Item — HN Reader

It may not be completely over, but it’s far from the focus of multiplayer gaming.

Many games that used to offer couch multiplayer (e.g. split screen) options no longer do.

The upcoming Starfox remake is a great example (no split-screen multiplayer options, where the original did).

I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a 4-player split-screen FPS (like Goldeneye 007).

Can you find games that offer couch multiplayer? Sure. But it’s not something that is a priority, particularly for most mainstream games.

(And as a side note, LAN parties are also largely a thing of the past.)

1 comments

It's a past that's readily accessible in the present and has carved out a niche in the gaming scene. Is that really "past"?

I fully intend to delay my kids' introduction to online play in favor of in person multiplayer as long as possible. I have had up to four 6-8 year olds playing Minecraft together on the LAN on my kitchen table already.

It's part and parcel of my whole "good screen time vs bad screen time" beliefs.

Oh, my kids are older now (18 and 21), but when they were younger, we definitely did plenty of LAN-party games like Minecraft, StarCraft (1 and 2), Terraria, Torchlight, and (when they were older) TFC (which we had some hilarious times playing with/against some terrible bots).

My gripe isn’t so much about what we can do, but just the fact that nobody cares as much about it these days (it’s not mainstream and most devs don’t think about it).

So while I agree the era may not be over, it’s mostly forgotten in favor of remote play without needing to be colocated.