Why Have 4 Player Co-op Games Been Disappearing?

[ShotgunShaman]

This is something that's really been grinding my gears, so to speak. I've noticed fewer games are being released with 4 player offline co op. While online is fun, and you have a bigger screen, it NEVER compares to chilling on a couch with 3 other buddies, covering each other's back, eating junk food, etc. There's plenty of 2 player still around, but seeing as I only rarely hang out with less than 3 other people, this is a problem. Do any of you agree with this? For the sake of discussion, why do you think this has happened? Or do you totally disagree with me and think that 4 player offline co op is a-boomin'?

And because we're all thinking it, and personally I don't see it as sufficient reason, you don't have to bother mentioning the smaller screen size.

 

[Dr.Sean]

Left 4 Dead's a pretty cool game in that respect.

 

[grimsprice]

Microsoft wants to push xbox live and prevent people from not buying another console and another copy of the game.

Same reason why there aren't any games with bots.

EDIT: I stand corrected. It seems one company is defying Microsoft and giving us Bots.

Hurrah for EPIC games!!!!!

So my new question is, name one company besides EPIC that's giving us games with multiplayer bots.

 

[Aura Guardian]

Well, Halo 3 kinda has a 4-player split screen co-opish online multiplayer mode. I love that feature.

 

[Robert632]

either the frame rate takes it up the ass from the splitting of the screen(don't ask how, i'm just theorising.), they decide that no one plays offline coop(bullshit.), or they want to be assholes(not putting to much stock in this theory.). also they=devlopers.

 

[LockeDown]

It's easier to find one friend to play with offline than three. Also, as far as offline co-op is concerned, more players means more splits in the screen, and in my opinion, splitting it once is bad enough.

 

[j0z]

L4D?

I think a big reason is, and the reason I wouldn't play 4 player splitscreen, is that game nowadays tend to be made with HDTVs in mind (at least most PS3 games seem to be) and I don't have one, nor do many other people. And I have serious trouble reading text or seeing anything when I have the WHOLE TV, I can't imagine only having 25% of that.

 

[Sassafrass]

Microsoft wants to push xbox live and prevent people from not buying another console and another copy of the game.

Same reason why there aren't any games with bots. Name 2 games that have multiplayer bots on the 360?

Gears Of War 2 and Unreal Tournament 3, I think.
But I think they are the only two. Yeah, the question may not have needed to be answered but I thought I would do so anyway.

OT: I think it may be the push to get us all online. Either that or the graphics would be too much for 4 player co-op to handle.

 

[Apathetic_cynicism]

Can you give me a few good reasons why you'd share "your" moutain dew and cheetos?

 

[RanD00M]

either the frame rate takes it up the ass from the splitting of the screen(don't ask how, i'm just theorising.)

I don´t thinks so.It's a good theory,but i´m sure that i would have noticed it after all the 4 player co-op i did when i was younger.

 

[orangeapples]

I think it has something to do with processing and framerate issues.

it doesn't make much sense to me considering the PS3 is allowed to support up to 7 controllers or something like that. The 360 is allowed to assign 4 controllers, so even for them it doesn't make sense.

I miss the good ol' days of 4 player split screen. Oh N64...

 

[ma55ter_fett]

I don't know, its a feature I wish more games would impliment.

 

[grimsprice]

Microsoft wants to push xbox live and prevent people from not buying another console and another copy of the game.

Same reason why there aren't any games with bots. Name 2 games that have multiplayer bots on the 360?

Gears Of War 2 and Unreal Tournament 3, I think.
But I think they are the only two. Yeah, the question may not have needed to be answered but I thought I would do so anyway.

OT: I think it may be the push to get us all online. Either that or the graphics would be too much for 4 player co-op to handle.

Gears of War 2 doesn't count. At least if you're talking about horde. Those are in game special bad guys. In other words, they're not replacements of human players. You can't have say..... one human-player/4 human-bots against 3 locust-bots/2locust-players.

 

[Xanadu84]

Because there are more and more options for coop that don't require breaking out the eyestrain-o-vision, while 2 player split screen is a fairly basic concession. Chances are, if you have 3 friends who want to do coop together, you all each own the platform you want to play the game on.

 

[orangeapples]

either the frame rate takes it up the ass from the splitting of the screen(don't ask how, i'm just theorising.)

I don´t thinks so.It's a good theory,but i´m sure that i would have noticed it after all the 4 player co-op i did when i was younger.

the older consoles didn't have to process a whole lot to keep decent graphics. Play Halo 3 with 4 people split screen, then find Goldeneye 64.

Lets just face it: these consoles are just too sophisticated for their own good.

 

[RanD00M]

Lets just face it: these consoles are just too sophisticated for their own good.

So we must dumb them down to make them more enjoyable?

 

[ShotgunShaman]

Left 4 Dead's a pretty cool game in that respect.

L4D?

I think a big reason is, and the reason I wouldn't play 4 player splitscreen, is that game nowadays tend to be made with HDTVs in mind (at least most PS3 games seem to be) and I don't have one, nor do many other people. And I have serious trouble reading text or seeing anything when I have the WHOLE TV, I can't imagine only having 25% of that.

Guys, L4D is only 2 players offline last I checked. Actually seeing as I've only played it like 2-3 times, I might be wrong. But I remember checking and being dissapointed...

The game I had most in mind with this post was Borderlands. That kind of upset me, not only can you only do 2 players on the same TV, but you can only have ONE player per Xbox when you're online.

Because there are more and more options for coop that don't require breaking out the eyestrain-o-vision, while 2 player split screen is a fairly basic concession. Chances are, if you have 3 friends who want to do coop together, you all each own the platform you want to play the game on.

This is true, but we lack the ability to have 2 televisions in the same room, and one of us can't get Live due to crap internet. And I don't think I'm the only one, I know lots of people who mooch off other people's consoles.

And one last thing:

.

Your avatar is freaky as hell.

 

[j0z]

Left 4 Dead's a pretty cool game in that respect.

L4D?

I think a big reason is, and the reason I wouldn't play 4 player splitscreen, is that game nowadays tend to be made with HDTVs in mind (at least most PS3 games seem to be) and I don't have one, nor do many other people. And I have serious trouble reading text or seeing anything when I have the WHOLE TV, I can't imagine only having 25% of that.

Guys, L4D is only 2 players offline last I checked. Actually seeing as I've only played it like 2-3 times, I might be wrong. But I remember checking and being dissapointed...

The game I had most in mind with this post was Borderlands. That kind of upset me, not only can you only do 2 players on the same TV, but you can only have ONE player per Xbox when you're online.

Really? I don't play it very often, but I thought it was 4 offline, I am probably wrong though.

 

[Robert632]

either the frame rate takes it up the ass from the splitting of the screen(don't ask how, i'm just theorising.)

I don´t thinks so.It's a good theory,but i´m sure that i would have noticed it after all the 4 player co-op i did when i was younger.

yes but that's the difference between then and now. what wasn't an issue before has become an issue.i'm guessing back then they didn't have to push the graphics so hard , and the system could handle generating four different perspectives, but now that people want top of the line graphics, it's gotten to hard on the sytems, and when they finnaly figured out how to do it, they reilized nobody complained about no 4 player offline coop, and decided that it was something they could cut.

 

[ReinofFire]

I think they're thinking that having 4 people would make it too easy. I mean when your offline you can also look at your freinds screen to make sure they don't die but if your online you have to listen to what they have to say and guess. Also having the 2 player feature might actually make it smoother due to the fact that its hard to do stuff when there are 3 people in the way.