De85 on 25 February 2009
Split screen is important for attracting "casual" players who don't care about climbing the online rankings and whatnot, but only having fun. It's kind of a viral thing in that they play at a friends house, and if they have fun they're more likely to pick up a copy themselves.
I would even go so far as to say that split-screen multiplayer is the sole reason the Halo franchise is the huge success that it is. Sure, the online community is huge and robust now, but it would never have gotten off the ground if it weren't for the first game having great split screen.
