Offline Co-Op

[nin_ninja]

My friend and I were talking about this when he bought Uncharted 2. We tried for a while to find the co-op portion before finding out that it was only an online component. Most games these days don't have offline co-op, or vastly reduced options available compared to online co-op.

http://www.damnlag.com/what-ever-happened-to-offline-co-op-in-video-games/

I don't agree 100% with this guy bashing Microsoft for it, but he raises valid points.

 

[Miles Tormani]

Yeah, the lack of offline co-op is unfortunate, though it may have to do with increasing demands in visual fidelity despite the same processing power of the system in question. Leaving less resources for split-screen rendering to work properly.

Oh, well. At least Halo's never skimped on offline co-op. By that I mean they never removed the two-player offline co-op. I am aware that despite the co-op being expanded to four players, that it's still only two offline.

 

[Hisshiss]

Most game companies are lazy as hell when it comes to designing good co-op in games, and the more work they put into offline co-op, the less they give to Online, which as a whole is a hell of alot more useful to most people. That being said..I just want more co-op games period.

 

[Harlemura]

The Scott Pilgrim game's multiplayer was completely offline. Don't know whether it was intentional or they couldn't be bothered to set it up, but whatever.
So it's nothing like any of the shooters that'd be nice to have offline stuff that don't, but games like that Scott Pilgrim one, Castle Crashers and, at a push, a few shooters like Left 4 Dead and Borderlands are a reminder that going online isn't the only option.

Sorry if I've missed the point of this thread because it was meant to be about the article, but I'm too tired and lazy to read it properly, and I already had my post going in my head by the time I'd clicked the thread's title and I like making up excuses.
So there.

 

[Paulie92]

Oh I hate it when games need online and system link, not so much system link as most of my two friends who game now own 360's and the same kind of games as I do. Still it can be a real pain in the arse

 

[Necrofudge]

Thats the problem with games these days. My access to the internet is crappy at best so I rely on offline co-op to entertain me. Lately though, it's been lacking. A lot. A shame too since it was so rampant in games of the past.

 

[InfernoJesus]

What really sold Resistance 2 to me was their allowing you to play online co-op with 2 people per console. I really do miss offline co-op in games. I'd much rather have offline co-op than online multiplayer in most cases, gaming with friends in real life is much more fun than gaming with virtual characters and a talking headset.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Yeah, offline co-op is very scarce now-a-days. Luckly most games atleast have system link if not splitscreen.

Also Miles Tormani is correct, Halo always has done split screen, there is still hope.

 

[FugitiveZero]

I love me some offline co-op.

there's nothing like kicking your friends' asses in a game of Fifa or Tekken.

edit : i've just realized that what i said wasn't really co-op, but its still fun regardless.

 

[Hisshiss]

The Scott Pilgrim game's multiplayer was completely offline. Don't know whether it was intentional or they couldn't be bothered to set it up, but whatever.
So it's nothing like any of the shooters that'd be nice to have offline stuff that don't, but games like that Scott Pilgrim one, Castle Crashers and, at a push, a few shooters like Left 4 Dead and Borderlands are a reminder that going online isn't the only option.

Sorry if I've missed the point of this thread because it was meant to be about the article, but I'm too tired and lazy to read it properly, and I already had my post going in my head by the time I'd clicked the thread's title and I like making up excuses.
So there.

How is that game anyways? I tried to play the first mission on the demo and just had to give up out of frustration XD.

 

[Miles Tormani]

Yeah, offline co-op is very scarce now-a-days. Luckly most games atleast have system link if not splitscreen.

Also Miles Tormani is correct, Halo always has done split screen, there is still hope.

I would love to see a Halo game with four player offline co-op splitscreen, but that's just way too many things for the Xbox to render, especially compared to matchmaking and custom games. Same argument goes for the Xbox version of Left 4 Dead.

I would also much rather have limited split-screen options than for the game to cut corners as aggressively as they did back on the N64. No music for 3 players in Mario Kart? Half the items are gone if you so much as add a second player? Five levels unplayable for 3+ people in Goldeneye? What the hell.

EDIT: By the way, in terms of Halo: Reach, I checked. It still has the same split-screen options that were in Halo 3. This was true even during its beta test, which is actually pretty sweet if you think about it.

 

[Harlemura]

-snip of text that related to Scott Pilgrim game-

How is that game anyways? I tried to play the first mission on the demo and just had to give up out of frustration XD.

I've had it but a day and already raged at it several times, but the awesome style and satisfying feeling I got when I started doing really well kept me lovin' it.
Don't get it if you're looking for a long game though. I've also already beat it once.
Oh, and it's also really good with friends, if you haven't already tried that.

I'm guessing you meant the Scott Pilgrim game anyway. If you didn't, I can't be bothered to describe the other games. See my original post on being tired and lazy for details.

 

[8-Bit Grin]

I never enjoyed Halo, so I've always been out of luck for the most part.
I never enjoyed Gears of War either.
The only game I truly enjoyed co-op in was Resident Evil 5.
That was seventeen straight hours of pure bliss.

 

[XSA37]

Offline co-op is still around in some console games, but it seems like every game now uses it as a selling point... as if offline co-op is not something that we have been participating in since... well since arcade games were still the high tech way to go. I believe that companies need to bring it back and stop using offline co-op as a selling point for a generation of games sadly lacking in one of the foundations of multiplayer play itself.

 

[LeighAlura]

What ticks me off about games with co-op potential is that I don't like doing online games, save for Team Fortress 2, so if I have to sign on with a complete stranger who will likely get extremely pissed off and blame everything on either the game or me in order to have my co-op fun, I really don't see the point in playing co-op. Might as well just take turns when somebody screws up somewhere, at least we all get to have about the same amount of fun with one guy behind the controller instead of two plus BigHonkinTits93 or whatever who bitches every time he fails.

 

[JWW]

The lack of offline co-op makes my blood pressure rise. It is absolutely ridiculous and it just pisses people off.

 

[XSA37]

The lack of offline co-op makes my blood pressure rise. It is absolutely ridiculous and it just pisses people off.

It really does. Do you know how many games would be better with just a single Co-op option? Think about how much more interesting the games would be.

I have to say though, Halo 2 did it perfectly. They had a system down for offline co-op and it worked perfectly and made playing the game more fun than when you simply did it alone.

 

[Twad]

Most game companies are lazy as hell when it comes to designing good co-op in games, and the more work they put into offline co-op, the less they give to Online, which as a whole is a hell of alot more useful to most people. That being said..I just want more co-op games period.

Same here. More COOP games! There are way too few of them...
Offline COOP is important because people like playing WITH friends. Ya know, in the same room?

But i guess they are going away from this because if its only online it means that ppl need to buy X number of consoles/controlers/games to be able to play together remotely.. they make more money by keeping players appart.

 

[XSA37]

Most game companies are lazy as hell when it comes to designing good co-op in games, and the more work they put into offline co-op, the less they give to Online, which as a whole is a hell of alot more useful to most people. That being said..I just want more co-op games period.

Same here. More COOP games! There are way too few of them...
Offline COOP is important because people like playing WITH friends. Ya know, in the same room?

But i guess they are going away from this because if its only online it means that ppl need to buy X number of consoles/controlers/games to be able to play together remotely.. they make more money by keeping players appart.

You're right, it is probably just a money making gimmick. It's going to take a lot of people demanding these features back to actually bring them back into mainstream games.

 

[Gonswell]

nothings better then finding a good offline co-op game. sure, online is great, but having the good friends in there with you and reacting alongside you is great.
monster hunter freedom 2/unite literally occupied me and three friends through two summers. and borderlands, me and my friend went all the way to lv. 61 in general knoxx. i also used to play the lego star wars games with my friend all the time.