I had a great discussion with one of the developers from Slam Bolt Scrappers about this once. For those that remember the Tetris/brawler game, it didn't have online either, which a lot of people thought was weird, given it released exclusively on a digital network. But the developers were also passionate about playing together in the flesh, rather than having to do it by proxy from far away. I summarized it in an article here, for those interested: http://www.noobfeed.com/news_infos/view/771

Is there a reason why local multiplayer has died out? Is it to boost online subscriptions and/or individual sales of the games? It's terribly stupid and I'm glad to see something like Goldeneye Reloaded harkens back to the good old days of friends in the same room rather than the same party.

It sucks becuase I have to tell my firend to go home so we can play something together. That doesn't even make sense.

Even more ironic:  now that 50 inch TVs are the norm, split screen gaming is all but dead.

 

I'm sure I'm not the only one who remembers playing 4 player Goldeneye on a 19 inch screen.

Thank you for this! I am a "social" gamer, meaning I actually like to have a room full of friends playing video games with me. More and more I struggle to find something we can all sit down and enjoy. There are more (albeit older) options for two player split screen, Army of Two, Gears, CoD, Borderlands, but I generally have 3-4 friends over at a time. Rayman Origins was a blast, and plenty of XBLA 4 player games keep us busy, but I want more AAA Games with 3-4 player campaign or objective based co-op. Running around shooting eachother gets old fast. The Goldeneye options do sound fun though!

More important to me than having 4-player split-screen is the ability to play split-screen AND online simultaneously, a feature available in Gears of War and the Left 4 Dead games, but not in games like Borderlands. 

My wife and I game together as often as we can, and it's always frustrating for us when we have to choose between playing with each other and playing with our friends. Fortunately, Borderlands 2 promises to have this capability, so we can loot Pandora with a whole party!

Here's a thought... Let's say that the Wii U takes off and the tablet controller becomes the new standard of gaming. Then let's say the technology becomes strong enough that a future console can support 4 tablets game pads. Online or on the couch. Best of both worlds. It can happen.

I saw the headline and I instantly thought, "I am going to LIKE this op-ed piece!" and I was right... at first. More than just shooters are removing or limiting split screen, racing games are doing it, too. Although it does seem that way, I'd like some hard evidence to support this theory. Is it really in decline or is it just a few key titles that we really wish and felt like should have had local split screen?

Also, there is the question "Why?"  Why do they leave it out? Do they not see it being beneficial in the long run, that people will keep the game longer- long after the single player and on-line options have lost their luster? Or is it because they're pushing on-line hard to try to sell you more on-line DLC and to make people buy multiple copies of the game in order to play MP?

Questions aside,  I think you- like so many gamers- completely MISSED the big N. I mean, are you purposefully ignoring Nintendo or are you just that out of touch with the third leg of the console market that you didn't bother thinking about the Wii or Wiiu? I'm not trying to be an ass. I really do want to know.

I mean, here you are lauding Goldeneye when you know full well that was a Nintendo exclusive. And guess which version of the newer Hot Pursuit had local multiplayer? Admittedly, none of the CoD games on the wii have local MP.  But, there are plenty of shooters that do: Red Steel, Conduit 2, Quantum of Solace, Medal of Honor. They also have tons of Mario related titles, TONS, that have split screen. Yes, a lot of those games are mini-game collections, but not all. Truth of the matter is, Nintendo always has and always will believe in local multiplayer.

As Hilario hinted at, I believe that the WiiU will be the central console to have for split-screen multiplayer. Although I'm not too sure how his application would really work. Other than taking away screen looking/cheating, I can't for the life of me think of how having four gamepads in the same room would be benificial.

Anyway, I really, really, hope they can pull off five player split screen with one screen being the gamepad for at least some of their games. Can you imagine?  FIVE player mario kart. FIVE player Smash bros. Heck, they could put Goldeneye: Reloaded on the WiiU and add a fifth player easily. I really hope devs do more MP with the gamepad than the assymmetrical gameplay we've seen so far.

Let me paint you a picture everybody. I come from a very large family. Two brothers, one sister and a spider egg's worth of cousins. As a kid I was almost forced to buy games simply because they were 2 or more players.

Local multiplayer was pretty much a necessity for family like ours. The 4 port standardization with the Nintendo 64 was a blessing. Even in college, my dorm was crammed with several gamers/ stoners and a Thursday night meant Goldeneye, Mario Kart 64, Soul Caliber 2, and Madden/ 2k. (Stop trying to figure out my age.)

Now that I'm, ehem, older, I can look at my youngest brother to get an idea of what is still relevant. He is a college freshman as of this fall but we still have a large family. His friends and our cousins meeting at my parents house during birthdays and holidays means split screen gaming is still necessary.

Think about it. How many gamers does an average family household have?

When I watch my younger cousins get together and play games I clearly still see, maybe not a need, but defiantly a use for local or split screen gaming. Today's multiplayer game of choice is Street Fighter 4, Rock Band 2, Rock Band 3 and (unfortunately, still) Wii Sports. You would think New Super Mario Bros. Wii but more often I see them playing Call of Duty online, one at a time, sharing (read: fighting over) a gamertag.

Question, how many are in families where they share an Xbox gamer tag? Don't answer. Microsoft will try to put you in jail.

Anyway my point is, look at the average modern family size and one will know if local multiplayer is needed. That is what Nintendo did if you look at the promotion video for the Wii U. You know the picture of the anti-social family in the same room where dad is probably looking at porn on his tablet while his wife is thinking about killing her husband while she knits. Was she knitting? Well that is the picture I remember. Is that sexist?

If anyone here has more than one child in their family, or even are casual gamers themselves, the decline of split screen gaming does indeed suck.

oh I hate split screen, I can't play it worth a crap on a 42 inch tv let alone the 19 inch I alway had during thos years.