't use iPhone and don't care), people would be happier, and yeah, I'm really not into the intro either. I constantly skip it.
you know ramblin, this is WHY 1up makes you sign in: to keep high-as-a-kite retards like you out, who spam comments incessantly. SHUT UP
'Splosion Man is 'cking 'wsome. You and Rebel FM convinced me. Reminds me of Zool and Earthworm Jim (minus the Chupa Chups and cows).
Also - glad to see you weren't wearing mics while playing Battlefield 1943 - it adds that touch of realism ;) . I've only played four or five games with communicating squads so far.
Great show guys, An idea for a future show, review wipeout HD again (fairly sure ryan and shane covered it on 1up some time ago). With the recently released Fury update and even lower price it really is one of the best PSN titles out there (along with the pixeljunk games) and deserves as much coverage as possible. Keep up the great work!
That's more like it! More narratives, please, Area 5.
I agree with Andrew R, Wipeout HD Fury could use some coverage! I just bought the update, and the graphics are insane! I gonna be playing this all week! Also bought Shatter which also hasn't been covered a lot by the media!
Hey Guys,
I love your work! I thought I would chime in and say that I love both the intro and the "goofiness" of the show. I downloaded the intro music and it is now on my iPhone (Which I love seeing the game reviews for). I enjoy the narrative segments of the show as they are. Just remember to keep them short. I remember the early days of the 1up show, the stories would sometimes take up a third of the time.
Keep up the awesomeness.
-Michael
Hey guys just wondering did Ryan like trade all his consoles in for a couple iphones? Every week he comes with a new iphone game lol.
I wonder if you guys could go into more detail on why you picked to go so in-depth on the iphone? Is it because it's a platform with sooo many new titles coming out that every week you can have a quality title showcased or did you feel it would be a good thing to jump into considering that no one is really giving the time and attention you guys are? I mean you guys devote 1/3 of your show every week to a new title, which is pretty cool.
Also seriously how do you guys even fit in a lot of time for gaming? I mean between filming, editing, playing casually, and not being hermits it seems crazy you guys can fit in sooo many games into your life.
Also I'd like to add that I've always appreciated your work and am still watching old 1Up Show episodes (at the moment I'm watching one from 06/30/06), but I was wondering if it would be possible ever to get Jane and Che back on for a episode? Would be kinda cool to see their stance on current games and the industry since it's been a few years.
Wow, this and the last episode were pretty hilarious, as far as the skits were concerned. I wonder how it'll escalate!
I'd just like to mention that I love the idea of Gamer Cribs, and hope you do more of them. They don't have to be fancy, rich-people homes; in fact, the opposite could be better, seeing what people can do in quirky, small spaces and minimal hardware.
It is cool advertising. Very funny, but I am sure it is totally true. Some people are like this.
lol