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)
PayPal guys... I already supported you the first time and would continue doing it, your quality content is worth my money... but please add PayPal...
i would very happily pay in a subscription model
A tad late to the party, but; I would gladly pay BUT; I won't set up a google account just for this 1 payment.
And I think that goes for many others, as well.
As always late to the party... And as stated several times before I would really like to participate in a subscription model.
But it should support at least PayPal as I don't own a credit card (they are stil not very common here in Germany)and I won't use any Google service at all.
Too bad that the donate button seems also to be gone so I am not able to contribute some money for this episode like I did in the past.
Best Regards!
Are you guys still planning to offer the COOP shirts?
Glad to see you guys back. Clearly you know the potential of this show. My comment is pretty obvious but all I wanna say is don't give up seeking a way to make this profitable. This is your great idea - run with it.
Dear all,
Do you have an update about the latest status?
Will you come back - I hope so. I would also participate in a subscription model.
Cheers
Andre
I've been with you guys since the 1up days, and I have to say it's good to see you return to form. After so long, I'd almost given up all hope of seeing another episode of go up, and I was excited to see this waiting for me when I clicked the Area 5 link in my bookmarks toolbar for what was going to be the last time before deleting the link to what seemed to be a dead page.
You're discussing returning to this business model? Just the prospect was enough for me to throw down $5, and I'd be willing to do the same on a subscription basis for the quality of news and reviews you guys put out. As far as DLC titles in particular are concerned, I doubt I would have ever cast my eye at things like Plants vs. Zombies or Super Meat Boy if you hadn't brought it to mind. Since then, no other news source has managed to take you place in my life, and I would be ecstatic if you returned that source of bliss to my life.
I wish you all luck in whatever decide to do, but the Area 5 link will be staying on my computer for a while to come now. I'm just hoping you guys give it a reason to be there.
The 1up show is what got me into gaming, £30-£60 is what I would pay annually but it all depends on the frequency. To me I love your shows because of the footage but mainly because of the opinions it essentially is a videocast and it provides a level of authenticity to impressions that can often be missing in audio podcasts.
I do however fear that with a subscription model that their may be too much emphasis on preparing/ planning. What I like about podcasts is that it shows the industry at its best, just a bunch of gamers enjoying talking about what they do and that is what the viewer responds to.
The few gaming related shows that exist all appear so superficial and contrived because they focus on making a show that is all about the glamour of games and that is because they devalue the importance of their own opinions and in turn their audience we watch CO-OP mainly for you guys and your opinions.
I would add that to really get this subscription model working you guys need to deliver your ideas to the masses spread your wings see if you can't pull in some favours from the likes of IGN/ Gamespot/ Gametrailers and so on.
I think people would love to see a collaboration of the talents that made those websites whether it is possible or not is a different question entirely but I think that a show for all websites even if it was solely a monthly gathering would be a way to uniform these game sites and their user base.
My Favorite TV Show, I really enjoyed all your Co-Op episodes that was my favorite show I waited for every week. Thank you for one more episode! Hopefully you can continue, someday. $5.00 well spent.
So guys, any update? If's been over three months now, would be nice with some kind of update, letting us know what's going to happen.
Only just noticed this video, stopped checking out the site sometime after co-op stopped. I'd deffinitely be up for a yearly subscription model over pay per episode, tho im not sure why you guys didn't stick with revision 3? Was it not covering all your expenses, just the trs and diggnation guys are doing ok but i guess they have side projects which could be paying all the bills?
I just found out about this episode, and it made my evening. No one in the industry makes games media so accessible, and so appealing.
I had almost given up hope of seeing you guys again. I have been interested to see what would come from your relationship with EGM, not sure what is festering behind the scenes. However if you folks manage a subscription based system for regular releases of material you can count on my money.
You have my full support, and that of
the Squadron of Shame, a community whom all remember you fondly.
Guys, to really gauge interest in this new revenue model, I think you need to publicize your show a lot better. I stopped checking the site when co-op ended, and wasn't made aware of there being a new episode until just recently. I would gladly pay for episodes of co-op, and I think a lot of other people would as well; you just need to let them know it's available.
Hey
Forgot to check this website for a long time, when coop stopped. LOVED the episode!
However, google checkout didn't like my credit card (or my bank don't like Google checkout perhaps) so I was unable to pay.
I've never had issues with paypal though.
How did the experiment go?
/Mattias, Sweden