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In memory of couch co-op

I was going to sit down and review Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, but instead I’m going to complain about a distressing current trend in games: lack of couch co-op.

Frankly, if I wasn’t such a Resident Evil fanboy (or needing a copy to write a review), I would have left the game on the shelf there and then. Operation Raccoon City is nothing BUT a multiplayer game, and I’m sure there are many couples who want to pop that disc in their console and take on zombies together. Alas, it’s not going to happen; you have no other choice than to defend Umbrella’s seedy side with remote friends or strangers.

Over the years, I’ve learnt how to read the back of an Xbox 360 case – just because it says “Co-op 2-4” in orange text on the back doesn’t mean anything. For those a bit confused, Operation Raccoon City boasts just that – “Co-op 2-4” – but that feature is in pesky orange text, which means it’s an online function only. Above that, in green text (meaning local console-specific), you’ll find “Players 1,” which means your significant other will be forced to watch you play with online strangers, or worse yet, will have to buy a second copy of the title if you’d like to game together.

It’s a bit easier to understand on PS3 boxes — it reads “Players 1 (Online 2-8)” — but I’m positive quite a few Xbox gamers have picked up the latest and greatest from Capcom thinking they’re going to have a great night in with a loved one. It’s shady marketing. Oh, and the reason I’m so certain people have been caught out in this way before was that it happened to me with Red Dead Redemption. I bought it specifically to play online multiplayer with my boyfriend, and found out it wasn’t going to happen unless I had a second Xbox and second copy of the game in our home. I’m all for supporting the Australian game industry, but that’s a bit much.

To date, Mass Effect 3 is THE title of 2012, and you guessed it – it doesn’t allow couch co-op in its multiplayer modes. More surprisingly, Street Fighter x Tekken allows a 2-player team to go online against opponents on the PlayStation 3 version of the game… but not on Xbox 360. If you want to go online on Xbox Live, you’re doing it on your own. How ridiculous.

Street Fighter x Tekken‘s Assistant Producer Tomoaki Ayano has blamed the Xbox 360 snafu on a lack of resources and time.

“We’ve been asked by some players of the Xbox 360 version about the four-player co-op mode and why it doesn’t work when two players team up (locally) and attempt to play online,” Ayano began. “Unfortunately, due to time and resource issues, we weren’t able to get that feature into the Xbox 360 version and we apologise to those players who were looking forward to it. Throughout the development process, there are times when new features are added (and we added a lot of them!) and there are also times where we have to make tough decisions regarding things to cut. This was one of those times.

Simple solution for next time: don’t waste time creating a gem system that casual gamers aren’t going to use at all, and instead ensure that two friends can get the most out of the game that’s in front of them.

It’s easy to make technical excuses for a lack of couch co-op, but each excuse seems pretty shallow. Resident Evil 5 taxed my poor little Xbox, but you could do split-screen nonetheless. Sure, the play area you had to work with was diminished so everything could be rendered twice, but it was still attainable. And VERY fun.

I’d be remiss not to mention titles that offer 4 player couch co-op, like Rayman: Origins, but it seems more and more like triple-A titles don’t allow that functionality any longer. Is it simply a cash-grab to force multiple purchases?

I know I’m dating myself by saying this – and with great age comes great crankiness — but I grew up with games that were enjoyed with friends. Sitting beside a buddy and going through a game with split-screen was way more fun than slogging through it alone. Xbox Live makes it great to game with those you can’t be in front of (I’m looking at you, my Sydney friends), but I’d prefer a local game with pizza and beer any day. If a game provides the option for both, that’s amazing – but it seems that couch co-op is fast becoming an exception to the norm, and the first feature to be dropped.

I’m going to start mourning it now.


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About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.