CO-OP 0401 - COOP AGAIN?
jason bertrandI know the question on all of your minds is “Is CO-OP ever coming back?” and to tell you the truth, I don’t know. All I can tell you is that we miss doing it, so much that we couldn’t hold back any longer and made an episode. And we’re conducting an experiment. How much would you pay for CO-OP? Nothing? That’s okay, but if you could bring the show back by throwing a few bones our way, would you? We’re offering up this episode for free via YouTube, but we’re wondering what will happen if we put up a few buttons that let you quickly and easily pay for this episode. Pay whatever you think the show is worth.
Watching ads sucks. Going out and trying to get people to advertise sucks. We’d rather be supported by the people who want to be entertained by what we do. This doesn’t necessarily even mean CO-OP (though in the unlikely event we get a flood of purchases we’ll, of course, look at bringing back the show). We’re thinking this model could possibly work for other ideas we have kicking around and we figure that, hell, nobody’s really tried this yet—at least not in this fashion—and we’re gonna give it a go. You can still watch it free and in great quality on YouTube, but if you could pay for it, would you? Pay us and you’ll get a link letting you download a full, 1080p, the-highest-quality-we-can-possibly-post version of this episode. So, tell your friends! After all, did you really need that latte today?
Cesar, Ryan, and I cracked open a few cold ones, sat down at my apartment and reminisced about the great time we had at this years PAX in Seattle. We talk about some of the games we saw and played: Fluidity, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Gears of War 3 “Beast Mode,” Lost In Shadow, Bastion, and Spy Party.
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We also got together with some old friends at the Ex-1UP Panel and it was great to see the 1UP crew back together again, joking around and talking about the good ol’days.
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Speaking about the good ol’days, we spent some time in an arcade, which brought back childhood memories. Sega threw a party at Gameworks where we spent about 4 hours playing SoulCalibur 3 Arcade Edition.
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We got some new business cards that come with a free mini game. Collect all five cards, on back of each card is a piece of the puzzel. Put them together and you win! Now go out there and collect them all.
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We did a small batch of CO-OP t-shirts that we sold out of our backpacks at the event. Thanks to everyone that picked one up and supporting, it was great meeting all of you. We are currently working on a shop on the site where you will be able to purchase one very soon.
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PAX was an awesome time, playing games, hanging out old friends and meeting new ones. Hope to see you all again next year!
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Reader Comments (115)
I'd gladly pay for either individual shows or an annual subscription. In a world almost devoid of intelligent, high quality video games coverage, you guys could always be relied upon to raise the bar and stay on topic.
I'd love it if you did an audio podcast as well.
Sorry, I really like your work. But given all the free content on the Internet, I would not pay more than 0.50$ a single episode (don't mind ads, though...).
But if you were to go back to the weekly format, I would be happy to pay an annual subscription fee of 20$ or so.
Looks like you've run up against some limit on Vimeo. It keeps telling me "This video cannot be downloaded anymore today." when I try to download the 1080p version.
Bought and paid for. Very happy that you've done another episode of Co-op. I tend to watch all my vids on my ipod and for your recent stuff with EGM that hasn't been possible, so I missed it. With this I can download it, downsize it and send it to the ipod...yay! If this experiment takes off...and I really hope it does...is there any chance you could make a small quicktime version of future content available as a download too? Kind of a pain to pull down 1.5Gb (we have bandwidth caps here in the UK...booo!) when it's only going to get downsized anyway. Thanks guys...good to see you back doing such great stuff. :)
I would also love a Paypal donation option, since I already have funds there that I could easily move.
I should also say that while a per-episode cost is not something I would go for, I would be willing to donate a modest amount (15-20$) per year for a semi-regular show (maybe every 2-3 weeks).
The fact that I got the "This video cannot be downloaded anymore today" is very good news I would think. Hope this means the show can come back.
"What if life . . . was more like a video game?" -- as I heard that opening, I got a lump in my throat--like some long lost friend was finally back. I'll happily pay for episodes, but would much prefer a yearly subscription model--and of course 1080p goodness with ability to download. You guys definitely got my money today -- look forward to giving you more of it in the future--and by the way, great episode!
I'm having some trouble paying, as I'm trying to check out it gives me the following error:
"
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Request Entity Too Large
Your client issued a request that was too large."
Other Google Checkout sites work fine.
Watched the episode this morning. Damn, I've missed co-op...there really isn't anything out there that even comes close. Reading jen's comment above, I'm in agreement with her. Some kind of subscription model would definitely be something I would be interested in. I think the t-shirt idea might cause problems with shipping costs etc. for your non US subscribers, though.
Ih'll gladly throw you guys some moolah if you keep puttin out great stuff like this. Keep it up!
This is a great idea. I will most definitely pay for this when my monthly payments come through. I would think you should make the next co-op a pay only episode for audio video, and the video is free streamed?
If this was an option I would sign up to AV subscription. You could release an episode monthly or weekly, though I'd think with your schedules a monthly episode is more likely. $5 is fine for someone like me from the UK.
Seriously guys you hold the power to do something amazing here, the centuries of gaming experience collectively between you all, mixed with your ethos and aesthetics is so unique you can easily capitalize on your talents. I really hope more content comes my way. I like many others love AV journalism rather than print.
Good luck for the future, and I hope to see more from you guys.
I am seriously going to throw down more then 5$. When I have my stuff taken care of, I am seriously going to throw a $100 at you guys. I love the show especially when I come home from school and watch it on my bed. You guy's production is always something I admired and while the Live thing was a good experiment I loved the old format of how it was before. Much love for you guys!
I've been a fan of your guys' work since the 1up Show days so I was happy to drop some cash to support more stuff like CO-OP. I hope to see some more episodes soon!
Wow, that was great.
+$3
@ Matt
Could you put the show on local public broadcast tv station and then put it on a paid iTunes channel to get around the "web-based podcast" rule and charge for it?
Just a idea... Thanks for the episode.
You guys already have an iTunes show sub. Why not throw this up on there for a fee? I will ABSOLUTELY pay to watch it on my iPad.
The disappearance of CO-OP in recent months made me realize how much I had come to rely on it. I can get informal games discussion from various podcasts, but nothing as slickly produced as Area5's scripted/edited content. And I can get video of interesting and/or upcoming games elsewhere, but nothing as well curated or commentated as your stuff. I do think that a subscription model is a good idea, partially so the credit card company will take a lesser cut of your payment. (Being unemployed, I contributed only $2 for this episode, and I'm sure Visa took at least fifty cents out of that.) I think you guys create great one-of-a-kind content, and I really hope you can find some funding model that allows for frequent releases. If I can contribute something to help that happen, I'm happy to do so.
I absolutely love the shows you guys do, but think that $2 is a good price point, but maybe a little high for me. I agree that if you guys would charge a "season pass", I would 100% be in. Great to see you guys back!
Just a thought: In the near future, what if you guys were to hand out 3 free video downloads with the purchase of a T-shirt through the online shop? That way, it's kind of like getting cool swag along with cooler swag. ;)
great that co-op might come back. if you set up paypal i would pay for the eps.
my favorite option would be the radiohead way of pay what you like/ can.
Aww man. I've missed CO-OP since it went away, and this episode made me miss it even more. I can't pay for it right now, but I'll consider dropping a few bucks when I can. I seriously can't say whether it's something I'd be able to pay for regularly, and I think a yearly model would work better for me, but I love seeing CO-OP back, and I want it to stay back.
You made my day.
Oh, and I would also pay money to get the RebelFM game club back, but I can understand how all the guys involved don't have the time to put it together.
I really hope you guys find a way to make CO-OP work because it's easily the best videogame show ever :)
Great episode, glad to have you guys back. I didn't think anyone could ever make me excited about Mortal Kombat again, but it looks pretty sweet. I feel like the X Ray moves could start to get annoying and interrupt the flow of a match, but we'll see once it comes out. Keep making episodes, we'll keep paying for it. Would love to see a subscription based season or something like that. Take care!
I paid $2 for an internet video. I have never done that before. I love the show and I want you guys to keep doing it. Your segments on EGMi isn't the same. I would gladly pay a subscription for your videos, but I wouldn't pay $2 for each episode.
Well, I gave what I could. I hope this experiment proves successful as I'm giddy with the idea of more co-op, though tempering my expectations. I'm also wondering how much traffic you get through your site since you haven't update much as of late. Have you tried getting the word out about this in other places? A little advertising would definitely help your chances of success.
I paid the $5 without even thinking about it.
I don't understand why you haven't been charging for these episodes since the start. Why bother trying to go free? Free is for chumps!
Have a monthly subscription with a slightly more expensive per-episode fee. Problem solved, mortgages and beers paid for.
The second I saw this I paid $5, zero hesitation. I love you guys and all the work you do, keep up the always-insightful view of this hobby we all share.
Also, I will buy one of those green shirts DAY ONE. Get those up on the site.
PS-To get the most out of this I've only been watching this ep in small bits every few days...once co-op ended, the podcasting landscape had a huge gaping hole that could not be refilled.
I'm not adding anything new, but I agree with what I've seen other people say. A Paypal option would be great, and I'd rather buy a subscription for a whole season worth of shows rather than just individual episodes. Even if you offered a "season" at a discounted rate (like $15 for 10 episodes or $2 individually) I think you'd make more money. It would also be better for you because you'd have a much more consistent cash flow to plan around. Anyway, I love the work you guys do, and I'd definitely be willing to pay either per episode or per season if you added a Paypal option.
oh sweet jesus, i just started listening to the intro and boy did it bring back good nostalgias!
if not recently being laid off and facing running out of money in 2 months, i pay for this episode.
man alive after some decisions rev3 has made to piss me and others off, i am SO glad to see this again.
CRAZY IDEA, partner with twit.tv?
I've missed this so much. The live stuff was great but you guys SHINE at edited shows. The ridiculous amounts of time and effort that was put into this episode is apparent in even the most miniscule moments. The cinematography was even better than usual, the production values were damn near perfect, and I felt just...right getting to watch this again. I already threw in $3, im sorry im so cheap, kinda making ends meet right now. You guys are masters of your craft and I think I speak for everyone that loves you that all of our lives would be much better with CO-OP (or whatever name you guys might call it).
Thanks for reasonable payment scheme. Glad to put out 5$ for this, but like the option that it is optional. Keep up the good work!
my gawd...
Thankyou!!!!!!
Any co-op is better than no co-op at all!
Glad to see you guys produce another co-op show. I actually discovered co-op on Virgin America inflight video.
I dropped $3 on this one, but I wouldn't want to pay per view...I'd rather see a subscription model. Maybe you can do what livestation (www.livestation.com). Make low quality streams available for free while users can subscribe for HD streams.
I'm a boxee user, so an area5 boxee app would be my main request.
Also, loved the old theme song and intro....sad you switched to the new one.
Keep up the good work!
Happy that I randomly checked area5.tv, I had no idea you guys made a new episode. Paid and downloaded :)
It's so nice for you guys to go back to your 1-up show roots. I enjoyed your clever cinematography with split screens and such. I appreciate your reviews of how it seems easier to relate to as I am more of a casual gamer. The reviews tend to be streamlined and not look into the technical side of things. I always looked forward to the early CO-OP video before live. I hope a subscription model will be in order. Thanks for not giving up on CO-OP :)
I need more! I paid 5 bucks but if you guys had a cheaper monthly kinda deal (like 10 bucks a month let's say) I'd happily pay that.
First off, great episode! This is the best show you all have put together in some time. The extra time that you had to produce this episode really showed through.
I would pay up to $50 a year for access to your content. I would honestly rather pay a yearly fee than have to pay every week for a show. I pay $50 a year for a 1 hour weekly podcast and I consider the money well spent. Your content is different in nature so I'm willing to pay $50 for something that is produced less than once a week.
I would be fine with an episode a month if the quality was as good as this one. I'm guessing you'd rather put out content every week though so you remain in people's consciousness though.
Perhaps you could put out a free weekly show to introduce people to CO-OP and offer additional content on top of it? It would be worth $50 if you did anything of the following:
• A weekly podcast that discusses topics not discussed on the video show
• Developer Interviews
• Shows from gaming expos such as PAX, TGS and E3
• And indie games roundup show once or twice a month
• Gametrailers like video reviews of specific titles
• Video roundtables with some of the ex-1up folks
• A news roundup show once a week where you all talk about this past week in videogames
Thanks for listening to my ideas. Oh and I chipped in $3 for this show. Good luck guys!
Hey Guys,
so happy to see you do co-op episode!!! You are great and you were definitely my favorite game show on the web.
Subscription sounds good for me. I'd gladly pay to see your show up and running.
What I'd like from you guys is more updates on what you're up to. As an investor ;) I'd like to know where Area5 is heading. Even if you're just kicking ideas around I'd still like to know possible plans.
Anyway, keep up the good work!
I just wanted to pay 5$, even wanted to create a Google Checkup account for that purpose because I love your show so much. However, clicking the button yields the error message:
Oops!
We were unable to process your request.
Time when the error happened: 2010-10-21T12:37:29 (UTC) (4931fca0a94f8)
I will pay - not for Coop *live* though ...
@Area5
I'm going to watch this when I get paid in 2 days so that I can donate straight after I watch it. I'm pretty happy to pay per episode and I think a "pay what you feel" model could work. I'll have to watch it first to make sure that you guys are getting a fair donation so I'll let you know.
I agree that monetisation of internet video is an industry wide problem. I work for a sports site in the UK and help out with the video aspect of it (in fact we were inspired to start by CO-OP!). All of our videos are hosted on YouTube and we've managed to achieve partnership status which means that we take a cut from ads placed on the video by YouTube.
It sends us about £50 (about $80) a month but that's of course not enough revenue to make a profit.
The one thing that interests us is the possibility of doing rentals on YouTube, they're running a beta program of it (http://www.youtube.com/t/youtube_rentals). At the moment it's only open to US content producers for US viewers so we're out of luck for the moment. But it's definitely something we're keeping an eye on.
Good luck with this experiment, and keep up the good work!
(In case you're interested the site is sportsvibe.co.uk It's fairly UK-centric so I doubt it will appeal across the pond)
Watched the show. Loved it! Not too sketch-heavy and more games discussion which I like (not that I don't like the sketches but I do enjoy the game talk more).
Paid $5 because that's the cost of a pint of beer over here in London :)
Keep up the good work guys!
i have one acount tied to a credt card its all i can do right now add a pay pal link and im down for 5 ide also be down for 3 - 5 dollers a month for at least 2 shows and if 1000 people did that and then 1000 more and then on and on as content gets better things would look pretty sexy
also ads dont suck it gives me time to scrach my ass open chicps drink some pop blow my nose or what ever ealse takes 30 secents of if u menshon a sponcer in the middle of a show revishon 3 modle is good i cant complain butt what ever u do and how ever u do it im down so are alot of peple
im not correcting my slepping im drunk and speeknig my mind as a drunk would loe your shit on emgi as well olney erson i supbscibed
co-op is my favorite video content about video games on the internet........but honestly, I just can't afford to pay for stuff like this
Memberships. Individual shows method is gonna be tough man. Do the BangBrothers method: day, month, year access to site with some free sample vids. Hook up the main TV to a simulcast feed so members can watch what your playing, live. Catch line could be "Area 5, Video Game Porn" members only. Free shirt with the "Big Member" package.
I'd definitely pay 3-5 dollars per month for a regular Co-op experience.
I just found out about this by accident, why don't you guys plug this on RebelFM, Bitmob and all the other places where people know you?
PayPal would be awesome, you guys rock, please come back!
Chris from Germany
Love this, would pay for the subscription model as well. Miss coop for sure!
I'd LOVE to pay you guys for more CO-OP or a similar show. I love the work you do! A subscription model would be fantastic, but any way that helps support you guys would be fine!
I would consider a year subscription more than a pay-per-episode model. Honestly, $2 per episode, especially if CO-OP came out once a week (I don't follow closely enough now to know if it did previously like the 1up show) seems more like paying for a magazine at a stand than saving by subscribing.
Somehow I missed this one, but payed at once I saw it. Hope you guys can manage to bring back co-op. I would defiantly pay for it, also with adds in the video. 2$ or 3$ per episode or like 30$ per year is defiantly doable, depending on how many you would plan.
Also you should offer your tshirts on site and don't forget to think of EU. I would love to buy a thsirt from you guys, but having them send from the US and then get raped in customs, just doesn't make sense.
Also what happend with Revision 3, was it not doable?