I thought I'd give an account of my experience with local multiplayer (so you can understand the context my opinion is rooted in) and then ask whether you've all had similar or different experiences and just how much local multiplayer actually matters to you.
Early Experience With Local Multiplayer
Early on local multiplayer was considered awesome when done right, which technology made quite difficult. Those first early gen 2 consoles (Atari 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision) were frequently multiplayer games not so much by choice, but out of necessity as it was impossible to create competent AI.
Going forward (where my personal experience began), games with fun multiplayer were almost magical experiences, as you so rarely got to enter these worlds with a friend. I still remember sitting in my cousin's basement playing games like Contra and and TMNT II on the Nes and, later, almost every game I played with my friend on the Genesis was an awesome multiplayer experience. For everyone I knew, multiplayer was about as important a feature as could exist.
Peak of Local Multiplayer/Beginning of the Slide
Eventually we came to what I believe is probably the best local multiplayer console, as well as the one which showed the declining importance of local multiplayer, the N64:
-Many cite it as the most fun console for local multiplayer, and not without reason
-It was the first console to make 4-player games normal (with the possible exception of some models of the Atari 2600), as before it had generally been 2 player forcused without peripherals and even among the N64's gen the other consoles made room only for 2, with 4 becoming the standard going forward
-This was the first console (accompanied perhaps only by the Wii) that (while this is debatable) may have placed greater focus on local multiplayer games than any other type of game
-This generation showed that local multiplayer was not the top priority for gamers when selecting a console
There was still plenty of time before local multiplayer really became rare, but while the other consoles would copy many of the N64's best local multiplayer games and four players would indeed become the standard in the following generations, the N64 largely showed that local multiplayer was merely a neat additional feature, and was not a necessary feature as gamer priorities lay elsewhere.
I will readily admit that, to this day, many (if not most) of my best video game memories come straight from the local multiplayer experience I had with friends on the N64 as, while I may find other single player games to be superior, games played with friends tend to be far more memorable.
Online Play Spreads at Cost of Local
Whereas I once figured there was a natural trajectory being followed where games would become increasingly easy to play with adjacent friends and such, it became apparent that with the advent of online play, the resulting profits from subscription fees, and the ability to utilize those required paid-accounts to make the ownership of multiple copies of a game essentially mandatory to play multiplayer, plenty of excuses and tools were present that essentially ensured that one copy would not be able to be enjoyed by multiple people simultaneously. It may have been irritating, but as it had been proven to be lower on the priority totem poll it was not upsetting enough that gamers would actually demand the new practices be abandoned.
This transformation was most evident to me as someone who lived with 3 to 4 other guys in a house for a few years in my college years (this would have been 2008-2012), and we had a number of xbox360's which were all of our mains for that gen (I was the only one with a PS3 which, in my opinion, was better about local multiplayer likely as they had a subscription-free online service). Early on, games like CoD 2, 3, and 4 allowed for very fun local play, but gradually games began to abandon this approach in favor of restricting multiplayer play to an online experience. Within a few years it was actually both unusual and something to be grateful for when a mere two people were allowed to play online with one account, and soon we were forced to do silly things like lining up tvs and multiple consoles to play games like Left4Dead and such.
Factor in temporary nonsense like only giving one online code per game for some games (thankfully that ended, I bought a couple used titles once unaware of this and found that online play was locked to me as the code had already been used), and it was during this generation that the idea of multiple people enjoying a game with one another via a single copy and single account was put under siege and rendered very rare.
State of Local Multiplayer in Current Gen
At this point, as someone who has made the PS4 his main for this gen, it's become clear that as far as the mainstream consoles are concerned (PS/Xbox), local play is not just a low priority, but often treated as a gift that should not be given, instead restricting multiplayer in a way that requires multiple copies and online subscriptions. Even then they often just drop it entirely... My buddy and I have spent ages on the PS4 waiting for some fun Co-Op, Local OR online, experience to release (we've been dicking around in GTA V for years now), and the one game we thought would have something new to offer (Far Cry 4's follow up Far Cry Primal) decided to drop the co-op feature that had made FC4 worth playing in the first place.
These days, the games that are most hyped and have the most effort put into them tend to be exclusively single player experiences (open world games, RPG's etc), while those games that might be fun for local multiplayer are largely ignored, are unnecessarily restricted to online play, and/or do not receive the same kind of budgets and interest. The former are admittedly excellent, but it has become increasingly difficult to find fun multiplayer experiences that are not merely shooters, and near impossible to find games that are not in some way restrictive when it comes to local multiplayer.
The Switch's Offerings
This topic came to mind as I was watching gameplay of a couple of games for the Switch. If there's one company that, probably to its detriment, has stuck by local multiplayer (while for some reason often completely neglecting also including online multiplayer), it's Nintendo, and the Switch seems no different.
What seemed odd to me is that, while Zelda is obviously getting an incredible amount of coverage at the moment, the only other game that's really getting much attention is 1-2 Switch which, let's be honest, might be fun with some friends but is a glorified tech demo.
Meanwhile, there's two other games exclusive to the console I've been watching gameplay footage of, Snipperclips and Super Bomberman R, that really look like some of the most fun local-multiplayer games I've seen in ages. Seriously, they look like an absolute blast with friends, but few people are even taking notice of them. Here's some footage of both:
Super Bomberman R: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfuH1JMvJqs
Snipperclips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlaS-DcOx50
Conclusion:
Basically, it really just seems that no one cares about Local Multiplayer enough to actually demand greater access to it unrestricted by additional pay walls. You could have two fun as heck looking games like the ones I mentioned above, but people are so disinterested in local multiplayer at this point that they'd rather just focus on how crappy 1-2 Switch looks or dedicate all of their attention to single-player Zelda. While excellent, it would seem the genre is simply dated to most; either they aren't interested, or those that are expect to find such games on the mobile market, expecting a more AAA experience on their consoles.
While it seems obvious that the Switch is heavily focused on local multiplayer, it's been made abundantly clear that such an approach tends not to sell consoles, and so this may be the last hurrah for such games. I hope I'm wrong, of course, as I've always loved playing games with friends. :)
So then, my questions:
-Do you enjoy Local Multiplayer Games?
-What Priority are Local Multiplayer Games for You: Very High, High, Middling, Low, Don't need 'em
-Do those paywalls (online subscription/multiple copies required) for games that could easily have local multiplayer bother you?
-Do you have any game suggestions for a cool co-op experience on the PS4 that maybe I've missed?
Feel free to answer any, all, or none! Seriously though, I'd appreciate any suggestions lol, we're really itching for another co-op experience (PS4 only).
