Is there any reason to own four PS3/360 controllers anymore?

[crusador90]

Is there?

Am I the only one who notices the almost complete lack of games that possess any form of 4-player offline mode that isn't also a game that can be acquired through DLC or isn't Halo?

Am I the only one who see's that this is the one thing that the Nintendo Wii does better than its more powerful, HD counterparts? Is the Wii better and providing gaming experiences for people who are physically present?

Seriously, it feels like no one is calling any company out on this problem.

 

[Nauticus]

Nintendo is aiming for the group-activities and games that are easy to use. Great concept, cheap console, well, not so cheap after buying all the must have gagdet ofcourse.

I bought myself a xbox360 controller for my pc, great controller and easy to use with almost all emulators and games in windows. Wich helps alot if im going over to a friend, to play some xbox.
So based on my experience, owning atleast 2 should be enough, and if you need more your friends could bring theirs.

4-player offline games for xbox?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

As online multiplayer becomes more established, people don't really need to go over to a friend's house to have fun anymore.

Why travel to a mate's house when you can slap on a mic and play with them from the comfort of your own home?

I was an adult when console multiplayer came into it's own, before then, me and my friends would get together to game, eat, and generally have a great time, we still do occasionally.

It's a bit of a shame that's it's not the norm anymore.

 

[Kopikatsu]

As online multiplayer becomes more established, people don't really need to go over to a friend's house to have fun anymore.

Why travel to a mate's house when you can slap on a mic and play with them from the comfort of your own home?

I was an adult when console multiplayer came into it's own, before then, me and my friends would get together to game, eat, and generally have a great time, we still do occasionally.

It's a bit of a shame that's it's not the norm anymore.

Yeah...It's a real shame. Getting everyone together for a night of Goldeneye 007 was a bunch of fun. Now, we're lucky to be able to do split screen with one other person.

 

[DionysusSnoopy]

i had 4 at uni for 360 and my housemate had 4 for the ps3 but i barely use more than 1 now. to get back to topic we only played halo or little big planet they are the only games that do more than 2 players on one system that i can think of that are a retail game. i think your right in saying that wii does that form better. I'm also assuming you are aware of games like rock band, just dance etc. and just pushing them to the side to focus on other genres.

 

[DEAD34345]

Aha! What about...

...isn't Halo?

Oh.

Yeah, I've noticed it too, and it really sucks. A couple of games have 2 player splitscreen, and the COD games definitely have 4 player splitscreen, but that's about it.

There used to be a lot of complaints about this stuff, but then everyone got sick of complaining. It's sad, but it doesn't seem to be changing. Game companies chose graphics over offline fun.

 

[Antitonic]

As online multiplayer becomes more established, people don't really need to go over to a friend's house to have fun anymore.

Why travel to a mate's house when you can slap on a mic and play with them from the comfort of your own home?

This is really unfortunate. Not everyone has the best connection. For example, I get terrible lag if I even connect with my neighbour, let alone anyone overseas (ie: where the majority of players are).

I miss local multiplayer options...

 

[Duck Sandwich]

Nowadays, I almost never find myself in a situation where I have more people than controllers. What with friends living far away, having different work schedules, etc. It can be damn near impossible to get a few friends together to play games, let alone find a multiplayer game that everyone likes.

Well, at least there's not much of a need to buy a bunch of extra controllers, which is especially good considering that nowadays, a controller costs about as much as a new game.

 

[CleverCover]

Actually, I find the arcade games are more for local multiplayer than anything else.

Castle Crashers is one that comes to mind where everyone gathers around and has fun playing it.

Did that last week with my siblings.

Now if you want an AAA title with decent local multiplayer... good luck with that.

 

[faefrost]

The modern consoles do seem to be falling into somewhat seperate niches (although there is still a decent amount of crossover).

If you like playing games with friends in the same room. ie party style, then the Wii is the system of choice. (ie Wii sports, anything with the word "Mario" in the titile)

if you like the stronger online component. Multi player online games, then the XBox 360 is the better choice, having the best online experience of the bunch in XBL

If you are more of a solo gamer. Preferring a variety of solid stand alone type titles than the PS3 seems to be the stronger choice, having a far more varied and good selection of console exclusives targeted in this direction (God of War, Uncharted, Heavy Rain, etc)

 

[faefrost]

Actually, I find the arcade games are more for local multiplayer than anything else.

Castle Crashers is one that comes to mind where everyone gathers around and has fun playing it.

Did that last week with my siblings.

Now if you want an AAA title with decent local multiplayer... good luck with that.

I think Little Big Planet is the only one in my library PS3 library that would fit the bill.

 

[Metaphysic]

There's the occasional multiplayer component in hack and slash/rpgs (Sacred 2, War in the North, Dungeon Siege III), but the save systems are usually so fucked it's not worth bothering except every once in a while (LotR: War in the North and DS3, I'm looking directly at you), and shooters like Borderlands or CoD... but aside from those, we don't see a whole lot of good local multiplayer games... that's just not where the money is for the 360/ps3.

 

[viranimus]

Well... I think its already been properly rebuked but Ill trhow another scenario in.

What if you have 4 people living in a house each with their own PC, all 4 of which use their 360 gamepads as PC game controllers? Sure its uncommon but please dont try to say it cant happen because I just little over a year ago left a situation like that. Might not have been the purpose you have intended, but its also not completely illogical.

 

[Fijiman]

I bought myself a xbox360 controller for my pc, great controller and easy to use with almost all emulators and games in windows. Wich helps alot if im going over to a friend, to play some xbox.
So based on my experience, owning atleast 2 should be enough, and if you need more your friends could bring theirs.

Aside from this, having a few extra controllers would only really be necessary if you are prone to smashing your controller in rage.

 

[LiquidSolstice]

MW is damn fun to play split screen with 4 people.

 

[Vault101]

its annoying becaause then your freind has to own the same or console (or a computer somewhat capable..which sort of isnt much a strech I will admit) but they also have to own the game

I only own 2 because an extra came with the console

 

[Rosalia Nightsong]

PSN is free, if I am not mistaken, so the following only applies to the XBox.

Consider this: XBox Live is a feature for which you shell out money consistently to get Gold status and to do more online. If a true AAA game came out that allowed off-line play, Microsoft would lose a nice chunk of change in revenue from their services, because (quite frankly) there are a good number of people who would prefer to play off-line with friends for free than play on-line for money. So (and mind you this is just a far-fetched assumption which may or may not actually be far-fetched) Microsoft probably pays the AAA developer studios some fraction of that revenue to keep off-line play to a minimum. After all, both Microsoft and the developer studios are businesses, and businesses have money at the top of the priority list.

/rant

 

[Nalbis]

Between me and my friends we have 2 pads most of the time and we play winner stays on. Occasionally we'll have 4 pads and then we play some 2 on 2 Fifa. Other than that I can't think of an occasion where we've used more than two pads.

Oh tell a lie, a little while back we did some system link CoD zombies, but that required two consoles as well as 4 pads.