Whatever happened to split screen?

[Serious_Stalin]

Why not ask what happened to cartridges or talk about the "good old days" when you could save without having a memory card or hard drive? Oh how I miss the joystick and the one-button gamepad! Gaming has evolved but there will always be someone complaining about the lack of an archaic feature of old.

Many things evolved in a good way like controllers and hardrives, but I think it is wrong to think that online mode is an evolution of split screen, if me and my friends are bored we can't all sit round a mates house and play a game together, we all have to go home and get on our Playstations (which actually not many of my friends in fact OWN) and then play with each other online without being able to talk to each other unless we bought a crappy mic.

I can't even look at their goddamn screens!
did I type that out loud?

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

Ridiculously easy to get online play. On the PS2/PSone online was really annoying to hook up, now its easy as sin. (Dunno about xBox though)

For reference, I've used them all online and Xbox Live is comfortably the best method. Can't remember ever lagging out from it or anything like that.

 

[meatloaf231]

Whatever you wanna argue, developers just see no reason in including split screen anymore.

Split-Screen pros:
- Allows several people to play off the same console, game and tv.

Cons:
- Additional coding.
- Everyone can see everyone else's game so strategy and the surprise element pretty much go fuck themselves.
- Unnecessary eye strain.
- More confusing than other methods since all games are happening in the same place at once, your brain can't help but to loose focus to whatever else is going on.
- Your field of vision in-game is basically shit.
- If you don't happen to have a big tv, in games where a lot of stuff is going on, it can get downright impossible to keep track of what's happening.
- All consoles except the Wii have good online now, you don't need to drag people to each other's houses. And if you do want to go over for a party...
- ...You can just hook the consoles/PCs in a lan, it's not that complicated.
- Means several people only have to buy 1 game... which isn't all that good for developers.
- The internet still exists.


See what I'm getting at it here...? Split-screen was necessary a while ago cause it was the most reliable multiplayer method in a console. Now it's just old and unnecessary in most cases.

You forgot the biggest pro: sitting on the couch with your friends in the same house. Would you say that talking to someone over the internet is just as fun as them being there?

Also, one of the biggest problems I see is that online/lan requires not only 4 machines, but 4 tvs and 4 games. It's expensive, unsocial, and significantly less fun.

 

[shatnershaman]

Do ROck Band and GH:WT really count?

They have split-screen. Of course they count.

 

[AmericanWarMachine]

The PS3 is capable of using up to 8 controllers at one time. XBOX 360 can have up to 4 and yet Wii appears to be the only game actively making good use of its multiplayer.

I don't understand it, me and my friends used to happily play Goldeneye on a television half the size of the one I had now on 4 player mode and it was amazing, cracked it out a while ago and we still had loads of fun, as we did Mario Kart.
So I am truly baffled when new consoles (especially) like the PS3 offer the use of more controllers in a day and age when TVs are twice the size they used to be and still fail to make more than a 2 player game once in a while and offer no split screen multiplayer support.

I really don't think it is just me, but I used to have a LOT of fun playing with my friends (in the same room not online...) on the same game.
Apart from my anger at the lack of 4 player I don't think its that much to ask for a co-op mode on some games even if it seems unrealistic as it makes games more fun, resistance offered on the PS3 and it was awesome, I could have seen it being a lot of fun on other titles as well.

I don't really expect an answer to my question perhaps I just wanted to vent some rage on the matter and if the new timesplitters doesn't offer 4 player multiplayer with bots I may cry like I did when I was a kid and all my lemmings died.

Sadly it's because all the new gaming companies are rushing to top the last game's graphics, and are spending almost not time on vital gameplay elements such as splitscreen, and various gameplay types. It's really sad... I miss the days where I would go over my friends house and have him, me, and six other people all crowd around two small T.V's half the size of todays T.Vs and just spend a whole day and night of pure CTF, Deathmatchs, etc. etc. and laugh, swear, and own everyone. Those days died long ago ,QQ, and now it's all just online which is supposed to be "Better" somehow. Playing online is never the same as playing split-screen with friends (*thanks for pointing the error out ). Thank god for CoD4! Although I'm not sure you can system link, can you?

 

[shatnershaman]

Its technically not splitscreen, its more just reacting to the same screen - you all have some common factors you're watching. I wonder if that means its technically not splitscreen.

Same with LBP - all the characters are on the same screen - does that mean its not splitscreen?

Its "split" between the different players. Its just nit picking.

 

[AmericanWarMachine]

Playing online is never the same as playing online.

Something tells me it is.

:O oh noes! thanks! I'll edit that.

 

[Nokterne]

I have played 4 player multiplayer and it's alot of fun. But I can honestly say I'd rather do it in a Lan party with multiple machines, or on the internet with voice chat. Split screen is just a lesser option, finally being washed away. At least in the majority of games.

Try setting up a LAN party when you're shitfaced. Plus, you need multiple consoles and tv, plus it takes so much longer to get ready. You might as well just sit at home on your own and play randomers on XBL if you're going to do that in my opinion.

Why even play when your shit faced? -.- If you want to play video games when your partying your sad imho.

Sad? Have you ever even gotten drunk with friends at all? It's a right laugh. Even more so when the guy who was beating you in Halo 2 ends up drinking too much and collapses.

I don't think there are people who never drink with their friends, but tbh i prefer to be sober when i game. I like to compete, and i like to progress. As for drinking, I'd rather do that in a bar with friends, or at a get-together.
And i hate the Halo series. Played the first and second(Barely holding my disgust), Didn't even bother with the third.

I feel sorry for you. I've had more fun with Halo splitscreen then I've had with any other game. It's awesome local multiplayer is pretty much the main reason I got into the series.

 

[AmericanWarMachine]

Because the 360 will blow up when trying to render ONE screen's worth of information, let alone multiple -- simple answer, really: the games are using all the power the consoles have as it is.

Fanboy alert, arm yourselves men!

ready when you are.

 

[some random guy]

Caliostro, The main pro is how fun it is to play games with your friends when they're right next you. In many people's opinions that pro outweighs all the cons.

mspencer82, I've come across numerous threads, blog posts and articles on the web as well as people in real life complaining about the lack of split screen in games nowadays. We're talking about a large amount of people here.

Maybe the problem was trying to play 3 player split screen on such a small TV.

Indigo_Dingo, you can use the term "local multiplayer" to include games like LittleBigPlanet.

 

[Caliostro]

Caliostro, The main pro is how fun it is to play games with your friends when they're right next you. In many people's opinions that pro outweighs all the cons.

That's subjective, as it can either be a pro or a con.

Besides, you can do a Lan, and while it's not as practical, the final experience is, in fact, superior.

Also internet has a major advantage: you can play with friends anywhere, at any time. For instances, I have a lot of friends in other countries with whom a split-screen co-op is downright impossible. Internet-based multiplayer allows for either local (with lan) or distant people to play. All in one.

 

[Bob_F_It]

Seeing as I have a weekly meetup with 20+ to play games, split screen in this situation is undoubtedly the shit. Well, our meetings wouldn't exist without split screen, so there's a two-way relationship going on.

I'd say that split screen is more sociable than online play because when you're online, most people are anonymously waving their dicks about, safe in the knowledge that nobody will be able to put a face to that name in a sea of millions. And face it, you get more dickwavers than nice people online. When everyone's in the same room, nobody's going to do that because everyone is friends already. "That guy" isn't laughing at yor face behind a mask, he's complimenting you on your sterling efforts, even if they're more futile than paper tanks.

I won't say splitscreen is entirely faultless, though. The machine now has to work up to 4 times harder to draw stuff for 4 cameras (but that's not a problem as nothing pushes the limits of today's machines yet!) Your screen is now squashed into the corner, making seeing stuff markedly difficult unless you pull your chair up and ruin your eyesight for years to come. Plus the business of sneaking around is buggered as everyone can just peak at others' screens.

You can LAN it all together, but that requires everyone to have their own machine and copy of the game (I just lost The Game), then you need lots of cables, several televisions, a room large enough for all that, and then maybe get an air conditioning unit to stop everyone dying of heatstroke. When you've ticked all those boxes, I'll give you two thumbs up.

The most realistic thing I've come to witness is a mix of the two: two medium sized TVs, two consoles, 8 pads and a jar of cookies. Works excelently with 4 on 4 games.

If there's the potential for split screen, just do it; it'll add just as much value than online play, and isn't hard to do, anyway.

 

[WolfLordAndy]

I won't say splitscreen is entirely faultless, though. The machine now has to work up to 4 times harder to draw stuff for 4 cameras (but that's not a problem as nothing pushes the limits of today's machines yet!) Your screen is now squashed into the corner, making seeing stuff markedly difficult unless you pull your chair up and ruin your eyesight for years to come. Plus the business of sneaking around is buggered as everyone can just peak at others' screens.

The machine doesnt have to work quite as hard as people think. In multiplayer the entire arena will often be being constantly drawn, at least to a certain level by the host (in this case the machine you're playing on, in the case of a lan, the main machine, on pcs, the server/host pc. Everyone is just viewing it from a floating camera attached to a body within the game. Look at multiplayer pc gaming and you see that you the entire map is made, even if you cant see it all at once. But its their ready for you.

Sneaking around is still possible, but harder. In some ways "screen watching" is another skill that some people learn, and some people cant. I recall that out of most of my old sixth form only a few of us could keep track of all other 3 players at any time, and undoubtedly we would end up gravetating to each other for a proper fight! Plus most games have radar (unless you turn it off) that shows approximate locations anyway.