With all the controversy surrounding gaming recently, such as ELSPA agreeing with the Tories that kids need to get out more, it occurred to me that gaming doesn’t really feel as sociable as it used to. When I was young I would look forward to every Saturday evening as this was the time when me and all my friends would gather to play the latest game on our Sega Megadrives and later on our Sony PlayStation’s thanks to a wonderful in-game setting called cooperative play, how times have changed.

It seems to me that developers no longer care for such an addition to their games, rather than include the ability to play on the same console as your friends developers seem to be going down the path of only including co-op play via services such as Xbox Live and the Playstation Network, there are obviously some exceptions to this rule such as FIFA, PES and Singstar etc but the majority of games these days, Call of Duty 4 being a big example, seem to be forgetting to include the ability to play alongside your friends while being in the same room.

 
uncharted, great game, no co-op

Developers will argue that by excluding co-op mode they are then able to put more time into the main game and this may be a valid point, however I for one would rather have the choice. Playing games over the internet against friends and strangers is the norm these days and don’t get me wrong, I think it is great fun, however there is nothing quite like playing against a friend when they are in the same room to bring out that competitive streak.

So I say to developers, when making a game please don’t forget to add co-op play for people like me who like to have friends around to play the latest games and have a few beers, gaming should be about being sociable, that’s the way it has always been and to take that away now would be a great shame.