If there was one good thing to come out of E3 2008 this year (despite the bad), it's the fact that co-op has been moved up from an afterthought to a bullet point. Right from the get go at the Microsoft Press Conference we were hit with a plethora of AAA titles all that featured co-op as a major bullet point. Fable 2 and its integrated co-op mode to 3rd party titles like Resident Evil 5 and the official unveiling of its coop focused gameplay, the Microsoft press briefing had one overwhelming message - it's good to play together. Sony followed suit with titles like Resistance 2 and its 8-player co-op mode on display; and even though Nintendo didn't show much their big game Animal Crossing for the Wii was built around cooperative play, even introducing a new microphone peripheral for online play.
If you've seen our list of hands on impressions you know there are some really quality titles coming out with cooperative play. That list isn't even half of all the co-op games that were on display at E3 2008. We covered Gears of War 2 and its brand new 5 player co-op mode called Horde. There was Resident Evil 5 which we couldn't even get in to play because it was so popular. Of course don't forget our detailed coverage of Left 4 Dead and all it's zombie goodness. And there were tons of other titles we didn't even get to see like Geometry Wars 2 and numerous others.
Yes, the co-op gaming trend is finally here. It's even garnered attention from mainstream sites like CNET.
This is an important trend because it ties gamers together, no matter where they are, making the experience more meaningful for being less of a solo thing. And this, clearly, is the promise of connected play on systems like Xbox Live and, the PlayStation Network.
Besides the mainstream media, it's the upper level execs of these major publishers that are talking up cooperative play. Listen to Evil Avatar's Day 1 Podcast of E3 and stay around for the after show where we have audio from the blogger brunch with Xbox Live General Manager Mark Whitten and Xbox Exec Aaron Greenberg. Both of these excecs mention cooperative gameplay a few times and the focus on it, even overhauling the Xbox 360 Dashboard with an 8 player party system to make it easier to facilitate play. Jack Tretton of Sony made sure during their press conference to mention the unique aspects of co-op play while presenting Little Big Planet, Resistance 2 and others.
So while E3 may as a whole have been somewhat of a bust, there was some good news out of it. Co-op play is here and it's being recognized as a major feature in games. It's no longer relegated to an "oh yeah we have that" feature, but rather a bullet point on the back of the box. It should be an exciting rest of the year for co-op video game fans, I know I'm psyched!
co-op gaming
e3 2008
I think a large part in a lot of these games with the lack of offline co-op is the sacrifice in presentation. A lot of titles really push the 360 graphically, and doubling and quadrupling what it needs to render (albeit smaller) doesn't always work well.
Plus, certain games (Like Too Human) have a fancy camera system that simply wouldn't work with 2 people.
Total Comments: 2
- Gears of War 2 Co-Op Details and Screenshots
- Fable 2 Featuring Seemless Online Co-Op and Screenshots
- Microsoft Co-Op News from Presser
- Left 4 Dead Hands on Impressions and Video
- E3 is Upon Us! What are your Co-Op Predictions?
- Co-Optimus Co-Op E3 Preview
- Too Human Demo Coming Next Week!
- Geometry Wars 2 Gameplay Video
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 on Playstation 3
Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii
System Shock 2 on PC
Castle Crashers on Xbox Live Arcade
Pixel Junk Monsters on Playstation Network
View the top Co-Op Games on Each Platform including our family friendly list!
I'm rather disappointed no one else has made a comment on this article yet.
What I am happy for though, is the possibility that the AAA title creators are feeling some pressure to finally focus on co-op gameplay. I can name a hundred titles right now that have made me say out loud "This would rock if it had co-op!". It's awesome to see the next gen of games focus more on co-op.
Sadly, it is unfortunate that many of the xbox 360 games won't be offline coop. I mean, what's the point of a 4 player console when you can't have friends over to play the game with you?