Aaron Lee betrayals the church of online gaming to uphold the case for split-screen and local multiplayer…
If there’s one thing that can make games better than they already are it is playing them with your friends.
A couple weeks ago I played Mashed, the Micro Machines-like arcade racer, with some friends. The six of us crowded round the television, taunting one another, blaming dodgy controllers for failed show-off attempts and resorting to the odd scuffle to cool the indignation of defeat. It was the sort of energetic fun that could even have been had with a Matchbox set, had we been feeling so inclined.
The social fun of playing games together in the same space just can’t be beat. Even as millions give their time to online multiplayer, the act of playing with friends that are two feet away from you connects with more people – as the Wii has clearly demonstrated.
I’ve been introduced to many a game by first playing co-op or multiplayer. WWF SmackDown! on PS1 has an encumbering control system, but, back in the 90s, tag teaming the computer with a friend was so thrilling that I overlooked its issues. Co-op shooters are another favourite of mine, and my diffusion into the genre on console began with Halo and TimeSplitters. Both of these series have levels, modes and gameplay built squarely for the enjoyment of a room full of friends. Whether it be legging it from infected friends in TS2’s tag game or cautiously investigating dormant Forerunner structures with only your partner for support in Halo, these games allow people to interactive with each other like no other form of media can.
More recently, the popularity of Modern Warfare 2’s Spec Ops mode must be a signal to publishers that consumers’ appetite is still very much alive for games which can be enjoyed locally as well as online. And this extends to LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, Mario Kart, and rhythm games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
So why don’t we see more games that can be played with friends locally?
Bizarre Creations’ community manager, Ben Ward, has said developers haven’t been making split-screen games because the technical demands are hard.
Given the Swiss-Army-knife-media-centres that modern games consoles have become it’s too much to ask developers to use all of a system’s functionality, but the regression of split-screen and local multiplayer is a lose that seems unjustified. Particularly when HDTV’s are finally large and crisp enough for everyone to stop complaining about the impossibly small, hazy rectangles of years past. Rather than applying resources to extra online multiplayer maps or (heaven forbid) 3D visuals, developers should start creating more games that people can play together as a collective.
We spend so much time wrapped up in our own personal cocoons of leisure nowadays. It’s time things go a bit more interpersonal.
Aaron Lee
Tags: arcade, mashed, multiplayer, sharing
