1up.com used to be home to the best video podcast about videogames on the ‘net. Then, they were bought out and the majority of the video team fired. It was a crying shame and one had to wonder what the new bosses were thinking when they stripped the web site of one of its defining products.

Well, the guys from that team have landed on their feet, starting an independant video podcast with all the class, knowledge and production of the now defunct 1UP Show. It’s called Co-op and it’s worth a watch for anyone even remotely interested in the gaming world.

Episode 1 – part one


CO-OP 0000: Reflections Part 1 from Area 5 Media on Vimeo.

Episode – part two


CO-OP 0001: Reflections Part 2 from Area 5 Media on Vimeo.

Episode 2


CO-OP 0002: Operation Apple from Area 5 Media on Vimeo.

Episode 3


CO-OP 0003: A Flower For My Valentine from Area 5 Media on Vimeo.

From their web site:

While editorial gaming video is our passion and our first love, we feel that we have the best team in the business when it comes to creating and editing video for the gaming industry. Area 5 Media is here as our outreach to any developer, publisher, or marketing team that is looking for highly efficient contractors to handle their video needs. We can handle every aspect of the video-production pipeline: developer diaries, DVD extras, mini- or long-form documentaries, or even editing your trailers and making sure that the formats are suited for wide distribution among all of the outlets, online and broadcast, that you deal with every day. Our previous experience creating video directed solely at the gaming audience gives us a unique perspective on how the video game industry can best utilize the moving image as a resource and as a vehicle to reach the gamer. After all, we’re as “gamer” as they come. Can you find that in Hollywood? Maybe. There are a lot of gamers these days. Can you find a video-production studio in Hollywood that’s done everything that we’ve done and knows the industry as well as we know it? Doubtful. Also, we’re fun to work with, and if you’ve already made a game, chances are that at least one of us has played it.

You can check out the web site for Area 5 HERE.