The Sword and Laser discussion

Some of the best memories I have with my friends involve us playing hours of computer games together, in an attic gaming room where the windows are open and the summer breeze is blowing in. This was all possible due to split-screen games like Goldeneye, Mario Kart and countless other classics.

As I got older I have played games less and work life got in the way, but I always thought I was a little more clued up about the modern gaming world than the average joe. How wrong I was.

Yesterday I went to buy a PS4 and some games for it, but as I browsed through the games I couldn’t help notice how they were all 1 player only. All the fighting games, racing games and shoot-em-ups. Only Fifa was multiplayer. The rest were all network-only multiplayer games.

I was going to buy a PS4 with two controllers but in the end I only got one controller. The shop assistant explained to me that as everything is now online, the split-screen is being removed altogether. When friends play games together now they do so over the network with headsets, and not in each other’s bedrooms high-fiving each other when they complete a mission together. It made me a bit sad actually, as it all seems a bit isolated. I guess that is the way gaming has gone and I’ve completely missed the technology. But give me my N64 and three of my friends in a room any day playing Mario Kart, than hearing them through the headsets hundreds of miles apart.

Maybe I'm being grumpy for no reason, but it's nice if developers kept the option for split-screen gaming there too.

For what it's worth, I agree with you wholeheartedly. The advances made in online gaming are nothing short of amazing, but, for me, they'll never be the same as when me, my brother and maybe a couple friends would get together in the same room and just enjoy.

Couch co-op forever! In our hearts if not in our homes.

Split screen games always were a bit distracting for me, but I still have good memories of playing other multiplayer games around the TV with friends. It'd be a bummer if they did away with them.

If you're into PC gaming, it's easy to play some classic games, and there are good new retro multiplayer games. I've got some good fun with friends playing Towerfall.

To be truly fun, the person you are playing against should be close enough to hit if they are bad losers, or worse, bad winners ;-)

Beating some random person on the internet will never be as satisfying as beating your friends or relatives.

I think a lot of it (not adding split screen) is laziness on the part of developers. Console makers want games to support their MP system and developers don't want to make 2 multiplayer modes.
It can't be disk space. Some of the games I'm downloading are 40+GB. A few more GB is not going to make a difference.

I totally agree. I like online multiplayer, but I often wish I had the option to play local multiplayer, especially with a couple of the racing games I have.

I couldn't agree more. As much fun as online multiplayer is it will never be as much fun as being in the same room as you play. I played a ton of local multiplayer games with my friends growing up and still play that type today, mostly with my niece and nephew. It has become much harder to find those type of games, but there are some out there. I've been an Xbox owner for a long time, mostly because of Halo's local MP modes. I was disheartened to hear that Halo 5 won't have local MP, but we still have the Borderlands games, Diablo 3 and a few others to enjoy.

Does the new Nintendo console, whatever it's called, have split-screen play? They always used to support that.

This site can probably help you find what you're looking for:

http://www.co-optimus.com/games.php?t...

Suck it up and buy multiple consoles and TVs, bucko!

I like that! The dream: earn enough money to buy multiple consoles and televisions! One in each corner so no peeking at each other's locations :)

If you like RPG's Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition will be released on consoles this month. The Enhanced Edition is designed with specifically with spiltscreen coop in mind.

I played Lego: Dimensions on PS4 at PAX, side by side with another player. It was a terrible experience, completely turned me off the game. The game would switch back and forth between split screen if we were far apart and one screen if we were close to each other. Worse, if we were close to each other and close to an interactive object, it would have an indicator to press a button, but it wouldn't specify who the indicator was for. So if it wasn't meant for my character, I'd hit the button and it wouldn't work (and in some cases, depending on the button, would switch me to controlling a DIFFERENT character). I've never been so turned off on a game, ESPECIALLY one with Lego, which I usually love their games.

On the other hand, I have fond memories of play Dr. Mario head-to-head with my mother on the NES when I was a kid. My mom couldn't beat me and would keep me up late until she'd win...but I wasn't allowed to throw the game. It was insane.

My (admittedly fuzzy) recollection of the Portal games is that if you're doing local co-op, it does split screen. That was a lot of fun to play with a friend on the couch.

What about LAN parties? I remember getting together with friends and our PCs and playing Warcraft I, II, Team Fortress, Counterstrike, etc. One house I lived had seven of us in bedrooms on the upper level. We would link up to my server and there'd be laughs and taunts going up and down the hallway.

It was also pretty common then to have the multiplayer versions work with only one copy of the game.

My boys and I still play Minecraft, Skylanders, Disney Infinity, and all the Lego games together on the same consol. And they play all sorts of Mario Bros. and Super Smash Bros. on the WiiU at their mom's house.
There's still a lot of split screen games out there but they seem to be aimed a little younger maybe.

It depends on the game... My daughters regularly play Minecraft on my ps4 and it runs in split screen. They also play Rayman Legends and Little Big Planet 3 and while those don't split the screen they can both play at the same time.

Like yourself I prefer being able to be in the same room as the person I'm playing with but as a parent I feel I need to get some sort of referee training!

There are still plently of great co-op games, just AAA titles normally don't bother as 3D games tend to require a split screen which doubles the rendering load on a game. Any game that can do co-op without being split screen is normally the best you got.

Dragons Crown was the big co-op game for a long time with my friends. Up to 4 players, can play offline or online and it's interchangeable. Before that it was Dokapon Kingdom as the most cruel and vicious party game forged in fires of Hell.

Otherwise we only really get in person to play fighting games lately GG Xrd. Almost everything else can only be played online, and even if you are in the same room as someone else you both need your computers/consoles and hooked onto the web.

Not co-op, but I had fun playing Towerfall Ascension and Rocket League with friends lately.