When Multiplayer Was Multiplayer
(click to enlarge)
If you’re around my age and grew up with the N64 as your major system, the above scene should look intimately familiar to you. Nearly all of us play four players split screen Goldeneye at some point or another, and I probably logged more hours on that game than any other, except Super Smash Bros. of course.
The twist was that if my friends and I were playing it at my house, it had to be done in secret. Goldeneye was too much violence, so whenever my parents would burst in the door, we became experts in changing the channel and pretending like we were watching TV. Pausing was no good because a giant damn image of the gun you were holding would show up on your holographic watch.
This image is from Magical Game Time, and I highly suggest you check out all of his stuff.
Not to go all nostalgia-ish, but I really do miss four player split screen multiplayer. I can’t even remember the last game I played that had it. Halo?
I also miss having three friends who lived near me who had the free time to play video games whenever…
God I miss those days. Goldeneye. License to Kill. Complex. Pistols. So fun!!
i prefer split screen to online, hell last night i had some friends over and we played pokemon stadium and had a blast
-Gives Paul a hug-
Mario Kart for the Wii had four player split screen. But it was sluggish as hell.
Ahh Goldeneye. Facility. Power Weapons.
Excellent picture and excellent dose of nostalgia.
The PS1 could do this too when you could link your systems, though not on this scale. Yeah, sometimes a game system should be used for group activities link this. Something future game makers should keep in mind.
I remember a weekend some friends and I played the classic mario kart 64 battle mode and we end playing until 4am. Even if it’s old it’s still fun to play.
Goldeneye is overrated. Anyone who played a 4-player N64 shooter besides Jet Force Gemini was doing it wrong, because it blows Goldeneye away.
I still play this kind of thing as much as possible. Call of Duty, Blur, even Bomberman is great for four people. But it still doesn’t bring the joy that all those hours of Mario Kart could provide.
aaah remember when playing games with others actually involved well.. other people.. who you actually knew…. and had met?… no? o well then..
the good old days when someone else managed to bring round another tv so you could play multiplayer without being able to look at the other guys screen to see where he was… i feel oddly nostalgic.. i think current generation gaming has us a bit spoilt
I was looking to buy N64 with 4 joypads but that is hard these days. Specially finding games like mario kart or goldeneye finally I gave up on that and found emulators online.
I am 28 and I had awesome fun playing Mario Kart in 4 local multiplayer with my friends. Still it is fun and so much more because you know how much today multiplayer sucks.
Emulators are free, ROMS are free (if you own the game of course – wink, wink) all it takes are 4 usb joypads, 5 min mapping controls and rest is pure fun.
Hard part is finding 3 more people who have time, and who want to play mario kart (in my age hehe).
Now I feel dated, lol.
My best early experiences with multiplayer was dialing in with a modem and getting some Duke Nukem 3d or Warcraft 2 on.
/take this opportunity to relive obnoxious modem sounds.