Death of the 4 player co-op

[I20I3]

Well the last game I actually played four player was Guantlet: Dark Legacy for the gamecube.
It was cool that all of us could work toghether to kill that Genie boss, but sharing the food and waiting for someone to hurry the hell up kinda watered down the experience.

This is exactly the kinda thing i'm missing, i played that one too, but found champions of norrath better in my books. It seems like these type of game fell of the face of the earth when the next gen hit. Some of the things you mentioned could be fixed, like in a sequel.

 

[Neosage]

Being able to have a few friends over and play is what defines gaming for me.

 

[I20I3]

Do you know why they aren't bothering with split-screen gaming anymore? Because split-screen sucks. Fucking seriously. While there is no reason for games that don't need to split-screen (sports games, castle crashers, etc) to not have a four person gaming mode, I really wouldn't want to play four-person split-screened Halo or Call of Duty or even Left 4 Dead on my TV. If I had one of those sixty inch behemoths, maybe, but on my 32" TV? Hell no, even split screen on Gears 2 was uncomfortable.

No one if forcing you to use the split screen feature. I also doubt that because you have a 4 player split screen feature on your game, that 3 people will barge into your house, and demand to have you play with them so that you get your screen all split. But my main point is that even not split screen games, are lacking in quantity for the current gen.

 

[I20I3]

Being able to have a few friends over and play is what defines gaming for me.

Exactly, games are supposed to be fun, and whats more fun than doing stuff with your friends.
What bugs me most if that they still make fighting games. Which to me are sort of watered down adventure game at best. The only real selling point is all the extra stuff they cram into it. In my opinion unnecessary genre should be filled with the better one.

 

[Quantana]

euhm.. i remember halo 3 have it, but only if you play online you can't do it in the Campain witch is a shame. still i dont think its dead just like in a coma or something.

 

[beddo]

I would so love to be proven very wrong, but there seems to be a trend (i can clearly see the reason for it) of there being lack of 4 player co-op. I will say this now because i know exactly what all of you are thinking (L4D). But I'm talking about 4 player co-op on one console. No system link or LAN party. Just one console and 4 controllers. The obvious reason for this is the marketing people, thought why let 4 people do something at the same time on the same thing, when they can pay us for another console and another game. Last i remember (full game, castle crasher excluded) was champions of Norrath, both of them, and being able to only through use of multi-tap to get all 4 of us embarking on our epic quest of button mashing fun. But that was it, and what i so sorely miss, the 4 of us doing something together working together, and having fun. We pulled at least 2 all nighters the 4 of us, just to get it done. I sadly cant say that about any recent games. Which i found odd because all the systems support 4 players, just it's more focused on competition when you have more than 2 people
What is your take on this, and if you can prove me wrong please do. If you can compile a list of the games.

A while ago I had a gaming party, about 30 people over to play games. It actually went down really well. I had my Neo-geo hooked up to a 14 inch telly for people to play Samurai Showdown 2 against each other.

I had a PS2 hooked up to another 14 inch telly for people to play Bully and pass the controller around.

I had my main 26" LCD linked up to my original Xbox with 4 controllers. We played, Ku Fung Chaos, Halo, Halo 2, Street Fighter 2. I also had an Xbox 360 linked up to the main telly.

I had borrowed my brother's Xbox 360 and my Friends Projector and linked them up, Got a 70" or so projection up onto the wall. I had Co-op Gears on that. Then we had Halo 3 with 6 Players, 4 on the projector, 2 on the main telly.

As it got late there were about 5/6 of us left, we decided to do a 4 player Halo 3 coop. Some of them actually HATED the Halo series but we all enjoyed beating each other up and messing around. I kind of messed it up a bit when I shot their planes though. I thought they would reload but they didn't.

Anyway I find that more fun than the kind of multiplayer done online. You can actually have a laugh with you mates there with you, sharing a screen is annoying but it's also part of the fun. I was surprised that 4 way split screen is still rubbish even when you have a quarter of a 70" screen. I know it's the resolution that is key. Anyway the point is that local 4 player co-op is more fun when you're together sharing one screen than on your own screen only able to use a mic to talk.

Oh yea and Castle Crashers is a good 4 player coop game.

EDIT: The 4 player Halo 3 co-op was sytem link, three people on the projector one on the main telly.

 

[I20I3]

euhm.. i remember halo 3 have it, but only if you play online you can't do it in the Campain witch is a shame. still i dont think its dead just like in a coma or something.

I really hope you are right, but from the 2009 lineup, it doesn't seem promising.

 

[Chickenlittle]

...... It's dead because everybody hates split screen.

Seconded.

Only excuse is Gauntlet.

Agreed.

Only games I can think of right now that are modern are Halo 3 and Left 4 Dead.

 

[HectorTheLamerGamer]

Not having split screen is often a deal breaker for me. Without having the option of having my buds over for aco-op and/or competitive gaming session I know the game will be cashed back in within a month of beating it 9 times out of 10. If that's the case I'd rather rent it. Same console multiplayer is what makes a game in my opinion.

Also I am in complete agreement that if it's graphics that are keeping split screen away from me then the developers should tone the graphics down. Graphics do not a game make. And yes I still play some of the ugliest games of yesteryear because they have awesome gameplay. It saddens me that many of the gamers I know would pass up great games like mario kart 64 just cause "It looks like s***".

 

[I20I3]

I would so love to be proven very wrong, but there seems to be a trend (i can clearly see the reason for it) of there being lack of 4 player co-op. I will say this now because i know exactly what all of you are thinking (L4D). But I'm talking about 4 player co-op on one console. No system link or LAN party. Just one console and 4 controllers. The obvious reason for this is the marketing people, thought why let 4 people do something at the same time on the same thing, when they can pay us for another console and another game. Last i remember (full game, castle crasher excluded) was champions of Norrath, both of them, and being able to only through use of multi-tap to get all 4 of us embarking on our epic quest of button mashing fun. But that was it, and what i so sorely miss, the 4 of us doing something together working together, and having fun. We pulled at least 2 all nighters the 4 of us, just to get it done. I sadly cant say that about any recent games. Which i found odd because all the systems support 4 players, just it's more focused on competition when you have more than 2 people
What is your take on this, and if you can prove me wrong please do. If you can compile a list of the games.

A while ago I had a gaming party, about 30 people over to play games. It actually went down really well. I had my Neo-geo hooked up to a 14 inch telly for people to play Samurai Showdown 2 against each other.

I had a PS2 hooked up to another 14 inch telly for people to play Bully and pass the controller around.

I had my main 26" LCD linked up to my original Xbox with 4 controllers. We played, Ku Fung Chaos, Halo, Halo 2, Street Fighter 2. I also had an Xbox 360 linked up to the main telly.

I had borrowed my brother's Xbox 360 and my Friends Projector and linked them up, Got a 70" or so projection up onto the wall. I had Co-op Gears on that. Then we had Halo 3 with 6 Players, 4 on the projector, 2 on the main telly.

As it got late there were about 5/6 of us left, we decided to do a 4 player Halo 3 coop. Some of them actually HATED the Halo series but we all enjoyed beating each other up and messing around. I kind of messed it up a bit when I shot their planes though. I thought they would reload but they didn't.

Anyway I find that more fun than the kind of multiplayer done online. You can actually have a laugh with you mates there with you, sharing a screen is annoying but it's also part of the fun. I was surprised that 4 way split screen is still rubbish even when you have a quarter of a 70" screen. I know it's the resolution that is key. Anyway the point is that local 4 player co-op is more fun when you're together sharing one screen than on your own screen only able to use a mic to talk.

Oh yea and Castle Crashers is a good 4 player coop game.

EDIT: The 4 player Halo 3 co-op was sytem link, three people on the projector one on the main telly.

I did mention Castle Crashers, but i would much rather see the games utilize there 4 controller to one system capabilities. But having your friends over and the games being the main attraction is a great thing, rather than having it only for 2 people, while everyone else does other things. This kinda makes it feel less like your hanging out and more like your spending time with the game and not them.

 

[mattttherman3]

Well as far as I know, the only 4 player co-op games are Halo 3 and Left 4 Dead, so I don't understand how you could possibly think the 4 player co-op is dead after just 2 games. Just thought of Gauntlet Dark Legacy, that was a fun game.

 

[I20I3]

Well as far as I know, the only 4 player co-op games are Halo 3 and Left 4 Dead, so I don't understand how you could possibly think the 4 player co-op is dead after just 2 games. Just thought of Gauntlet Dark Legacy, that was a fun game.

If you had read the original post where i said "I will say this now because i know exactly what all of you are thinking (L4D). But I'm talking about 4 player co-op on one console." Not to sure what else you are trying to say.

 

[Kross]

I play almost exclusively same screen co-op games when I have a choice. Most if not all of the following 4 player games were mentioned in this thread and are all new(ish):

Little Big Planet, Castle Crashers, Worms, N+, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty 5, rhythm games. And a lot of others have 2 player co-op.

CoD5 stands out as my favorite execution of split screen though. The two player split screen is simply amazing (full aspect ratio with moderate letter boxing on the top/bottom of the screen), you don't lose any peripheral vision. The 4 player is in quadrants as expected, but unfortunately won't work with Nazi Zombies. LBP, Castle Crashers, N+, and Worms all use same screen.

There's two issues with modern games, the first being rendering characters for multiple view ports. If you've ever played the old Dynasty Warrior games you'll definitely know what I'm talking about. As less enemies would render while playing co-op because the system couldn't handle it. As games get prettier, this gets even harder to do, although newer hardware helps a lot.

The second issue is screen size. Anyone without a large HDTV is going to think split screen for shooters (and most other games) is next to useless due to being unable to make out details while playing. However, with a large TV (that are rapidly becoming affordable, especially for people who can afford modern consoles and new games) split screen is becoming viable again for those who can afford the extra dev time to make it work after getting online play to work. As online play will still have the larger market, so is in higher demand regardless.

 

[DirkGently]

Do you know why they aren't bothering with split-screen gaming anymore? Because split-screen sucks. Fucking seriously. While there is no reason for games that don't need to split-screen (sports games, castle crashers, etc) to not have a four person gaming mode, I really wouldn't want to play four-person split-screened Halo or Call of Duty or even Left 4 Dead on my TV. If I had one of those sixty inch behemoths, maybe, but on my 32" TV? Hell no, even split screen on Gears 2 was uncomfortable.

No one if forcing you to use the split screen feature. I also doubt that because you have a 4 player split screen feature on your game, that 3 people will barge into your house, and demand to have you play with them so that you get your screen all split. But my main point is that even not split screen games, are lacking in quantity for the current gen.

If you're not really talking about the lack of 4 person split screen on console games, but rather talking about the lack of quality in non split-screen games, then why make a topic of about split-screen in games? That doesn't make sense.

The reason you aren't seeing split screen so much is because consoles are becoming far more wide spread, as is online use. Why waste time on something that nobody but a minority of the vast population still relies on split-screen to play with their friends. And if I were to host a shindig with enough people to justify playing together, I'd probably be to interested in talking to girls and other such things to worry about split screening Call of Duty.

 

[JokerGrin]

I remember playing games on the Amiga and other consoles with some mates around, on a much smaller TV than I currently have, but having an absolute ball. Master Blaster springs to mind immediately, imagine a much simpler Bomberman and there you have it.

This isn't a post to defend 4 player co-op, that scene sure is floundering, but rather the "everybody hates split screen" comment.

 

[D_987]

Halo 3, Left 4 Dead, most Wii games?

 

[fnph]

Was 4-player co-op split-screen ever that alive? I've seen less than 5 different games mentioned in this thread and the only 4-player co-op game I have to add to the list is Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, but that needed 4 GBAs and 4GBA-GC link cables.

 

[Leviathan902]

On the one hand: I don't think 4 player split screen was really all that commmon ever. I mean the only DISTINCT memory I have for that is Golden Eye. Otherwise it was Super Smash Brothers on the 64 or a wrestling game or something like that where the screen doesn't have to be divided anyway. Those games are still around. As are side scrolling Beat-'em ups (Castle Crashers).

However, I think Co-op as a whole is actually increasing in popularity. Think about the PS2/Xbox generation. I had a buddy of mine come live with me for a while and we had SUCH a hard time finding games to play coop. The only ones were sports games and the Warriors. Even FPSs with squads following the player around didn't have coop. It was frustrating. He has since moved out, but if he still lived with me, we would have a huge selection:
RB6: Vegas and Vegas 2, Gears, Gears 2, Halo 3, Army of Two, Resident Evil 5, Halo Wars, Command and Conquer 3 etc... (even RTSs have it!)

It seems to me that Coop is becoming more popular than ever. Practically every game seems like it's adding "co-op" to the features on the back of the box, and most allow split screen. Maybe as it continues to grow it will come full circle, allowing 4 player split-screen.

 

[squid5580]

I don't buy the whole "it is so easy to make splitscreen". And since devs need to also include online multiplayer (which again probably isn't easy) and they only have so much time to build these games somethings must be sacrificed. So since most of the 4 split screen games were offline would you be happy going that route? No online for 4 player splitcreen doesn't really sound all that appealling.

 

[BenMcMichael]

...... It's dead because everybody hates split screen. Just play Left 4 Dead.

Wow you must have alot of spare time to have interviewed everyone.

I still don't understand why they don't program split-screen. Pretty much everyone I know can't can't a current-gen console and internet,

Not really. I'm just god. I'm all knowing like that.

OKAY! Let me ask. WHO HERE -LIKES- squinting to see on 1/4th the screen space the game was designed to display on while a bunch of shit that doesn't involve you goes on distracting you in your peripheral vision?

Well as i unlike some Ahem* have real life friends, i do enjoy playing co op on one console with them depending on the game type. Games like champions of norrath are great with 3 other friends in one room. Yeah you do need a good large tv. I also enjoy playing online on serperate consoles for different games. Cod on one tv sucks, any game that is vs split screen is flawed as screen looking. So in conclusion yes i do enjoy playing with real friends in one place on one console depending on the game and friends you have... if any