I guess this wont be a weekly thing... (A Split Screen Rant)

Okay, so perhaps I haven't been updating this as much as I should...

Anyways, since none of you care for the drama and small talk.... On with the show:

Isn't the new generation great? You find a great game, go play online, and then when a friend comes over, you realize that it doesn't have split screen... 

Dear dear dear.... 

"Sorry Bill, this game doesn't contain any split screen multiplayer"

"But, it has online, why doesn't it have split screen?"

"Uh..."

So what are we to tell these people? "Just because?"

Are we not in the next-generation? Online play, downloadable content, wireless controllers, HD, surround sound, motion sensing, and pretty graphics, and developers can't implement a feature that has been around since before the NES(Nintedo Entertainment System). What happened? It's the next generation of gaming, surely we move forward, not backward, so onto some minor points to be taken:

"Games have online because it is the next big thing"

Perhaps that is so, but what happens if the servers go dead... Or you don't have the internet, or it's not hooked up to your system, or it's not fast enough? Surely this is a large % of the market?

"Split Screen ruins most multiplayer games, because you can see where you enemies are"

Again, true, but haven't games had split screen multiplayer for a long time? What is it about this generation that's any different? Before there was online, there was LAN, which most of the time takes place in the same room, again, how different is this?

"It takes time to implement split screen"

It takes time to implement Online, it takes time to make the graphics, it takes time to program the gameplay, so why is this aspect shafted?

"Online is better then split screen"

No, that's a matter of opinion. If you are trying to play with someone miles and miles away, sure it's nice, but what if you have people at your house, and to play a game, you just have to switch off? That's not fun.

"It takes more processing power to render stuff going on, on both screens at once."

Okay, I can agree with this, but again, I point my finger at the past, look at how many games last generation had top of the line graphics, and still had split screen? Why is this generation different?

"Not all games need split screen"

No, not all do, but games that have online already have multiplayer programmed in, sure it's not all of the multiplayer code, but it's most of the basic code needed, I don't see why developers can't go the extra 10 steps.

"Developers don't add split screen, because it's such a small feature, that no one would care"

Not true, I have seen tons of topics on online forums of people not buying a game due to lack of split screen, I also have friends that think this way. I myself haven't bought Unreal 3 on the PS3 due to the lack of split screen.

"Games on the PC have never had split screen"

Not true, old games, around the times of DOS, and Windows 95 had split screen, but that's beside the point. Split Screen is something that has put consoles ahead of computers. 

Now, why is it that when sony removed Rumble from their controllers there was an uproar, but these companies are not getting negative feedback when they don't add split screen to a RACING game..?

So in the end, why is it that exclusive to this generation there are so many games that have online but not split screen? Games that demand split screen even, First Person Shooters, Racing games.. I shudder to think of the first fighting game that doesn't include split screen...

Anyways, I'm not going to commit to, and fail, in saying that I will update more often... But, we shall see

Oblivious to the Obvious faults, all the way to Oblivion.

Ah forgive the break, as it has been a while. One thing that has happened since my last post, is that my post "Halo Killer" was linked to at http://Killzoneunit.com/ . So, I would like to give a shout out to them, thanks guys!

Another thing, is that people seem to completely disagree with my console wars rant, well, I don't blame them, I guess I didn't really file my point to a head. looking back on it, the point was the stupid console war, and I got way off track, I meant to be talking about how dumb people are about talking about sales figures of games as if they made a difference to how good the games are.

Anyways, today I am going to rant about something that does have to do with the quality of the game, this post is about little things, that game developers should really consider.

Picture this, you are watching the lord of the rings movies, and you watch as it the shot switches, and you see Aragorn, and you see one of the special effects sword cut through on of his arms, but doesn't effect it.

WHAT!?!

First off, before anyone goes looking for that in the movie, no it didn't happen. Second, I'm guessing that it would bother, people, hey, why not? Thing is, that for some reason, video games are not held to the same standards as movies, which in the long run is probably a good thing, due to all the little things it would cause.

Still in Kingdom Hearts, seeing Waka's bandana pass through his arm, in plain sight, more then once, IN A CUT SCENE, is rather bothersome, it's like watching a spelling error be made over and over again, not only does it looks bad, but it distracts from whatever else is going on.

Okay, seriously, this isn't a small problem, but I would assume that to fix it would be about as difficult to fix as it is for us watching it. Seriously, move the animation over like 3 in game inches, it can't be that hard...

Here's another thing developers do to us, any of you played Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? Good, then you will remember the optional 3rd person gameplay? Well, anyone who will not admit that it is garbage, is lying to themselves, because well, no one can consider it really good you know why? Not only is harder to play in, but...

There are missing animations. This is a major, high budget game, is missing animations.

Seriously, if you walk diagonally, It does the animation for you walking forwards...

Did someone miss a memo or something? Honestly. That is not as simple to fix as the last problem, but still, it's only a small animation. Now, every time anyone pops the game out into 3rd person, they have to worry about how to explain why the game looks like such crap, and why they are playing a game with animations that are so bad. Honestly, it's just sad, it's something they should have fixed quite a while before the game shipped.

Well, honestly, the video game industry has been around for quite some time, and the games have turned into multimillion dollar projects, so why are we still stuck with such obvious faults? It seems a shame that these kind of things go unpunished in video games these days. So, I invite you to following in my footsteps if you feel like it, and tell game developers not to leave such obvious faults in their games.