why don't game makers

[mordantmonkey]

I simply don't understand why they wouldn't at least bring it over in a console -> pc port. I mean wtf? if a machine can run the same game as a console then why can it not handle multiplayer as well? is it an issue with the OS or the API being unable to efficiently handle multiple inputs? I'd have to guess no, since there are a couple of multiplayer PC games out there, though mostly sports.

now with the shift to multiple cores, i just can't see what excuse they could have for not supporting this. is it just so unpopular that it's not worth the effort to even port multiplayer?

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

Because PC gamers are too greedy to share their screen with another person.

 

[toughwimp11]

a big problem i see is the controls, who has 4 pc game pads?

 

[mordantmonkey]

Originally posted by: toughwimp11
a big problem i see is the controls, who has 4 pc game pads?

who has 4 console controllers?
if games supported it how hard would it be to buy another controller?
not like there's a lack of USB ports on anything nowadays.

 

[Skunkwourk]

Another issue is PCs are rarely set up with a seating arrangement for 2+. Who wants to pull up and office chair and sit squeeze in front of the computer screen for a few hours when they can sit back on couch instead.

 

[darkswordsman17]

The sad thing is that consoles seem to be abandoning solid multiplayer per system as well in exchange for online. The most fun I have gaming is playing 4 player games with some friends on a single system (N64, some Gamecube, a bit of Xbox).

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that online gaming is evolving well, but at the same time I don't like the loss of single system multiplayer. Of course its probably not that feasible to have it both ways (since then you'll probably end up with both being crap).

 

[duragezic]

It just doesn't really fit with how most PC gaming goes down. Not worth implementing it for something a very very small % of PC games would use (due to seating, screen size, lack of controllers, etc).

Other than sports games anyway, which probably don't sell much at all on the PC. But in that case, it is just much better to go downstairs and play on the Xbox then have multiple people crowded around my desk (if I even had multiple controllers).

 

[mordantmonkey]

points taken, but i'd like to think it's coming what with more pc's making their way to the livingroom. HTPC? I'd like to think that it's at least a possibility in the near future. but then again i'm predicting that the next generation of consoles - around then time when HD will be widely adopted thus making "web tv" feasible - the line between console and PC will become very fuzzy.

 

[BassBomb]

Support for this has been utterly removed everywhere.

I think it has to do with the fact you have to dumb down level design for a mp experience on one machine, and it is very low in demand now (I wish it still existed for racing games)

 

[Superrock]

Computer nerds have no friends.

 

[SonicIce]

Need for Speed III had split screen. I think that was the last one? Maybe you can run 2 instances of a game and run in a window and try to host a "LAN" game and see if that works.

 

[kirilus]

Originally posted by: SonicIce
Need for Speed III had split screen. I think that was the last one? Maybe you can run 2 instances of a game and run in a window and try to host a "LAN" game and see if that works.

how are you going to play through LAN using only one PC?

By the way, why do the split screen? Bring you PC to your buddy and then play through LAN.

 

[Build it Myself]

if my computer can't handle me sneaking through the jungle in crysis, what do you think it'd do if there were two of us? I'd need a halon system in my case

 

[Schadenfroh]

My guess:

Computers traditionally had much smaller displays than TVs and fewer "controller" ports pre USB. It is more difficult to use a split screen because of the small display size. However, computers became networked much sooner than consoles and thus they placed an emphasis on multiplayer across multiple PCs. The split screen atrophied on the PC as a result.

 

[OhSnap688]

Originally posted by: GundamSonicZeroX
Because PC gamers are too greedy to share their screen with another person.

exactly!

What's the point of playing on the same computer when you can just LAN?! Or just play over the internetz. I don't think 2-player on the PC is worth the trouble.

 

[cheapherk]

Split screen just plain sucks.

 

[DSF]

I used to play Need for Speed III split-screened with my friend all the time. It was a lot of fun, but definitely inconvenient to share the same keyboard. Used to play MOO2 hot-seat with some friends too. Again though, it was awkward.

Due to the history of PC use versus console use (taking into account typical screen sizes and controls) it's become the de facto standard that PC games are single player with frequent online multiplayer (and sometimes mandatory online multiplayer, as with MMOs), whereas console games are single player with frequent same-screen multiplayer and optional online play.

 

[HannibalX]

Multiplayer over LAN or WAN is why... Who needs two players when you can have sixty-four.

 

[covert24]

yea that would be retarded sitting in front of a computer screen on one chair.....

 

[sandorski]

PC(Personal Computer) not GC(Group Computer)!

Split screen on a monitor is doable, but you really need a big screen TV for it. Multiplayer is just so much better over a Network though and especially over the Internet. Certainly Split Screen has a great Social Activity aspect to it, but to play that way you need to get people together first. Multiplayer on the Internet though is 24/7, so you just play whenever the need/desire hits you(unless the game sucks).

 

[exdeath]

All you need is multi player coop over LAN, you don't need to share screens. Most console games give the option of system link with separate screens or split screen and already have LAN code built in.

The answer is obvious if you look at Halo for the PC. Knowing the PC version of any game will always have an advantage, they took out of the PC version on purpose the one thing that made Halo worth buying an Xbox for: cooperative mode. Thus ensuring that people would continue to by Xbox hardware.

How about Freedom Fighters, another tandem XBox/PC release that featured multiplayer ONLY ON THE XBOX version?

It's the same reason CPUs have multiplier locks and why you will never see a 500 HP Camaro: artificial market segmentation designed to steer consumers in the direction desired by manufacturers. If you want a faster CPU you have to be forced to pay for it. Want 500 HP you have to pay more for the Corvette, heaven forbid you get 500 HP in a cheaper car even though it's the same engine. If you want coop, you must buy the console version even if you have the PC version already, but you have to buy the PC version for better graphics or online features.

You have to buy every version if you want it all.

It's all about the money and selling as many variations of the same thing as possible. You'll never find one version that is perfect, otherwise it would cannibalize sales of the other versions. Instead features like coop will be selectively sliced and diced as exclusive features only on certain platforms but not others.

It's all about the money and exclusivity.

 

[Build it Myself]

Originally posted by: covert24
yea that would be retarded sitting in front of a computer screen on one chair.....

unless you could find someone cute to play with LOL

 

[Modelworks]

Screen size and controls are the main reasons.
Most games on pc are going to be mouse/keyboard and there aren't many people with multiple keyboards and mouse on one pc.

What developers have done, though not much lately , is allow one copy of the game to work for two seperate installs on a network. So you can do two player or coop with two pc.

 

[Don66]

Originally posted by: Superrock
Computer nerds have no friends.

:thumbsup:

 

[mooncancook]

I like Colin McRae (I have 04) for supporting 2-players split screen. Had lots of fun with it against my cousin (since it's hard to find an online match). I would like a few more games supporting split screen play but I guess I'm the minority with a gaming htpc setup.