Where in the fudgeblart has couch co-op gone?

[McNinja]

Something rather stupid I've noticed is that very few games these days have any sort of decent co-op. Sure there co-op over xbox live or PSN, but some of us have real friends who want to play in the same room, on the same console, on the same TV. What's even worse is the exclusion of this mode in games that flaunt their co-op as being the best thing since sliced bananas.

In Modern Warfare 2, only one person can play xbox live or the campaign at a time (I do know there are the Spec Ops, but I don't like it when my enemies use magic, so those are out the window). Blops fixed the xbox live part, but no co-op campaign?

Borderlands is the opposite, having a great two player couch co-op; but on xbox live, only one person per xbox. How about no? How about I play on the same TV, with the same person, on the same xbox he and I just completed the campaign on? I think it's best to not advertise 4 player co-op on a game that not only doesn't support 4 players on the same xbox (fairly understandable), but can even support two on live (not even remotely understandable).

Yet another game that does this is a game my friend got (the same friend). Section 8: Prejudice. The game is fairly decent with what turned out to be a really fantastic multiplayer (really, it's better than CoD or Halo in almost every way), but it then turned out to be a bunch of dick-ticklery when my friend and I realized that the XBL multiplayer was single player per xbox, and I wasn't about to shell out $15 for a multiplayer mode (I had beaten the campaign solo, so all that was left was the MP).

Why do games do this? They could at least take the Fable 3 route and pretend one of the players doesn't exist for the purposes of cutscenes or cinematics. However, the xbox live (or PSN, whichever) multiplayer being one person per xbox is a terrible thing, and whoever thought of this should be slapped with a nine iron covered in cancer and chimpanzees.

Thoughts?

 

[Liberaliter]

This is the reason why I had far more fun playing video games last generation than I am now. Fond memories of playing tons of games splitscreen with my brother on the original Xbox, now I have to go online where most of the games played are FPS' anyway. Or maybe nostalgia is taking hold of me. also, fudgeblart is my new favourite word.

 

[silverbear002]

I've noticed this same thing, I wish more games had a good couch co-op system. Some of my fondest memories are playing Medal of Honor Rising Sun with my best friend all the time. The game itself was mediocre at best but because it had couch co-op, it was a much more enjoyable experience.

 

[Alssadar]

Co-op used to be the shit back in the day, when my best friend, brother and I would play through Halo 2 split-screen, exchanging controllers every couple of deaths-(there was an incident involving rage and throwing a tube of toothpaste, but that's besides the point) for nights on end.
Also, all those Sega Genesis games like Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, and Sonic 2 & 3 helped out a lot with my bro.

 

[Something Amyss]

Why bother with split-screen when they can get you to pay for two or more discs?

 

[Subwayeatn]

playing splitscreen tag in midnight club was one of the most memorable things ever.... *sniff*

 

[imnot]

I love couch co op,
Glad Halo has it, good on you Bungie!

 

[similar.squirrel]

That's one of the things I love about the Halo series. Nothing compares to sitting around with a good friend, playing Firefight and working your way through a few beers. Even came up with a name for it: getting Gravity-Hammered. I have become what I despise, in terms of gamer demographics..

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

Resident Evil 5 is a game that encourages couch co-op since the AI partner is such absolute bollocks.

Other than that i agree that there aren't many good games these days that seem to want human contact.

Why bother with split-screen when they can get you to pay for two or more discs?

And i guess that's pretty much your reason for it, right there.

 

[number2301]

Split screen is rubbish. Always has been, always will be. Even if half of a current tv is the same size as the old CRTs I used to play on.

So yeah, point 1 split screen is rubbish. Point 2, they make more money if you buy more copies. Point 3, the developer doesn't owe you anything.

Sense of entitlement much?

 

[Grabbin Keelz]

Gears of War,
Halo,
Call of Duty MW2,
Black Ops zombies,
Left 4 Dead,
Borderlands,
and pretty much all the games people listed above.

Couch co-op didn't go anywhere, you just need to look harder.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

Split screen is rubbish. Always has been, always will be. Even if half of a current tv is the same size as the old CRTs I used to play on.

So yeah, point 1 split screen is rubbish. Point 2, they make more money if you buy more copies. Point 3, the developer doesn't owe you anything.

Sense of entitlement much?

Guffaw?

"Just because you had far and away the most fun playing couch-coop doesn't mean developers owe you that experience. You need to realize that you were wrong; you weren't having that much fun playing split-screen with your buddy in the same room. Acknowledge your mistake, or you're nothing but an entitled bell-end."

They got rid of couch-coop because they want to monetize everyone who plays the game in every way imaginable. They want you to have your own console, your own copy of the game, your own subscription to their online service, your own headset, etc.

If you can't draw the obvious distinction between being with your friend and playing online with your friend, I feel sorry for you. Still, I guess that's the social evolution of the species, where you carry out more and more meaningful conversations via IM and Facebook than you do face-to-face.

 

[number2301]

I can 'draw the obvious distinction between being with your friend and playing online with your friend' quite easily. And sure it's fine for sports games and fighting games. But anything else is just far too crippled an experience to be worth bothering with.

Also, I don't believe that developers dropped split screen to monetize everyone, not fully anyway. It just simply became far less relevant. Online play exists and there are more older gamers now. When you're older finding the time to actually sit down with a friend to just play games rather than going out and dong something gets difficult.

 

[shadyh8er]

Resident Evil 5 is a game that encourages couch co-op since the AI partner is such absolute bollocks.

It was also the sole reason I bought that game. My bro and I have made some hilarious memories with that game. Really wish I had the tech to record our antics.

Now if only I can convince him that not all FPS's are shit.

 

[finecrazydud]

a couple weeks ago i was chillen with a friend and like none of the games we wanted to play had couch co-op. we spent 5 hours playing gears of war 2. couch co-op where did you go i miss you. come back to me, im sorry if i miss treated you. *cry*