About Us

The mission of Co-Op Critics is simple–to celebrate games.

Through our blog, our Twitch channel, our YouTube page and our audio podcasts, we play and discuss games, focusing on what we like about them and the experiences they provide.

We think the word “critic” has gotten kind of a bad name, especially when it comes to video games and the enthusiast press. We’d like to focus on the more positive aspects of the definition:

“One who engages…in the analysis, evaluation, or appreciation of works of art.”

So, we’re not a traditional news and reviews site. We’re a group of friends who love games, and love to talk about them. As the name also implies, we spend a lot of time playing games together, and we want to share those experiences (as well as our single-player ones) with you. You can keep up with us at the places mentioned above, and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/coopcritics.

Here are the people that make up Co-Op Critics:

Your Host: Brian LeTendre (@SeeBrianWrite)

I founded Co-Op Critics as a platform for me (Brian LeTendre) to write and talk about games. From 2008-2010, I covered video games for Comic Book Resources. It was an amazing experience and although I eventually left to pursue my fiction writing (which you can learn more about here), I still wanted to be able to discuss games whenever I had the chance.

The Co-Op Critics podcast initially started as an offshoot of the Secret Identity podcast, a comic book podcast I’ve done for almost ten years), but eventually became its own thing.

Platform (ID)

Xbox One (SeeBrianWrite)
PS4/PS3/Vita (SecretIDPodcast)
Wii U
3DS
PC (SeeBrianWrite)

Your Co-Host: Nick Merritt (@nick_merritt)

My first gaming experience was on the NES, and I immediately fell in love with console gaming. I was a Nintendo fanboy for the longest time…until I played Halo. This opened my eyes to the fact that people are allowed to own and support more than one game console.

Since this epiphany, I’ve broadened my gaming horizons. I still play mostly console games, but those games fall into so many different genres. Everything from Animal Crossing, to Fallout 3, to GTA, to Peggle.

When Brian approached me with the idea for what he wanted Co-Op Critics to be, my eyes lit up with the thought that I could play and talk about games (something I already do a lot of) and people would watch/listen.

Platform (ID)