CO-OP 0314 -- Reflections 2009: Part 1 -- Batman, Uncharted 2, Red Faction, Infamous, & Many More
matt chandronait2009 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.
Reader Comments (23)
Great episode! All the discussions were well realized. Including the ps3 online discussion in my opinion. Sony is admittedly still playing catch-up in this regard, but MW2 includes some baby steps forward with it's cross-game invites. If you join a MW2 game from another game, it actually pops up telling you to insert the disk, and then a minute later, you're in! Its a small improvement, but a good one. (And one that was sorely needed. here's hoping for cross game chat next :P)
Also, what is it with games having great songs in them now? fat princess' credits sequence, plants vs. zombies' musical number? all you guys need to do is chuck in some discussion of Telltale Games' songs, and the cycle would be complete. The "war" song from Sam and Max Season 1 is completely hilarious :-D
keep on keeping on :-)
@Ben Maltz-Jones ... A small, but yes, significant improvement! They need to make a series of small updates exactly like that. And yeah, it really seems like the last 4-5 years have seen a jump in the number of games that put a lot of effort into making their music a bigger part of the experience. LittleBigPlanet is the best, recent example (the PSP version has music which might even be better!)
Awesome episode guys. I thought the transition between each game felt really smooth and natural. Also, I'm glad to see Red Faction get some recognition, as I didn't see it on many people's year-end lists.
Looking forward part two!
My favorite Episode!
I always love the reflections:) It's like being a kid in a candy shop. There's always something good to eat or find.
2009 was crazy year for video games. The so called recession proof business threw a punch at game developers like Pandemic and Radical Games but at the same time racked in a shit load of dough. (MW2 and Wii)
Here's hoping that 2010 reflection will be even better!
Favorite Game(s) of 09 = Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Infamous, Uncharted 2, and Batman AA
Because you can't just have a #1 or else that would be unfair to all the publishers who put their time and effort into making a good game and end up #2!
@Matt What was the most surprisingly good game of 09 that you didn't see coming? That you thought would suck?
@Novato ... Definitely Red Faction! I seriously thought that game was going to be mediocre at best and it ended up being one of my favorites of the year! And I totally agree that you can't pick just one or rank them in order, really, which is why we didn't try to :)
@Mark ... THanks man, glad it went over smoothly. That was our goal, of course, but it's always nice to get feedback as to how it really felt to all y'alls :)
Another great episode to start off the new year, just like last year's reflections episode. Though, one thing in particular... I guess I'm not alone about Nolan North being the voice of every damn character these days. I've written a blog on 1UP about it the other night too!
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9017001
Make this a yearly tradition
Wait a sec. How was the bridge made from indie games to plants versus zombies?
Guys is it Me or is your MP4 (30FPS) only running at 24Fps??? I've tried it on VLC and Media Player Classic they both run 23.97...everything is all hitchy
Good discussion, Batman AA and Uncharted 2 were my standout games of the year, the voice acting in particular was amazing. I also thought Shadow Complex raised the bar for what we can expect from downloadable games on consoles in the future and was also my bargain of the year.
Regards
Al
Hey CO-OPers!
I became a viewer of your show, and a fan, over the last 6 months.
My brother and I picked up a ps3 to waste time on! :D
Your shows are informative, funny, real, and helpful.
Good luck in the new year and best wishes to ALL of the contributors!
peace from Canada
p.s. oooh the time we had hooking up nhl 2010 with a friend from Montreal....the online setup took awhile...
@jorel.s ... thanks for letting me know. We'll take a look at it! If Revision3's compression scheme got messed up some how that's good to know.
@Al ... all good points on all fronts!
@johnathan doe ... Glad to hear it, man! Always exciting to know that we're reaching some new people, particularly those that are out of bounds ;)
Thanks for letting us be a part of a great, discussion! It's nice to step back to take a look on a full year of gaming as we begin another. These round table discussion episodes, like the Assassin's Creed 2 episode, are some of my favorites.
@JV Andres ... yeah, we love 'em too! We'd do them more, but it's difficult to get that many people together and there are so many games to cover that we feel we're doing the gaming universe, and our audience, an injustice to not try to cover as much as possible as deeply as possible!
Kat rules!
Demon's Souls and Uncharted 2 for games of the year!
I recently rediscovered your show after the summer drought of games. I love you guys! Great to be watching again.
Hey Matt or Ryan - HUGE fan of the show - quick question - is there any email where you guys can be reached? I can't find any sort of "contact us" anywhere on the site. - Thanks! - Alex
There's a movement to radically change California government, by getting rid of career politicians and chopping their salaries in half. A group known as Citizens for California Reform wants to make the California legislature a part time time job, just like it was until 1966.
www.onlineuniversalwork.com
does david ellis ever shut the fuck up, im scared to watch the 2nd part already. more rob!!!!!
Great Episode Guys... and girls I really liked the almost syncronized head bopping you did, when you agreed on something 8-)
Looking forward to the Conclusion... L4D 2 ?
8-)
Great episode as always guys, been a fan dating back to your prev. webisode program. About to own a PS3 shortly and based upon your "best of the year" episode, seems like Uncharted 2 is a no-brainer. Any other picks? I'm personally fond of Little Big Planet, but I get the sense this E3 or a future game show during this year we'll get news of LBP2 and I'll opt to just wait for that.
Thoughts?
awesome episide. keep doing this!
awesome episide. keep doing this!