The Death Of Couch Co-Op

Right, Irene's blown over....powers back on, both my Fantasy Drafts are done. Let's get back at it!

Me and my boy Bart_Maul grew up together and of course one of our favorite things to do was playing games. There were (are) plenty of great single player experiences out there: Zelda, Final Fantasy, Mega Man etc. Bart and I, like many of you out there I'm sure, preferred the games with a "2 - Player" option. Gaming is better with more people. It's awesome to tackle a game with friends. Me and Bart had plenty of options growing up, starting off with Contra, Battletoads, and River City Ransom. Then the ante got upped with 16 bit classics like: Streets of Rage, Contra 3, Super Smash TV..

Here's the problem though. The older I get the games get better and better, but my choices for cooperative play get less and less. With the advent of online console gaming, competitive and cooperative experiences are available on virtually every game out there. I love it, but as "social" the experience is, I'm still sitting alone on my couch.

I feel that every game that has online competitive or cooperative modes should also be able to mirror those modes with a split screen. Unfortunately, I'm just not seeing it enough. Developers blame time and budget when cutting local co-op features at release time. That's crap. Broadband high speed internet is getting a bigger customer base every day, but there are still plenty of people out there that can't get it. Or more importantly, can't afford it. In the case of XBOX, maybe you can swing your cable bill every month, but can't pay for a gold membership. Why do these people get punished with a game that they full price for, but only can experience 50% to 75% of it? That fact alone should motivate developers to include these features.

I can't tell you how many games Bart or I have rented / bought, seeing "co-op" on the box, only to discover it's online only. Or worse, how many mediocre games we've suffered through just because we could roll together on it.

As graphics and features become better with every new release,  a lot of today's gamers refuse to look to the past, which is a crime. I understand it in a way though. Some guys see blocky graphics and can't look past it. But we can't forget the social aspect of gaming that has made it the great experience it is today. The one that online should compliment, and enhance, not replace!

In my opinion, I think any game that has coop or competitive modes should blend the "local" and "online" worlds together. That would be the shit. Why should I kick my boy out of the house so we can play Deathmatch? I should be able to play coop split screen, and if someone on my friends list invites me into a game, we both should be able to go over. How sick would it be if we could play Left 4 Dead, online, with any combination of split screens we wanted? Of course it should be seamless drop in and out gameplay as well. Think of it this way developers, what better way to "advertise" your online features then to have someone actually play them, instead of watching your friend at his house. Jump in bro, let's get em, I say!

I think the Halo series has done the best job at this. Friends can play locally in any mode, and plus we can "guest" on one guy's XBOX live account so we can all experience the online modes together. The flexibility of the customization options allow you to make unique game modes for 4 player split screen matches. Or, you can challenge another set of four players sitting on someone elses couch somewhere. Want to tackle the campaign? At least two can do it together, and later editions have allowed four players to save the universe.

COD: Black Ops lets you "guest" online, but no split screen campaign. Gears of War lets play as Marcus and Dom in a split screen campaign, but you need to send your buddy home if you want to play Warzone. Killzone allows couch coop, but no split screen matches or guesting.

And what happened to "beat em ups"? They were great coop experiences. I loved those games, and I guess today's refined tastes have left that genre in the grave. Some my favorite gaming memories involved them though: X-MEN Arcade, The Double Dragon series, Ninja Gaiden, Final Fight, River City, The Streets Of Rage series etc etc. Long live beat em up man.

That about does it for now guys. What do you guys think? Do you care about local multiplayer features? Miss them? What's your favorite game? Let me know.

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