is "playing with freinds in the same room" completley dead?

[Deadyawn]

As long as some people still like to play them it wont really ever die. A few days ago I got together with a bunch of friends to play some halo reach. It was fun.

 

[Uzi-Bazooka]

Well, I'm a PC gamer more than a console, so when a friend and I want to do something multiplayer, he usually comes over to my house, we get two computers and play something over a LAN. I have always preferred this to online multiplayer, partially because a lot of the games I play have good LAN support but crappy online multiplayer (such as Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds), but also because it's just more personal to have people in the same room as you. It's also more fun, as you can shout commands at them (yes, I know about mics, and I even have and use them, but it's not the same, in my opinion), or slap them in the head if they're being really, really stupid. Also, bro fistbumps are occasionally in order.

 

[Master Kuja]

I still do it a lot, I'm even planning on doing it on Monday.

Even if there is no local multi, me and my friends still end up getting together in the same room/house and playing any game we can think of. We've got good enough connections that none of us suffer for it online and it's a better, more relaxing, more enjoyable atmosphere to even be playing online only games in the same room as a couple friends.

Prime example, we used to do it a lot with Bad Company 2, and still do it now with things like League of Legends and we always have a great time doing it.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

It depends on the game. If it's a co-op game on the x-box or other TV consoles, playing in the same room is pretty much all you can do when you don't have the machine connected to the internet. It still rarely happens that such games are played with more than one person despite having four working controllers because most times the split screen features is handled poorly. The game tries to fit everything into the half-screen and either end up with a crowded UI in a horizontal split, or cutting out all of your peripheral view on a vertical split which means you can't see anything coming from slightly to the side. Then there's the fact that having another players screen right against yours can be distracting for some people and they'll start reacting to the wrong things. Let's not forget competitive shooters and players who will watch the other player's screen to try to find where they are and dodge everything you throw at them.


TL;DR
So... What I figure the reasons some people have for not playing co-op in the same room as others are:
- Not liking how the split screen looks
- Distracted by the other screen
- Wanting to keep the element of surprise
- Not competitive enough to play that way
- Not skilled enough to keep up with another
- Not having other friends who play the same game (this one is getting more and more rare with each year)

 

[Vault101]

Lots of games have co-op and splitscreen multiplayer, so I`m not really sure what to tell you. In fact, the Multiplayer games I can think of that DON`T offer some sort of split screen option are games that are, traditionally, single player action-adventure, like Assassin`s Creed or Dead Space. Nearly all shooters, racing, fighting, sports, and even puzzle games offer spilt-screen/co-op.

really? I was under the impression that not may games suported it, but then again I only got a PS3 recently (for the single player) so I havtn been looking into it

the Idea only ocured to me when I considered asking a freind over...and while playing the original "golden axe" (that games awsome)

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Things like FPSs yeah, since local means split-screen which sucked back in the day...and you're getting this from a guy who loved playing quake 2 on his PSX with 4 way split screen (yes, I actually had a multi-tap). Split screen just ruins a lot of the fun it you're playing on an average size TV.


I don't play any multiplayer games other than fighting games though, and those do have quite a few "same room" competitions cause online lag affects them more than most other genres, so I may be a bit skewed but I don't see much of a problem.



The issue is simply finding a community of skilled players. A lot of people who play games are too lighthearted about them, not taking them seriously etc. so when you get a guy really good at the game it can sorta kill the fun and make him be the one who feels left out by being actually too GOOD at the game, while online there's always someone better and the average person is overall better than the average local player, which makes the games quite a bit more interesting.

When you have people seeking to improve their skills, they'll go for the biggest skill pool imaginable and unless you reside in Tachikawa Tokyo, your local peers won't be up to par with your online competition.

thats the thing though, if your serioues...sure

but if you dont have alot of real hardcore "gamer" freinds, and just want to have some freinds over and have a good time, well thats what Im talking about,

If that's the setting then gaming just becomes one more of the things you may and may not do with friends over. A lot of people who play online are more serious than that even if they're not tournament level players. They're into it for the game, not for the interaction. In fact, a lot of games are ruined by being disproportionately focused on the interaction aspect to the detriment of the actual game-part of the game.


Here's my question to you, if you're not serious and just like games as an option for "things to do with friends when they come over" why do you care about how others end up playing their games? If you do play games more seriously than that then you should understand the charm of a thousand people better at you being available to fight you at any instant and how it overshadows most other options.

Simply put, there's "my friends will come here and will play this game" and there's "we'll play this game and my friends will come here", when the focus is on the friends, you could be doing anything and you'd be having fun, when the focus is on the game however, you're doing something highly specialized which when all participants take seriously ends up as being a whole lot more fun than the previous scenario of doing "just whatever" with them. This in turn makes online play the best option for a lot of people without vivid game scenes in their locations.

 

[Dexiro]

Obviously not if I'm playing local multiplayer with my friends on a regular basis. Hell if you really want to you can turn a single player game into a multiplayer game by controller swapping.

 

[kaziard]

i only tend to split screen :S not really a fan of online play.

 

[NEDM]

Rockband comes to mind immediately. However the one played the most is Sengoku Basara when my sis comes to visit. Pretty much non-stop slaughter. When Resistance 1 came out, that was the split screen game of choice for a while. Did the 4 tv halo thing during xbox years, but it's kind of a pain lugging tv's around so haven't done that in years.

 

[Afr0Blu3]

Split screen just seemed to disappear when online play arrived, and like most of you, I sorely miss the days when multiplayer meant having your friends round and sitting on the couch together to play.

 

[StormShaun]

Me and my Best friend keep on playing split screen games due to him having no money and broken everything and me for having shit internet, these games better not go extinct or we are going to be mad.

 

[Findlebob]

All of the Resistance's have coop in one form or another.

 

[razer17]

I love splitscreen, and some games these days don't have it anymore. The only reason that I play CoD is that it's one of the only shooters still to give you the option, and Black Ops went one better by offering bots.

Even some racing games don't have it these days: F1 2010 and 2011 for instance. Problem is, that to play splitscreen, you need 1 copy of the game, to play online you need 1 for every person. Plus the fact that games these days are so intense on the hardware, that making them playable with 2 or even 4 screens requires more work and optimisation of the coding.

Edit - The biggest MP releases (whether you like them or not) have splitscreen - Forza 4, CoD, Gran Turismo and Fifa / other sports games.

 

[dickywebster]

Less frequent but still around, the obssession with online multiplayer hasnt killed it yet.

 

[Genericjim101]

Epic Games have gone out of their way to add 4 person Co-op to Gears Of War 3 so I'd say it's alive for some and is for me myself... and I look forward to playing Mass Effect 3 with friends!

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

Mp had better days. I too now mostly play multi-player games through steam, almost gone are the days of sitting down with a friend and unleashing the beat-down.

It is a really rare thing to do now with my friends, but still worth it.

 

[razer17]

Epic Games have gone out of their way to add 4 person Co-op to Gears Of War 3 so I'd say it's alive for some and is for me myself... and I look forward to playing Mass Effect 3 with friends!

I could be wrong, as I haven't played it, but isn't the GoW 3 co-op online only?

 

[Custard_Angel]

Online has made it die down significantly, but then again this week I'm admin-ing a 50 person LAN for consoles and PCs.

It's not dead, just a more occasional event.

 

[Slash Dementia]

Rage has a split-screen co-op campaign, though it's not the single-player one.

Of the games I have:

Army of Two: The Fortieth Day
Fable 2 and 3
Gears of War 1, 2, and 3
Halo 3 and Reach
Left 4 Dead 1 and 2
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2
Mortal Kombat 9
Rage
UFC

All of them have split-screen. I do wish more games would implement it, though. It's not the same playing through Xbox Live. I like seeing facial expressions and reactions to what's going on, not just hear it through a headset or TV.

 

[Vault101]

Things like FPSs yeah, since local means split-screen which sucked back in the day...and you're getting this from a guy who loved playing quake 2 on his PSX with 4 way split screen (yes, I actually had a multi-tap). Split screen just ruins a lot of the fun it you're playing on an average size TV.


I don't play any multiplayer games other than fighting games though, and those do have quite a few "same room" competitions cause online lag affects them more than most other genres, so I may be a bit skewed but I don't see much of a problem.



The issue is simply finding a community of skilled players. A lot of people who play games are too lighthearted about them, not taking them seriously etc. so when you get a guy really good at the game it can sorta kill the fun and make him be the one who feels left out by being actually too GOOD at the game, while online there's always someone better and the average person is overall better than the average local player, which makes the games quite a bit more interesting.

When you have people seeking to improve their skills, they'll go for the biggest skill pool imaginable and unless you reside in Tachikawa Tokyo, your local peers won't be up to par with your online competition.

thats the thing though, if your serioues...sure

but if you dont have alot of real hardcore "gamer" freinds, and just want to have some freinds over and have a good time, well thats what Im talking about,

If that's the setting then gaming just becomes one more of the things you may and may not do with friends over. A lot of people who play online are more serious than that even if they're not tournament level players. They're into it for the game, not for the interaction. In fact, a lot of games are ruined by being disproportionately focused on the interaction aspect to the detriment of the actual game-part of the game.


Here's my question to you, if you're not serious and just like games as an option for "things to do with friends when they come over" why do you care about how others end up playing their games? If you do play games more seriously than that then you should understand the charm of a thousand people better at you being available to fight you at any instant and how it overshadows most other options.

Simply put, there's "my friends will come here and will play this game" and there's "we'll play this game and my friends will come here", when the focus is on the friends, you could be doing anything and you'd be having fun, when the focus is on the game however, you're doing something highly specialized which when all participants take seriously ends up as being a whole lot more fun than the previous scenario of doing "just whatever" with them. This in turn makes online play the best option for a lot of people without vivid game scenes in their locations.

Im not sure I follow, I dont care about how others play their games

as people have said, split screen isnt Ideal in alot of ways for alot of reasons, however I like the Idea that its an option, because to me it seems silly if somone comes over and I have this nice shiny pS3 sitting there that we cant use because no games suport slit screen (unless you take turns...which can also be fun)

I enjoy games mainly as a single player thing,

however it would be fun to share the fun with somone who might not own a TV or console or play games on a computer

I mean ageis ago me, my brother and our cousins got out banjo tooie and mario party on the n64...we had some of the most fun ever on small TV on tiny litte split screens...