4-Player Splitscreen

[bassdrum]

Practically every weekend, three of my favorite chums and I pop CoD4 (or lately MW2) in, and sit down together for a night of multiplayer awesome well into the morning. Sure, each segment of the screen is tiny, but there's something irreplaceable about having some close friends there with you which online gaming simply can't compete with. So I agree completely, 4 player local multiplayer needs to make a comeback. Even if many people don't use it anymore, it's still the best way to play games with your friends.

Also, welcome to the Escapist!

 

[Irridium]

1 little problem, Halo 3 wasn't a launch title for the 360.

Right. I knew something was off with my statement lol

No problem, you should probably edit it in your post though, so you don't get endlessly corrected. Trust me, it gets annoying.

 

[Con Carne]

I don't recall being happy watching four small screens...

I agree.....think back to the days of Twisted Metal. That was the biggest load of Shenannigans!
Or was it only 2 player split screen? Either way I don't care. Split screen sucks regardless. Just 2 player split screen was more tolerable.

 

[bawkbawkboo1]

I remember being outraged at the PS2 not having four controller ports built in... Thought at the time that Sony would double the controller count from the PS1 to the PS2, but no, I had to get a multitap. Even then the PS2 games that supported it were few and far between. On the other hand the Gamecube had some really great four-player games, and I'm not just talking about SSBM (although that was certainly part of it). My friends and I liked Super Mario Strikers, a soccer game that came out in 2005.

i really wish it were easier to play Left 4 Dead/L4D2 (the console versions) in 4-player splitscreen. I mean, really, it just makes sense for that game.

 

[Shynobee]

Okay, I know this probably gets brought up a lot.

But really.

WHAT, ON EARTH, HAS HAPPENED TO FOUR PLAYERS BEING ABLE TO SIT DOWN ON A COUCH TOGETHER TO PLAY A VIDEO GAME D:

It's a very simple formula. One console, one couch, one TV, four screens. Four happy friends.

Why is it that nowadays every single game only goes as far as 2-player splitscreen.

Even if they do have four-player splitscreen, such as Call of Duty, it is typically only for local deathmatches, and not for a co-op campaign or online multiplayer.

The last game I played that had four-player splitscreen online co-op was HALO 3. An XBox 360 launch title. Castle Crashers had offline 4-person Splitscreen too, but XBLA doesn't count.

But don't some of the rest of you miss sitting around a couch with four friends all playing together, too?

Absolutely. I always hearken back to the good ol days of super smash bros in the basement, All the early 007 games, etc.

Its a rare treat finding a great game with 4 way split screen.

And jeebus lol. Some games, such as Left 4 Dead and Borderlands, are specifically keyed to playing together with three other people. Cue running home excitedly with the game only to realize that half the room can't play it together with you.

I felt that way exactly with Borderlands. That game woulda been great with 4 player split screen, and even as it stood with the 2 player split screen, they botched that into annoying-ness by leaving all the menus at full size.

I'm going back to Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Heck, I'm going back to super smash bros 1.

 

[DeleteThisPlease]

You know... I don't really miss 4 player splitscreen.

I was a PC Gamer and I love LAN games, but I like playing online more. More people to play with (even if some of them are very VERY annoying) and it's nice to be able to see the entire screen when playing.

So I guess I'm cool without the 4 player splitscreen.

 

[Kagim]

Seriously... I can't find any game that supports Four players on a couch. This is confusing because the PS3 can support what is it.. Seven players or something?

This does bug me. Mostly because i see so many games that could work great if my girlfriend could just pick up a controller and play.

Take Eternal Sonata. While the game itself is a wee bit irritating it got it right. In battle all three characters can be controlled by other LIVE people in the room. So when i played it my girlfriend could pick up her controller during fights and beat up monsters with me. We ended up playing as though she was following behind me giving her two cents. That little bit pulled her into the game and it was incredibly fun. I may have had the controller that let us explore the over world but i wasn't the only one making the decisions. Its why i played the game so much in the end. The simple fact that my girlfriend could participate in it made a game i normally would have returned something that i played through, twice. That's why FFXIII has pissed me off. There is NO reason why another player can't pick up the controller in battle and play with you. Hell the game seems designed for that very purpose.

Aside: I wouldn't mind four player split screen sizes. My tv is more then big enough now.

 

[Denamic]

2 player splitscreen, I can tolerate.
But 4 player? Just, no.
It gets way too small.

Only game I've ever remotely enjoyed on 4 player splitscreen is Golden Eye.
And even that would have been way better on network multiplayer.

 

[NotAPie]

It gets really small man.
Kinda annoying.

 

[Sakurazaki1023]

Anyone who doesn't like 4-player splitscreen obviously doesn't have any friends. Some of my finest memories are of a night of 4-player splitscreen gaming. A small portion of the screen is a small price to pay for having a good time with mates.

4 friends, one TV, and a night of FPS games... Now that's a party!

Amen, Hallelujah, Peanut Butter!

 

[bawkbawkboo1]

Seriously... I can't find any game that supports Four players on a couch. This is confusing because the PS3 can support what is it.. Seven players or something?

This does bug me. Mostly because i see so many games that could work great if my girlfriend could just pick up a controller and play.

Take Eternal Sonata. While the game itself is a wee bit irritating it got it right. In battle all three characters can be controlled by other LIVE people in the room. So when i played it my girlfriend could pick up her controller during fights and beat up monsters with me. We ended up playing as though she was following behind me giving her two cents. That little bit pulled her into the game and it was incredibly fun. I may have had the controller that let us explore the over world but i wasn't the only one making the decisions. Its why i played the game so much in the end. The simple fact that my girlfriend could participate in it made a game i normally would have returned something that i played through, twice. That's why FFXIII has pissed me off. There is NO reason why another player can't pick up the controller in battle and play with you. Hell the game seems designed for that very purpose.

Aside: I wouldn't mind four player split screen sizes. My tv is more then big enough now.

I'm pretty sure that the seven-controllers-supported thing was a bit of pre-launch hype by Sony that didn't make it into the final PS3. It supports only 4 controllers, as is evidenced by the number of indicator LEDs on the controller. This is just a personal opinion but I think FF13 works best as a single player game. Maybe that's just because when my friends are over on weekends we usually don't have a lot of time to play games between the different things that we need to do. A lot of people prefer faster-paced, pick-up-and-play games for multiplayer because of this. Again just my opinion.

 

[Captain Bobbossa]

another thing that does my head in is people who complain so much about playing on a smaller screen.

 

[ethaninja]

You would probably strain your eyes with 4 player split screen >.< Hell, I remember when I'd go over to my mates place and we would play split screen (he only had a console and so those were the only times I played console) on his wide screen big ass TV, and I would STILL strain my eyes trying to see my dude. And I didn't like the limited perepheral vision when it was a vertical one.

 

[Enigmers]

I have no problem with, you know, sitting a little bit closer to the TV so I can see my portion of the screen. I'm also the kind of person that plays a game for fun rather than ogling the graphics. I also have friends.

Naturally, this means I love 4-player split-screen and miss it dearly.

 

[Angus565]

I know how you feel, Left 4 Dead would have been improved if 4 player split screen was at least an option its kind of annoying because to play with 4 of your freinds you need 2 tvs, and 2 xboxes, and 2 copies of L4D. Ahh... I remember the fun we had with Time Splitters future perfect.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

I wish and hope it makes a return. I <3 offline multiplayer. Sometimes I just can't deal with douchebags on XBL.

 

[Fayathon]

I miss it.

I mean, I have a big enough TV, so I don't have the problem with the 'can't see' thing, and I have such fond memories of running around like madmen on Perfect Dark, trying to out N-bomb each other.

Fun times.

Yes, bring back 4 player splitscreen, and while you're at it, bring back fucking bots!

I tell ya, kids these days....

Took the words right out of my mouth, except me and my friends were playing Turok 2 and GoldenEye 64 not Perfect Dark.

 

[ottenni]

Yeah those where days i miss. Turning to my friends and reminding them of how i just kicked their ass. good times.

As long as we can still LAN i will be happy. We can still LAN right???

 

[TheTemby]

I remember many fun times with my friends on Goldeneye for the N64 and the Timesplitters games.
Sure the screens were tiny, but we didn't give a fuck, we were having fun!

Amen