Splitscreen: Dying?

[The Warden]

There is stuff coming up that is much better then split-screen....
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/sony-patents-reveal-3d-screen-sharing
Sony is going to make TV's that show different things to different people at the same time.

God damn all this future shit, fixing everything...

 

[Fire Daemon]

What annoys me is that games that can have 4 player splitscreen but when you try to play via Systemlink you can only have one person per TV. I'm not expert on this but if one 360 is able to support 4 players why can't 2 support 8 and 4 support 16? It does come across as a cheap way of forcing people online and hence buying extra copies of the game. Halo 3 is a 3 year old game but when my friends and I get to together thats the game we always end up playing because you can play split-screen with system link, prior to that it was the same with Halo 2. Bungie knows how to make good system link games and I have a strange feeling I'll be hanging onto Halo:Reach for a long time.

 

[NooNameLeft]

http://www.co-optimus.com/search.php?advanced=true&gamename=&system=4&publisher=&developer=&esrb=%25&genre=0&release=Y&local=Y&offline_num=&online_num=&sortby=release
list of all pc games with local co-op.
34 game in total.

 

[Acaroid]

In recent game reviews, adverts, and previews the relic component known as splitscreen multiplayer has scarcely been mentioned.
We all know why and for all who don't: you don't deserve to read these words (or even be on this site)

Logically, splitscreen will ever disappear, but if in the future developers don't feel the need to fabricate such a game mode, where do all the poor schmucks who skipped out on the broadband bill in exchange for four more days of ramen? Or all those who have shitty connections and will murder their spouses (if they had any) if they were to deal with their connection problems? Or even the poor bastard who invites his human(ish) friends over to hang out?

Yes, network play is entertaining, but what happens when you large, adolescent, brothers wish to play in order to fend off hunger?
It really sucks ass when there's ten people in a room, all avid gamers, involuntarily watching a selfish jackoff (usually me) play a game without splitscreen.

There's no way a splitscreen addition to game can be detrimental, and if you can develop multiplayer for millions of players, you can surely program 4 - 16 (32?).
There are just too many games out there that would be so much more exhilarating in splitscreen.
And even more with splitscreen that handles worse than a flounder in the desert.

So put my three other controllers and large TV to use and keep my ex-con brother from murdering me (or worse): give me more splitscreen.

EDIT: Logically, splitscreen will never disappear, but the thought of the component decaying disturbs me.

UNNECESSARY EDIT: 4-16 (32?) refers to the ol' link play featuring ancient tech such as link cables and more than one TV.

I made a post about this ages ago and im glad someone else bought it up again I remember playing goldeneye64 multiplayer on a tiny 15" TV, this was back when 19" where the norm and usually every house only had 1 TV.

I think split screen still has a place and now TV's are so damn big you would think it would be a thriving market, but you know what people are like now days, it is hard to grief someone when they are close enough to punch you

 

[Not-here-anymore]

I have 4 controllers for my xbox (5, because I got one with the replacement xbox after the first one RRoD'd). It increasingly seems that I can only use one of them for any given game. This makes an awful lot of my peripheral purchasing redundant.

I can understand why splitscreen is going - people are increasingly moving to online play, and better graphics make rendering splitscreen games require considerably more processor power, but the lack of splitscreen does remove something, I feel.
I've had some great times playing Halo's campaign in co-op splitscreen, racing outrageously badly in Forza, or battering hordes of zombies in Left 4 Dead. I walked into Game the other day, thinking 'Transformers: War for Cybertron' has co-op, that'll be fun to pass the time, only to find that the co-op play was online only. It made me a sad (transformer-less) panda.

 

[Zeema]

I hear that Black ops has online split screen so maybe black ops will rebirth it . yeah but as of late only a few games have split screen and thats kinda annoying.

 

[Rakkana]

It will never die! It will live on in my heart!

 

[Continuity]

Geez, I though split screen was one of the only reason to get a console.

 

[blankedboy]

Sadly, it is dying. I'm pissed about that.

I remember the good old days when I lived on a boat... we'd tie up with some another boat, go over there, and have 4-player games of CTR on a pure, legit PSX. Good times.

 

[gl1koz3]

Split screen is great. We could have it even on ANY game, if ONLY the people weren't so lazy ass to implement normal custom windowed mode resolution and keyboard/mouse/controller selection. And proper LAN, of course.

In such a case, you'd be able to open two instances of a game, choose what controls what, join a game... and voila.

Having a built-in split screen is extra cool, but the mentioned method is less strict on the programmers.

EDIT: Sadly, more and more control over products (AC2, SC2 etc) makes this nearly impossible or a waste of time in eyes of managers.

 

[Sebenko]

But PC does seem to be the harbinger of the future, so I think splitscreen is going the way of the dodo.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't console-game developers been saying "PC Gaming is Dying"? I THINK it was somebody from Epic. Might be wrong, it was a while back. Then again, I might be completely crazy.

I'm not even going to bother getting the image out.

Digital distribution, online multiplayer, draconian DRM. If it happens on PC, someone will try it on console.

 

[Kaymish]

dying? what are you talking about? its dead i haven't seen one decent game with split screen functionality for the PS3 so my second controller that i got is just on stand by in case my main one runs out of battery charge
i use to love split screen but its just gone and console games are a cow to do any modding let alone adding entire gameplay modes

Edit was this the image you were looking for?

 

[Edorf]

The reason splitscreen is dying (I think) is because when you're making splitscreen, everything has to be loaded twice, and when you combine this with the graphics nowadays (constantly pushing the consoles - atleast the 360). You wont have the power to load it twice without decreasing the performance of the game.

 

[NorthernTrooper]

I really think there should be more creative co op splitscreen games. Even RE5 was fun.

 

[Dxz5roxg]

I miss splitscreen. It sucks when you actually have to look for games with splitscreen and it's kind of hard. Some people actually do have real life friends.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

One strange thing about splitscreen, it can make an average game really enjoyable. Me and my friend played thru the Gauntlet remake on the old XBOX, along with the Baldurs gate one, not because they were great games, but because they were fun to team up on.

Honestly, 'same room' multiplayer is so much more fun than online multiplayer.

You can't punch player 2 in the arm for stealing the health online, only unleash a torrent of xbox live abuse

 

[sansamour14]

i love split screen games where u and ur friends can play side by side killing and getting killed like in GOW2 and it is his own experience cuz when i plat GOW2 with my friends in a party it gets quiet and no one talks but when were all on one tv its is awesome

 

[Valdsator]

PC gaming should have splitscreen, too. Of course, it wouldn't work for shooters and such, but I remember playing Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit splitscreen on the PC, and it was awesome.

 

[Funkiest Monkey]

No, it isn't, shit loads have games have splitscreen (or single screen) multiplayer. But hell, the games that don't are mostly just single player anyway.

Bit annoyed at War For Cybertron not having split-screen, however.