by Heather Howie (CoralToe)

This month’s featured website is Co-Optimus.com, also home to the Co-Opticast gaming podcast. Both the website and podcast are dedicated to bringing you the latest news and reviews on any and all games featuring some form of cooperative (co-op) gameplay. We asked Nick and Mike to tell us a little about their website and podcast, and why they decided to make a site focused on co-op gaming.

The Blue Skittle (TBS): Why did you decide to make a website/podcast dedicated to co-op games?

Nick: I’ve been playing cooperative games as long as I can remember. Some of the best memories I have were playing co-op side-scrolling games like Golden Axe II and Streets of Rage on the Sega Genesis. Eventually co-op seemed to disappear, but it slowly is making a comeback. It’s a growing feature, and it’s becoming more than just a bullet point on games. As I began looking for information on co-op games, I realized there was no single point of information. It was like trying to find that proverbial needle in a haystack when trying to figure out if a game had co-op. Not only that, trying to find out if I could play online, the number of players, the type of experience—none of that information really existed. Everything was buried in forum posts.

I knew I had to step up and start making this info really accessible. Over the past 9 months or so the site has grown tremendously, and the feedback has been awesome. It turns out I was not alone in my thoughts that this was a resource gamers needed. Now that we have a solid base, the podcast was the next logical step. I always wanted to do one, but didn’t know the right format or the right people to be involved.

Mike: I’m a much better speaker about games than I am a writer, I always felt that podcasting was a very good medium for me to get my point across without spending 10 years writing and rewriting what I’m trying to say. I helped Nick design the site, and have been very close to things since the beginning. Once I brought up the idea of a podcast to him; and gave him my thoughts on the format, it was only a matter of time before we started doing the Co-Opticast.

TBS: What do you hope to accomplish through podcasting?

Mike: I hope we can accomplish some sort of evangelism through the podcast, and maybe bring a focus on some older co-op titles that people may have missed. I think a natural discussion that a pair of gamers have, often brings more insight to a situation than simply doing a quick write up on a subject.

Nick: You can say a lot more in 5 minutes of speaking, than in 5 minutes of writing.

Mike: Exactly.

Nick: I just hope we can give people something easy to listen to; something that’s informative, and something that makes them want to play co-op games. Long term I’d love to be able to talk to developers directly in regards to their specific implementation of co-op in their game. I think we have a pretty good pulse on what the co-op community wants from their cooperative experience, and I hope we can convey that message to developers and publishers through our website and podcast.

…podcasting has also helped people who might not be much of a writer’s writer to have a voice. You tend to see a lot of people that do the news posting, they pour their heart and soul into the written word. Then there are other people, who have just as insightful things to say, but may not have the time, or ability, to write that well.

TBS: How do you think podcasting has changed the gaming community?

Nick: I think it’s added a lot of personality to gaming coverage. I also think in a way it helped legitimize our hobby. Slowly but surely the gamer stereotype is being broken from an anti-social basement dweller to something more pop. You’ve seen mainstream media like MTV, SpikeTV and DirecTV give quite a bit of focus to the medium, and I’d like to think that part of this is because podcasters have given gaming a voice.

Overall I think it’s brought folks closer together. The gaming community is definitely one of the strongest and loudest voices out there.

Mike: In cases where you have big personalities, like the 1UP podcasts, when you are able to put a voice to the words, and you are able to hear people fairly uncensored and raw; shooting from the hip. Getting to know someone through their actual personality instead of their writing really helps put a perspective on things.

As well as that, podcasting has also helped people who might not be much of a writer’s writer to have a voice. You tend to see a lot of people that do the news posting, they pour their heart and soul into the written word. Then there are other people, who have just as insightful things to say, but may not have the time, or ability, to write that well.

Of some of the popular podcasts, the hosts aren’t necessarily writers, but they are gamers.

TBS: What is your favorite co-op game of all time and why? What game are you most looking forward to in the coming year?

Mike: Secret of Mana—when the game was released, I thought that Japanese RPGs were the best thing to happen to gaming, and being able to tackle an epic (in both length and scope) story with two of your best friends was; and to a degree still is, unique. Gauntlet is a close second though.

For the rest of the year? Left 4 Dead. Hands down.

Nick: I’d have to say Crackdown is some of the most fun I’ve ever had in a co-op game. It may not have been the best game, but in terms of sheer fun, hands down the winner.

And yeah, Left 4 Dead is my most anticipated this year. I’ve played it a handful of times now, and it gets better with every play session.

TBS: What are your Xbox360 Co-op Game Nights, and how do they work? Do you have similar events on the PlayStation Network (PSN) or PC?

Nick: The Xbox Live Co-Op nights are an event we work on with Microsoft. Every month we choose a cooperative game and promote it on Co-Optimus, Xbox Live and Xbox.com. The idea is to get as many people as possible playing the same game at the same time on Xbox Live. We want to try to promote a game’s specific co-op features, and educate folks about co-op gaming. Whether they use friends lists or matchmaking to join is up to them, we just love to see people getting out their and experiencing co-op!

I’ve been trying to work with Sony on setting up something similar, but the fact of the matter is, they simply don’t have the community tools in place to promote it. The same goes for the PC side of things, there’s no central area to help promote it. We’ll definitely be setting up something for both platforms soon, especially since there are so many great cooperative titles coming out on both platforms.

With many games starting to come out with at least some form of co-op gameplay I highly recommend checking out Co-Optimus for the latest info on your favorite or most-anticipated co-op game. They also have a great web tool to help you find people to play your favorite co-op game with. If it has to do with co-op gaming—look no further!