[pdiss88]

After seeing another thread where someone asked about two-player co-op PS3 games, I got to thinking. PS3 has had MANY chances to have some great 2-player games if not co-op, and for some reason these games completely don't have it in favor of online play. Here are the games I have right now and their offline functionality:


Resistance: Has co-op and it's awesome. Set the bar very high (Not to mention it has up to 4-player fragfests on the same system, too)

Motorstorm: Absolutely no offline multiplayer functionality. Why? At least having a 2-player race with the bots would be fun, but there's nothing there at all.

Oblivion: No multiplayer functionality, but not like it would work with it anyway.

Rainbow Six: Vegas: The only other game I have with co-op offline. It's okay, but the game is just too slow after a while and makes me want to go to sleep. It has some normal multiplayer offline, also.

Call of Duty 4: It has some offline fragfests, but no co-op capability with anyone else at all, online or offline. It would have been nice, but its amazing online capability makes it good enough.

Ratchet and Clank: No multiplayer functionality at all. Up Your Arsenal had some, but it's not a big blow here.

Guitar Hero 3: Actually, I forgot this game has co-op. However, I don't have the money to go out and buy another PS3 guitar in order to play its co-op. Online is lag-free during songs and good for co-op, though.

UT3: Now, THIS is the one that really gets me. No co-op, no offline multiplayer for a game that is all about fighting against others. This game is completely useless if you don't have online (and, from what my brother told me, the netcode makes online just as useless).


So, there you have it. Only three games with decent offline functionality and two that should have, by all means, had some (Motorstorm and UT3). I've heard that the framerate may suffer because of all the detail, but I don't think that's a good enough excuse. If Gears of War could make a kickass co-op adventure with the best graphics ever on 360, then these other games should have at least been able to have something.


What does this trend tell me? That game developers seem to think offline is a thing of the past and anyone that plays PS3 in the first place must have no friends. Well, I do, and it gets frustrating when we try to play something together only to find that it's not possible. This growing trend seems to tell me that offline multiplayer gaming is a thing of the past and that developers are completely switching their focus to online. Looks like those 7 possible controller slots of PS3 will never be put to any use.


Also, I apoligize for overusing the words "functionality", "co-op", and "offline" (not to mention the phrase "at all"). I made myself sick when I re-read this post.

 

[iamitman]

hmm you left out WARHAWK!

 

[Sundull]

And Rock Band. But you're right about offline multiplayer; I can't believe UT3 doesn't have it.

 

[twinkletowz]

I am also upset by this... I was hoping for some quality time with my son but found that all we do is watch each other play

I am really surprised that motostorm doesn't have off line multi player. Untold legends Dark Kingdom does have Co-op mode and is kinda fun, but with 3 characters to choose from and only 2 players supported it isn't as fun as I had hoped.


Sonic also has off line multi player but this game really is hard to get into...


I feel that this oversight by Sony will lead to more Wii sales as that platform is the only one that I know of that has a copious number of off line multi player game.

 

[lovswr]

All I got to say is the if Motorstorm II does not have Co-op... well it just better

 

[William Mapstone]

Will Haze have offline multiplayer?


There is a bunch of PSN games that have offline mutliplayer like Super Stardust HD and Calling all Cars. Plus many others of various genres.

 

[William Mapstone]



Quote:
Originally posted by twinkletowz

I was hoping for some quality time with my son but found that all we do is watch each other play

Well if you have broadband I recommend Warhawk. My 6 year old son likes to man the machine gun on the jeep, while I drive it around to different zones. Usually we go to a big map with only 8 players so we are not constantly being blown up by guys in Warhawks.

 

[pdiss88]



Quote:
Originally Posted by iamitman /forum/post/12907052


hmm you left out WARHAWK!

Well, yeah, because I don't own it. I only mentioned the games I myself have.

 

[JasonSuave]

Keep in mind that the ps3 isn't the only system that lacks offline coop. Most 360 games lack offline coop as well (cod4, crackdown, etc). True, halo and gears of war aren't available on the ps3, but I bet you could make the argument that each respective console's game library is only about 5% coop.


Even back in the days of the NES, most good games weren't coop. And yeah, I'm sure you could name a handful off the top of your head, but that's amongst a library of 100's of games!


And don't get me wrong, it's not like there's less demand for coop in the eyes of the consumer. In all reality, there is MORE demand for coop - given video games are far more socially accepted today than they were a few years ago. The problem is that developers now, more than ever, are feeling a certain urgency to push games through the development lifecycle. Put yourself in their shoes: would you really want to spend months of excess development perfecting a coop mode, when you don't even know if your game is going to sell more than 100k copies? No. But, if you have an established franchise, that you know will sell millions (halo?), then yeah, you can take all the time you want to develop the game - because you know that you'll get your return.


And, we all know that's true because the only games that even have solid coop (resistance, halo, gears of war) are the ones that have spent YEARS in development. It's always the rushed games that have poorly-implemented coop, or no coop (yes, I'm talking about you, rainbow six: vegas and Motostorm).


Bottom line is that it's disappointing that developers just rush most of their games out to the market - and maybe that's why we see developers going under, like atari. The heart of this issue is simply poor business practices - the idea of quantity over quality. For all the ps3 owners (myself included), we'll just have to wait for the new games to come out - but do keep in mind that the ps3 isn't any worse off than any other system in terms of a coop selection.

 

[PJ_Rage]

I totally agree with you. It really seems as if devs think that your average ps3 gamer either doesn't have friends or doesn't care to play with them in the same room.


I wish you could play split screen, and all individually login. Even if you have to log in to your own account to do it.


ie, me and my friend both like COD4. We also like to hang out. Why can't we hang out and play COD4 at the same time? Doesn't support it... The only game that does (that I know of), for ps3, that interests me, is warhawk. But we can't play ranked matches on the same machine even if we both have accounts and both own warhawk.


I really hope the ps3 online setup eventually addresses the issue, and games eventually support "real life" friends playing together. In a gaming world that is moving more and more toward online gaming, I just can't believe that the option isn't more available on the ps3 (and other systems for that matter).


In the meantime, it's just halo 3 for us, I guess. (And warhawk if we want a 3rd person shooter).

 

[KenB123]

Maybe I am missing the intent (or understanding) of this thread, as I am not a big gamer type. But I do have the PS3, and FightNight:Round-3 does allow two players in the same house (offline) to battle each other.


I also have played COD4 against my stepson (in the same house). I don't recall whether we did this through the 'online' setup or not. But the screen was divided and we each had our own views.


So if I missed the meaning of this thread, I apologize.

 

[Shape]



Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonSuave /forum/post/12907533


Keep in mind that the ps3 isn't the only system that lacks offline coop. Most 360 games lack offline coop as well (cod4, crackdown, etc). True, halo and gears of war aren't available on the ps3, but I bet you could make the argument that each respective console's game library is only about 5% coop.

Crackdown didn't have local co-op because it is impossible to do it in a single console. You literally can't do it in a sandbox game. It already takes 100% of the console's power and bandwidth to load and display the single location, with its set of textures and geometry.


To load up a second set of textures and geometry for another user on the same console who could be anywhere in the virtual world just wouldn't work.


With games with smaller, confined levels, you can load all the same data and simply put 2 people into it with a split screen and 2 view ports. Actually, I doubt that it is "simple," but at least the issues can be solved.


To be able to allow 4 player co-op with one guy sitting next to you and 2 others anywhere in the world, like Halo 3 does, is actually pretty amazing.


COD4 not having any co-op or online split-screen was just a cop-out, and probably due to them not having time to implement it and still get the game out in time for Christmas.

 

[AVchemE]

I'm more concerned about online split-screen options like Call of Duty 3 on xbox or halo. I've signed the petition to get COD4 upgraded to splitscreen online. Playing a friend offline gets old fast. Halo has unranked games that you play. Why couldn't COD4 offer this?


I think Haze will be exactly what this thread is looking for and what I'm looking for in terms of online splitscreen modes. Have you seen the videos that focus on the multiplayer aspect? it looks very promising.

 

[ninjachicken]

Vegas 2 could've been the answer, but Ubi got lazy and axed two players.

Even worse, they're not letting Haze compete with Vegas 2 so they decide to delay Haze.

Looks like Little Big Planet will be the only bright light, but who even knows for sure when that one is coming out.

 

[PJ_Rage]



Quote:
Originally Posted by AVchemE /forum/post/12915021


I think Haze will be exactly what this thread is looking for and what I'm looking for in terms of online splitscreen modes. Have you seen the videos that focus on the multiplayer aspect? it looks very promising.

Isn't it only 2 player split screen per console, though? Which is better than nothing, but 4 player would be much better.

 

[Jerz]

I wouldn't say it's been a disaster by I certainly like co-op and multiplayer games MUCH better than single player games. My favorites are: Resistance, Warhawk, Rockband and I'm starting to warm up to COD4.

 

[chadly25]



Quote:
Originally Posted by William Mapstone /forum/post/12907338


Well if you have broadband I recommend Warhawk. My 6 year old son likes to man the machine gun on the jeep, while I drive it around to different zones. Usually we go to a big map with only 8 players so we are not constantly being blown up by guys in Warhawks.

Father of the year nominee

 

[Jiffylush]



Quote:
Originally Posted by chadly25 /forum/post/12916035


Father of the year nominee

WTF?


Playing with your son instead of sticking him in front of the TV = bad father?


Maybe it is a little violent for a child of that age, but I play Lego Star Wars with my 4 year old and he loves killing the bad guys.


IMHO any direct father/son time (or father/daughter time) is time well spent, even if it seems the activity is too advanced for the age. That kid will remember that time for the rest of his life.

 

[lowarkhog]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiffylush /forum/post/12916330


WTF?


Playing with your son instead of sticking him in front of the TV = bad father?


Maybe it is a little violent for a child of that age, but I play Lego Star Wars with my 4 year old and he loves killing the bad guys.


IMHO any direct father/son time (or father/daughter time) is time well spent, even if it seems the activity is too advanced for the age. That kid will remember that time for the rest of his life.

Evidently he didn't watch much GIJoe when he was six.

 

[William Mapstone]



Quote:
Originally posted by chadly25

Father of the year nominee

I did not realize Tipper Gore browsed the AVS forum...