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Local Multiplayer: the best thin about Wii U

People who can set up local MP games post high school have my eternal respect.

Getting more than two adults in a room for any amount of time has proven to be a herculean feat for me.

Here's the secret. When you want to do something, invite far more than you plan to actually come. If you want a group of say 8, invite 30 people.
 
Better yet create a Facebook event!

NSMB:U at my place!
Friday the 22nd, 2012 8pm-WHENEVER
Bring your own Capri Sun! Mom made sugar cookies.
 
As much as I love online (at least ever since I started muting randoms most of the time), there's just something magical about playing with a group of friends on the weekend. Also, alcoholic beverages.
 
Local multiplayer is extremely common in college around here. Everyone does it and it's only gotten more popular lately with games like CoD.

Yup, and oh-so-fun. I usually bring my Wii to my friends' place and we usually play SSBB or Melee. Random people stop by to play, even. Good times.

More like stopped having disposable time. And when the stars somehow align for friends not a lot of people at my age (26) want to stay inside and play videogames. That's the beauty of online gaming, you can jump on quickly after work and get an hour in with other friends who are off work versus blasting the proverbial LETS PLAY VIDJAGAMES AT MY PLACE trumpet. With that said I'm willing to concede that gaming just isn't a large a force in my life as it was in my teens.

Mm, I guess so. Sounds like life sucks at that age.
 
I do look back with fondness at the high school days where I had the halo LAN parties and could sink 70 hours into an RPG during the week. But no way in hell would I ever want to go back to those days, or anything of semblance to that time.
 
Are your really that ignorant?

I know who I am and what type of people I like and get along with.

sure, I'm stereotyping and may pass over some cool people, but odds are I wouldn't get along with most people that have videogames as their main hobby irl
 
Wow

Local multiplayer is certainly fun, but it doesn't drive most multiplayer in 2012. Or 2011, 2010, etc. I grew up with three brothers and had a blast with the Gamecube's local multiplayer, and the N64's. But today most people do not invite their buddies over multiple times a week to play games. They get home from work, hop online their console, see which friends are on, maybe call a buddy to tell him to get on, and start playing.

It's painfully obviously the WiiU won't have online infrastructure of any substance. That's a bad thing.
 
Wow

Local multiplayer is certainly fun, but it doesn't drive most multiplayer in 2012. Or 2011, 2010, etc. I grew up with three brothers and had a blast with the Gamecube's local multiplayer, and the N64's. But today most people do not invite their buddies over multiple times a week to play games. They get home from work, hop online their console, see which friends are on, maybe call a buddy to tell him to get on, and start playing.

It's painfully obviously the WiiU won't have online infrastructure of any substance. That's a bad thing.

Nintendo's videos of 4 hip multi cultural adults in their twenties having a blast huddled around a TV screen playing video games always gets a chuckle form me
 
It's not a problem if you, you know, actually look for people to play with. There are even groups dedicated to this sort of thing. Or you can just have your friends come over, gamers or not. I've had plenty of fun with games like Wii Party and such with my non-gamer friends.

Sorry, but if you can't find people to play with, then you're not trying hard enough. Maybe if you live in the middle of nowhere then you have a valid excuse, but otherwise there are always plenty of gamers out there.

For a lot of people to organise a local multiplayer session, they would need to join a group or find find people to play with outside of their circle of friends. So you join a group and organise a time and place that several people can get to at the same time. How are these people any different from random people you'd meet online? You're not really friends with these people. By the time you're in your 20's your real friends will start moving to different places.

Local multiplayer can be a lot of fun. It's good to have people in the same room. But it doesn't lend itself so well to certain types of games. Pretty much anything where the screen needs to be split isn't going to provide the same experience as a full screen game.

Is it any wonder people aren't as inclined to go out of their way to organise a local gaming session when within a couple of minutes they can be playing online, with a full screen to themselves, possibly chatting and playing with their friends living in different cities or even countries? I prefer to play games with my friends.... but it's a whole lot easier for me to do that online.
 
I know who I am and what type of people I like and get along with.

sure, I'm stereotyping and may pass over some cool people, but odds are I wouldn't get along with most people that have videogames as their main hobby irl
Uhh... what's GAF main topic of discussion, again?
 
That's not what I meant. I meant in regards to hanging out with friends.
You still have time to hang out and socialize but when a chance to socialize arises gaming is just never an option, I don't know how old you are, but when I started going out on thursday-Saturday nights with my buddies instead of gaming I never looked back
 
You still have time to hang out and socialize but when a chance to socialize arises gaming is just never an option

This is basically true for my group of friends as well. There is so much more to do than sit and stare at a TV when you are all together, especially during the summer.
 
Different song, same dance.

I know people are probably sick of seeing my avatar next to something negative about Nintendo but weren't articles almost word for word the same written about the Wii? This is in the same category as those articles from before about Nintendo being some sort of savior for not making overly violent games, it's a way to subtly validate their strategy while dismissing or at least attempting to diminish (What I view to be) justified criticism. Wii had good multiplayer games for sure, the appeal of playing Wii Tennis with a group of friends was undeniable but at the end of the day it didn't make me wish for a comprehensive online infrastructure any less.

The same goes for the one about violence in games. I love 3D Mario platformers. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't explore games which are willing to explore themes that aren't necessarily family friendly. I'd love to see Retro explore something gritty, going by their company hires this past year I might get my wish, and people should be excited about that.

Articles like these could be direct cut and pastes from 2006, or even 2001 for that matter. I can't believe how the talking points never even change slightly.
 
Local multiplayer is Nintendo's one massive competitive advantage over MS, Sony and Apple. It's hard to believe how neglected it is by the competition and developers when there's obviously demand for it.
 
I thought WiiU was horrible for local MP because of only one gamepad. True, there is some place for asymmetrical gameplay, but in general do you want to be the one left out in every single local MP game?

I am not convinced that for majority of games it will be helpful at all. But, it will have some advantage if dev take time and build for it ground up. Which I expect from 1st party but not at all from 3rd.
 
Local multiplayer is Nintendo's one massive competitive advantage over MS, Sony and Apple. It's hard to believe how neglected it is by the competition and developers when there's obviously demand for it.

The thing is, though, that there are plenty of local multiplayer games available on PS3 and 360 as well. It's definitely not as prevalent as it once was, but once you start looking at XBLA and PSN there are lots of local multiplayer games.
 
You still have time to hang out and socialize but when a chance to socialize arises gaming is just never an option, I don't know how old you are, but when I started going out on thursday-Saturday nights with my buddies instead of gaming I never looked back

I go out during the same time period. But there's time before you go out and there's after classes on weekdays.
 
Pretty much chiming in to say that Advance Wars Wii U with local multiplayer/rudimentary online would make me buy the console immediately.

Nintendo, read this. Whip something up.

On a more serious note, yes. There still needs to be strong local multiplayer capabilities. Online is great and all, but it can't entirely replicate the feeling of being in a room together and being able to directly share in the experience.

Big TV's are cheap as shit these days, too.

Edit: I'm in my early 20's and most of my friends are childless and will be for quite some time. I also always live with 1 or more roommates who usually like to game.
 
Some of the best console gaming memories I have is sitting with my friends and playing 4 player Mario Kart or Goldeneye. Even further back was 5 player Bomberman on Turbographix.

Getting together for multiplayer gaming is way more fun than pwning some expletive spewing racist child across the country and teabagging his corpse.
 
"Gaming parties" are some of my favourite social events I have, but the only thing we goddamn play is Kinect games and Halo.
 
Local Multiplayer, truly a wonderful feature to capture the middle school market

Online multiplayer: Truly a wonderful feature to capture the basement dwelling, no bath taking, can't touch a girl market.

If anyone doubts the power of local play, I have 10 player Saturn Bomberman with some grilling every weekend with friends and its chaos.
 
Online multiplayer: Truly a wonderful feature to capture the basement dwelling, no bath taking, can't touch a girl market.

If anyone doubts the power of local play, I have 10 player Saturn Bomberman with some grilling every weekend with friends and its chaos.

I'm sure you represent a significant population of the gaming community
 
Online multiplayer: Truly a wonderful feature to capture the basement dwelling, no bath taking, can't touch a girl market.

If anyone doubts the power of local play, I have 10 player Saturn Bomberman with some grilling every weekend with friends and its chaos.

You mean sweaty 30 year olds in Metallica t-shirts right?

10 player Saturn Bomberman would be awesome, and I've got to say I'm jealous, but it's not realistic to expect most people to have that kind of set up.
 
Online multiplayer: Truly a wonderful feature to capture the basement dwelling, no bath taking, can't touch a girl market.

If anyone doubts the power of local play, I have 10 player Saturn Bomberman with some grilling every weekend with friends and its chaos.

I didn't even know they had 10-player Bomberman. That sounds like a blast. I would love a newer version of this, Brawlified out with options.

I'm sure you represent a significant population of the gaming community

You seem pretty convinced that most gamers view their hobby as something that shouldn't be shared with others. It's one of the most popular hobbies in the world, do you really think that is justified?
 
I didn't even know they had 10-player Bomberman. That sounds like a blast. I would love a newer version of this, Brawlified out with options.

Saturn Bomberman is the BEST Bomberman. Every PAX, I always make sure I set aside an hour to check out the Saturn, the 10-controller multi-tap, and as many Saturn controllers as we can get our mitts on. Anyone who's passing by in the classic gaming room and wants in generally gets in.

Such good times.
 
I'm fine with them promoting a more social, local MP kind of push... but I hope it doesn't take away from their actual online experience. They're gonna have to top PSN or even more impossible, XBL.
 
It's a good premise but the article gets a little ridiculous.

“He’s here"
“No, he’s gone past”
“I think he’s heading left”
“I can feel him! SHIIIIII…. Oh no, he’s gone down to you”
“CrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapBEHIND ME! Shine behind me, my torch battery’s flat!*

This kind of fast, simple, half-explained shorthand communication is vital to both the tactical play and the fun of LuigiÂ’s Ghost Mansion, and itÂ’s also the kind of communication that could only be effective between players in the same room.
That's right, you can't talk in shorthand online. It's only possible with next-generation friend-based couch play.
 
Wow, the down talk about local multiplayer in this thread is really depressing.

I thought one of Nintendo's missions with the Wii was to bring back same-room gaming as a viable activity for groups, and I figured that it succeeded.

It's obvious that life doesn't always make it easy for people to get together, and when it allows social activity there are no doubt many more options than huddling around the TV to play some video games. But the "social gaming is not an option" views here make me feel bad as a 24-year-old man that I'm able to see my friends once a week (on average) for a night of board games, video games, and drinks, as an alternative to going out.

Do people not ever find time to "entertain" others, by having them over for food and activities? Do people always elect to go out rather than have parties? Sometimes having multiplayer gaming possibilities at home makes for a simplification of friendly get-togethers; fun without hassle. Elaborate plans are great, but a night of home entertainment can be just as compelling.

Nintendo for years now has been trying to make gaming a viable and enjoyable social experience, and their efforts continue with Wii U. I'm sorry that for some folks gaming in this way isn't possible, but I'm happy that in the grand scheme Nintendo (and even MS with the Kinect and the push for family-friendly social games) is promoting the idea that video game experiences can be shared by people in one room. Honestly, we should embrace this direction, so long as it doesn't completely detract from other aspects of the hobby.
 
It is kind of amusing how the default assumption of a lot of people firmly remains that Wii U absolutely almost certainly CANNOT POSSIBLY have any online infrastructure that is in any way one micron different from Wii.

It is also weird, in a way, how many people seem almost proud of the fact that they are, what - to old, too mature, too real (??) to play video games face to face with other people these days. Hokay. Sure. There seems to be some kind of conceit based around the notion that "everybody but me and my few cool friends is an unfashionable nerd if they play video games".

In point of fact, for the last six years, there has been a fair party going on involving the Wii. It's just one that a lot of self-styled hardcore gamers studiously ignore and edit out of their reality tunnel. For every person who says 'pff, my Wii is in the closet collecting dust' there are actually others who have been playing multiplayer games on it all this time. And yes, the people who play Just Dance count.

It is almost brash of Nintendo to put so much focus on local multiplayer innovations with Wii U, besides also putting an effort into expanding their online presence. Judging by a lot of reactions, local multiplayer just isn't hip among a lot of people these days. Nintendo is betting on there still being some people who disagree, so we'll see.

On that count, some don't seem to get why the unusual sorts of multiplayer the screen pad enables is interesting. That one player is doing something different is not a bad thing, or pointless. Some of the demonstrations at E3 were indeed relatively minor, like one person placing extra platforms in NSMB U. However, a number of people seemed to rave over the Luigi's Mansion game in Nintendoland, citing it as one of the most interesting and tense local multiplayer games they'd ever seen. And it was a design only possible with same-room multiplayer due to the screen pad.

Nintendo might really be betting on Wii U being adopted by at least a noticeable percentage of the people who actually figured out what was cool about Wii and found it suited their gaming needs. There's tons of pre-requisite Wii controllers and devices floating around out there - for that audience Wii U is actually more attractive as they would be pre-equipped to take full advantage of what it offers.
 
I help run a StreetPass group

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Local multiplayer already exists pretty well with the 360 and PS3. I'd hardly consider it a defining feature of the Wii U and if it's pushed as one it's only to gloss over the lack of online multiplayer (Pikmin 3).
 
Local multiplayer already exists pretty well with the 360 and PS3. I'd hardly consider it a defining feature of the Wii U.
Nintendo themselves are amazing at creating local multiplayer experiences; I think their involvement in itself is a huge draw. Nintendo definitely needs help from third parties to make the Wii U a true success, but in terms of "defining" the console, that's all on Nintendo.

And this is made more so by the fact that the company is once again bringing in a new element: the Gamepad. So now we have Nintendo+Wiimote+Gamepad. Seems like something unique and identifiable to me. We're not just talking about local multiplayer, we're talking about "local multiplayer the Nintendo way" which, believe it or not, is its own thing.
 
lgQME.gif



Local multiplayer already exists pretty well with the 360 and PS3. I'd hardly consider it a defining feature of the Wii U and if it's pushed as one it's only to gloss over the lack of online multiplayer (Pikmin 3).

Pikmin 3 would need lockstep networking to even work. And look at all the people that pitch a fit over it in Halo 3 and Reach.
 
It's too early to doom the Wii U as not having online multiplayer offerings. Besides, we knew a few games that have it around launch time anyway, including eshop titles. Nintendo and some third-party titles currently focus on asymmetrical gameplay with local multiplayer makes sense because it's an easy way to illustrate what Wii U can do. With that said, some titles should offer online multiplayer, but even if they don't, it's not the end of the world. These are just launch/launch window titles after all. Besides, we have yet to hear the rest of the third-party launch titles that may have online multiplayer.
 
Thank god. The 80s were awesome for gaming.


Some of the best multiplayer experiences of the 80's were games made to be used with these....

Atari_paddles.jpg


At least in my opinion they were. :D

You're right, and I shouldn't have say Wii was today the first place to be for these experiences. I was certainly wrong. I should have say Wii was the first system to highlight and push the local multi this gen and it's why the system is perceived as "the place to be" for local multi.

I agree. Without intervention from the Wii, this generation would've been all about playing alone with your friends (or random strangers) online. There's nothing really wrong with online play, mind you. But it is always nice to have more variety in options.
 
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