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
