I've been a gamer my whole life, but I wasn't introduced into multiplayer gaming till I had a revolutionary time slaughtering bots with 4 buddies on Golden Eye, and Perfect Dark. Back then I was in middle school and we were playing on my buddies 13" TV that we each had 1/4th of. Now televisions are giant, so huge in fact that we can each have our own slice of the television that's as big or bigger then the 13" TV we used to split 4 ways.
But what's happening? Game developers are no longer including the option for 4 player split screen. Of all the games on my 360 to come out within the last year none support 4 player split. Halo 3 does because that's how halo always was, halo wouldn't have been nearly as successful without the original having 4 player split screen, and they had to continue that tradition. Think back to 360 launch games though. COD2, Farcry:IP, Perfect Dark: Zero, they all had 4 player split screen. Now it seems we only get 2 players on screen, sometimes not even that (COD4). Gears 1/2 , Resistance 2 , Call of Duty: World at War, even Left 4 Dead (if a game ever needed 4 player split screen that's the one) all only 2 player split screen.
So why do I own 4 controllers then? Is it just for castle crashers? (not that game's not great and all) The amount of fun to be had by 8 people having a Xbox party is far greater then that to be had by 4. only 4 players worked for n64 games because of bots, and most new games don't include those either (I realize gears 2 does) So why is it that games stopped supporting 4 player split screen? Is it because the consoles can't support 4 players at once from a technical stand point? Are the graphics too system intensive? If that's all then turn off settings for 4-players and let us resume our 8 person parties. Or is there some other motivation? Is it to sell more consoles and games or Xbox live subscriptions? While it might promote the sale of more games I doubt it promotes the sale of many consoles. I don't know about you but I don't have 4 televisions in my house for an 8 person party. And then I have to find 3 friends with 360's that can come over for a party, surprisingly enough that's not as easy as it sounds.
What do you guys think? Is there some $$ motivation or is there really a reason it can't be done. Or am I overreacting and should just play online more often. Or do I have a point in thinking that online play isn't really a substitute for 8 friends in a room playing against each other.
|
scsitransfer's blog
Follow
RSS
Contact
Now I'm finding even just 2 player split screen is becoming difficult to play. There is just so much happening at once and so much detail that as soon as you drop down to a smaller resolution for split screen it becomes difficult to make out what's happening on screen. It's not like Golden Eye where there was just rooms and halls of nothing but the same wall and floor texture and nothing really else. Or my eyes could just be going bad >_>
Plus I've gotten way too good at being cheap by peeking at my friends' screens haha.
In games like Halo, where players are running around small, enclosed areas it isn't too taxing to throw 4 3 extra players in there (the areas are already rendered, all you need to do is add the guns to their POV).
In a larger, more open worlds however, things are generally rendered 'on the fly' with textures being streamed in and out as necessary, in these cases it simply isn't possible to add the option for local multiplayer due to the demands it places on the hardware. Could you see even the mightiest PC being able to cope with rendering half of Liberty City, Paradise City or Stilwater at once, along with all the mayhem, because the players are at opposite ends?
That's why in Gears of War and Fable 2 (the only things I've played in co-op lately) you are tethered to player one, it really is a hardware capability thing in most cases. Obviously there are some cases of developers simply not bothering though, but a lot of the time it's about feasability.
I miss local 4 player too, it used to make a great Friday night once upon a time.
On a side note I think COD World At War may have it too? Not sure. Well and of course Gears 2 has it. Either way it IS slowly coming back.
COD4 & CODW@W have 4player Splitscreen & Motorstorm Pacific Rift too.