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[Chezzymann]

When it was 2005 maybe....
Things change, as everyone can see.

This sucks for me since my wife wont be-able to play with me. But previous games already set this standard this Gen not having couch co-op so we'll be fine. Don't see anyone making big #trending fusses about it.

What was the last couch co-op? Evolve?? lulz

That's one of the main reasons why I own a Wii U. Pretty much every first party Nintendo game has great local multiplayer stuff. It's really the only option for playing games whenever people come over. Kinda sad in my opinion

 

[SND]

So features that will only be utilised by a minority of users should not be implemented at all?

Hoo boy... better remove the multiplayer altogether in that case.

Look if you're going to run to that extreme, if'd be the campaign that would be removed, not MP.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Id be shocked if the split screen outrage is more than a very vocal minority.

 

[Collateral22]

What the hell? How would you be able to organize local tournaments without lan? Can you do custom games online? Even then every Xbox one used at the tournament would have to individually pay for Gold and go online.

Yeah that's the thing with AW on XB1, for LAN events they need to be online and connect to a lobby. Takes ages and is a big pain and no one likes it.

 

[Welfare]

Look if you're going to run to that extreme, if'd be the campaign that would be removed, not MP.

I don't remember where I read it, but I think 343 even said campaign is played by the majority.

 

[Veritigo_X]

Sucks that such a cornerstone of Halo is being removed like that. Doesn't even seem like a Halo game without playing splitscreen with your buddies.

 

[Nibel]

Fuck this trend.

It's not a majority. It's a very vocal minority. I'd much rather have a fluid and consistent experience overall, in both campaign and multiplayer, then for things to get cut so that the screen can be divided into two or four for cramped gameplay at lower framerates.

How is a SP experience impacted by splitscreen at all? It's not like SP will get worse by including splitscreen options.

 

[Jito]

When it was 2005 maybe....
Things change, as everyone can see.

This sucks for me since my wife wont be-able to play with me. But previous games already set this standard this Gen not having couch co-op so we'll be fine. Don't see anyone making big #trending fusses about it.

What was the last couch co-op? Evolve?? lulz

Splitscreen is still a thing, why is the new Star Wars Battlefront bothering to include it and it's still in every Call of Duty if no one uses it? Evolve didn't have any splitscreen sadly.

 

[GavinGT]

No splitscreen online is a serious fucking bummer for me. They said all along it would be in, and now it's not? Garbage...

It's at least half of the reason I play these games.

 

[Klart]

Is couch co-op really a thing anymore? I understand that some people still like/want it, but isn't that a minority at this point?

It's over. People have stopped having real life friends.

 

[Boke1879]

Was split screen in Halo 4?

My last Halo game was Halo 3 and when I lived with roommates the 4 of us would have a blast playing on the same screen and going online. It would suck if this didn't have split screen at all

 

[BokehKing]

Sucks that such a cornerstone of Halo is being removed like that. Doesn't even seem like a Halo game without playing splitscreen with your buddies.

I use to bring my Xbox over friends houses, from house to house for people to play halo split screen. That's nostalgia at its finest, and that was on tiny screens. More than enough real estate on a 60 inch tv

 

[sixteen-bit]

no LAN, ouch.

 

[GavinGT]

Was split screen in Halo 4?

My last Halo game was Halo 3 and when I lived with roommates the 4 of us would have a blast playing on the same screen and going online. It would suck if this didn't have split screen at all

Halo 4 had 2-player local co-op and 4-player local online (competitive). Basically the established Halo feature set.

 

[krang]

Id be shocked if the split screen outrage is more than a very vocal minority.

Agreed.

If it wasn't a minority, it would be in the game at the sacrifice of 60fps, or some other compromise.

 

[Diprosalic]

It's over. People have stopped having real life friends.

you can play with real life friends online you know.
i don't care much since i never liked splitscreen multiplayer games that much.

i also suspect that this will be the least of Halo 5's problems.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

I use to bring my Xbox over friends houses, from house to house for people to play halo split screen. That's nostalgia at its finest, and that was on tiny screens. More than enough real estate on a 60 inch tv

Pretty sure LAN was really what Halo was known for. Even with Split screen my friends and I refused to use it. Hated losing the real estate. We'd bring multiple consoles to a house (usually mine). I had plenty of TVs in the house. I always remember hearing people's LAN stories. Not split screen.

 

[GavinGT]

you can play with real life friends online you know.
i don't care much since i never liked splitscreen multiplayer games that much.

i also suspect that this will be the least of Halo 5's problems.

When they're all used to being able to come over and play split-screen, it's a little much to ask them to all buy a new console and a copy of the game. The end result is they'll still come over and we'll just play something else.

 

[chubigans]

i also suspect that this lwill be the least of Halo 5's problems.

After that e3 demo I think your 100% right.

 

[Pizza]

so they are changing their minds?

goddamnit.

"No we can't do it it's impossible"

"Oh shit okay yeah here we'll do it"

sounds like a design decision to me, tbh. Same deal as the initial xbox one conference.

/shrug. They should have made it work, I think. Four player split screen online was one of the best parts of that series but lucrative subscription policies + lots of people owning Xboxes + split screen being hard = let's just drop it

 

[GavinGT]

Can they not just give us 30 FPS 2-player split-screen?

 

[Fury451]

Is couch co-op really a thing anymore? I understand that some people still like/want it, but isn't that a minority at this point?

I wouldn't want a dev to waste time including a feature for a small number of people, instead I'd hope they'd put those resources elsewhere,

A lot of households can't afford multiple consoles, so it's still vital for some people.

Plus it's like a Halo staple.

 

[Leyasu]

As I dont like sharing my screen it is no problem for me.

But I can undertand why people are upset. Before live was a thing, we used to lan all the time with splitscreen xboxes.

The better be locked 60fps and dedicated servers for me are more important

 

[BokehKing]

Pretty sure LAN was really what Halo was known for. Even with Split screen my friends and I refused to use it. Hated losing the real estate. We'd bring multiple consoles to a house (usually mine). I had plenty of TVs in the house. I always remember hearing people's LAN stories. Not split screen.

The whole idea is, you played split screen because no one else had the console.

 

[_Clash_]

seriously

splitscreenhaloGAF, do something. This is a fucking pity.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

The whole idea is, you played split screen because no one else had the console.

Sounds like Microsoft would prefer the version of customers who would buy the console as opposed to the ones who had friends that didn't. Seems logical.

 

[krang]

When so many gamers are looking forward to the prospect of using a VR headset to shut themselves out of the real world, I'm surprised so many people are upset about the lack of splitscreen.

Spoiler

Intentionally facetious.

 

[Kalliban]

When they're all used to being able to come over and play split-screen, it's a little much to ask them to all buy a new console and a copy of the game. The end result is they'll still come over and we'll just play something else.

This right here. I wan't to hang out with friends, grab some beers, have a laugh and if the mood strikes just fire up a game and play some. Sure, it can be fun to play with friends when everyone's at home, but it's not comparable for me. I guess I'm getting old.

 

[Percy]

Look if you're going to run to that extreme, if'd be the campaign that would be removed, not MP.

Using Halo 4 as a reference point, you'd be wrong about that I think.

 

[Glix]

Was FZeroX 60fps in 4 player split screen?

Legit question, I checked its wiki entry but couldn't get the info.

 

[Jito]

To be fair to 343 though, Halo 4 ran like a bag of shit on splitscreen, framerate was horrific, graphics were a blurry mess and the pop in was insane. I guess they don't want to embarrass themselves again.

 

[Caipirinha]

Please continue to be excited for 343 developed Halo games.

Also doesn't no LAN basically rule this out as an esport title?

 

[Shin-Ra]

I thought there was still split-screen in competitive multiplayer.

 

[GavinGT]

To be fair to 343 though, Halo 4 ran like a bag of shit on splitscreen, framerate was horrific, graphics were a blurry mess and the pop in was insane. I guess they don't want to embarrass themselves again.

I don't recall any of these issues. It was certainly better than not having it at all.

I thought there was still split-screen in competitive multiplayer.

That's what Josh Holmes said 6 months ago, but it's apparently no longer the case.

 

[PeterVenkman]

This right here. I wan't to hang out with friends, grab some beers, have a laugh and if the mood strikes just fire up a game and play some. Sure, it can be fun to play with friends when everyone's at home, but it's not comparable for me. I guess I'm getting old.

Always thought halo would keep up splitscreen MP. Friends and I have had to get creative with what we play since it's missing from so many games. Save for the regular smash bros/Mario kart, we either go retro or play something like xcom or alien where we can really involve everyone.

 

[gamechanger87]

So they could go 30 fps or tone down the graphics in multiplayer and get crucified by a very vocal minority whom would say the "XBONERZ CAN'T HANDLE GAMEZ" or they can say let's keep graphical fidelity and framerate constant and nix split screen and get pummeled by a vocal minority whom will say "343 IS KILLING MAH HALO".

Can't win them all.

 

[funkypie]

couch co-op might be dying out but when it comes to HALO, couch co-op is part and parcel of the game.

 

[Urthor]

Yea the people who are saying Couch co-op is a legacy feature need to pull their heads in. Couch Co-Op literally sold the Xbox OG. If the game can't do 60FPS then they need to downgrade the textures.

Seriously would prefer to have Halo 2 graphics for Halo 5 than no couch co-op, the literal entire reason I and so many other people value Halo is because we love to play it together.

This is actually horrendous.

 

[Jito]

I don't recall any of these issues. It was certainly better than not having it at all.

It was definitely a noticeable problem playing splitscreen BTB on the large maps, I recall calling it quits during a match on Vortex as it was running like shit and looked horrible.

 

[wesleyshark]

So they could go 30 fps or tone down the graphics in multiplayer and get crucified by a very vocal minority whom would say the "XBONERZ CAN'T HANDLE GAMEZ" or they can say let's keep graphical fidelity and framerate constant and nix split screen and get pummeled by a vocal minority whom will say "343 IS KILLING MAH HALO".

Can't win them all.

It's a lose-lose for sure. Either way they went, here, there was going to be a GAFplosion about how they are incompetent and useless as a developer. Sad state of the gaming community, in general, and it's not something only 343 deals with.

"Game doesn't have X feature? Failure! Boycott!"

 

[Stone Ocean]

Agreed.

If it wasn't a minority, it would be in the game at the sacrifice of 60fps, or some other compromise.

So what? Minority does not instantly mean low number of people

 

[Goldfishking]

shame, but personally im not that bothered. Havent played halo splitscreen since 3.

 

[Mit-]

Consoles have sucked for gamers with friends for two generations now. Except for Nintendo's few mainstays. Halo was one of the last holdouts.

PC is probably the best local multiplayer platform and things can get pretty sparse there as well.


And yeah, it's a goddamn shame, because local multiplayer is awesome.

 

[Veritigo_X]

I use to bring my Xbox over friends houses, from house to house for people to play halo split screen. That's nostalgia at its finest, and that was on tiny screens. More than enough real estate on a 60 inch tv

Yep, that's what I'm thinking of too. I still get together with friends to play local co-op games and would love to have Halo 5 included in this, but it seems like that won't be the case. Oh well.

 

[Jarsonot]

Friend comes over to play.

"Wanna play Halo?" "Sure!"

Friend goes home.

 

[Samurai G0SU]

That's one of the main reasons why I own a Wii U. Pretty much every first party Nintendo game has great local multiplayer stuff. It's really the only option for playing games whenever people come over. Kinda sad in my opinion

Yeah, when i owned the N64, it was awesome when i was growing up. Playing mario Cart and Mario Party with my cousins. Ah, good times.

Maybe im just getting old and don't care about couch co-op much anymore. Perhaps my bias/opinion is based on my experience with couch co-op and now with online only multiplayer.

I guess it does suck for those who were looking forward to have 3 buddies at their house playing halo 5 each of them having their unique spartan this time.

Two of halo's competitors will have it though (COD & battlefront)
Times didn't change that much

I guess youre right.

Cod is using the same engine.. Am i the only one who seen the ugliness of BO3 in all the trailers presented this Month? I feel bad for AW! that game was beyond what any COD dev has done in regard to Graphics and Sound.

Battlefront - A game built from the groud up for pure multiplayer. Using and utilizing all of their resources for multiplayer... Yes this is exactly the same as a game like halo 5. Thanks for pointing that out. Totally missed on those two games and their importance on the evolution of Halo.

 

[DrD]

That's a bummer, I've played the majority of Halo campaigns through split screen co-op. Made it a ton of fun. I probably would play Halo 5 through online co-op since I don't invite people over that much anymore, but I still would've liked the option.

Can't they do what Battlefront is doing with 30fps split screen? Unless the game heavily relies on 60fps.

 

[gamechanger87]

It's a lose-lose for sure. Either way they went, here, there was going to be a GAFplosion about how they are incompetent and useless as a developer. Sad state of the gaming community, in general, and it's not something only 343 deals with.

"Game doesn't have X feature? Failure! Boycott!"

Yep. People want to complain about something. Game development is trade offs.They went with the one they thought was the most important.

 

[PMS341]

Yep. People want to complain about something. Game development is trade offs.They went with the one they thought was the most important.

Oddly enough the most lucrative path as well.

 

[Soi-Fong]

A cornerstone of Halo was always split-screen co-op especially for the story. This is disappointing honestly. Add to that COD and Battlefront will have split-screen which makes this decision even more bizarre.