Split-screen is my life blood when it comes to video games. I'm generally the guy who brings in the games in my area and with a library of around 45 games for my 360 (not including my XBL downloadable games) and a few other fighting games for my Wii, (Budokai 3 is just too fun with a WiiMote) I have a good selection. I'm constantly looking at the back of boxes to see what exactly it supports and I'm often disappointed with the lack of single machine multiplayer options. LAN parties are great, but when nobody else owns a next gen console (we have real life issues that suck up money, like rent/food/utilities/girlfriends/student loans/ well, you get the idea?) it comes to the point where we're begging for good single console multiplayer when we get together.
Now, I know the discussion seems to be mostly for two genres (first person shooter and racing games) but I, for one, have enjoyed a lot more four player action in other genres as well, comapred to the single player modes of said genres. I don't know how many times I've heard my best friend shout in the most kiddy voice he can muster "Aqua Laser" as he used Genis in Tales of Symphonia. Hell, one of my friends prides himself on being able to effectively combo and dispatch multiple enemies off screen in that game because of our attempts in trying to find out how the camera system worked. We spent hours on end running through that game together at University, even completing it with a "must have at least 3 people playing" rule in a "see how many titles we can get in one run" attempt. In short, this RPG (yes, that's right, a 4 player RPG!) was one of THE best, if not the best, RPG I've played in my life. Not because of the game mechanics, not because of the nice cell shading, not because of the story, but because now I have fond memories and a lot of inside jokes from playing the game with my friends.
Another great example was a party I went to just yesterday where a bunch of my old highschool friends were going to be because one of their father's was celebrating his 50th birthday (we knew him very well because of all the community service and youth programs he ran when we were kids). So after all the catching up was done we decided some video games would be cool. Almost immediately, one of my firends piped up and said "Hey! You know what would be awesome? Some Diddy Kong Racing!" No next gen console came to mind because of the memories of slapping in that cheat code to play Adventure Mode Co-op and firing ten missles up Wizpig's ass as we sped along the wackiest locations in our airplanes, cars and hovercrafts. And why WOULD next gen come into play? Too few games have decent local multiplayer.
So what is the point of this huge rant? I'd like to see more multiplayer in ALL genres for single consoles, much like Ultimate Alliance or Eternal Sonata did. I'm not saying multiplayer doesn't have it's uses. I like playing on Xbox Live when my friends and I can't get to eachother easily and I've even made some pretty cool online buddies that I consistantly play with, but playing games with a group of friends in whatever room is dedicated to gaming that day is an amazing experience and I'm sad that we'll potentially lose it. Game designers need to realise that if a game is just kick ass enough, we'll still buy multiple copies to run through the single player and rack up our own characters/achievements/practice, so that when it comes time to play against friends we're fully equipped and ready to rumble for a rockin' good time.
Long live single console multiplayer!
