Since that above thread is locked, (or at least, it was) I’m starting a new one. Because this is insanely important and something NEEDS to be done about this. For everyone that cares deeply for 4 player splitscreen, I need you guys to show your support now. Josh Holmes has confirmed three times now that they plan to only put in support for only two players local. This is just not enough. I can’t think of a single good reason why we can’t have this basic feature that’s been part of the lifeblood of the Halo series and even FURTHER, part of the lifeblood of CONSOLES in general!
There have been some arguments against putting this in. I am going to retort to those in a Q&A fashion.
Q: Why do we need 4 player splitscreen when no one it seems to play that way anymore and just plays online?
A: No one plays 4 player splitscreen anymore because most all games made these days DO NOT SUPPORT IT. Seriously, look at how many modern games support even normal 2 player splitscreen! The number is way too low. We need Halo to show the industry that this feature needs to kept IN console games instead of stripped. The only reason why you don’t find it anymore is because companies want more money. If you just only allow online multiplayer, you are forcing people to buy more copies of the game, they don’t have to pay the devs to add it in, and the console-makers also benefit from this BS because of course, every person that wants to play too needs to buy another console.
Q: Why don’t you just do a LAN party then?
A: The Xbox One does not even support any sort of LAN play at all. Just another reason actually why we need this feature. And even if it did have LAN play, you’d have to get another HDTV, another Xbox One, another copy of Halo 5, and one or two more controllers. Let’s just be generous and say you only need one more controller. Assuming you buy the TV at $500, that’s $60 for the game and another $350 for the console itself and a controller. That’s $910 in total JUST to allow one more person to play. Add another $60 if you want yet another person and another ~$1,000 if you want 4 more people. At this point, you could have bought yourself a used car with that money or 2 or 3 months rent and utilities.
Q: But the Xbox One can’t graphically support it.
A: You know, I remember when the Xbox One was first showcased, they bragged that it was at least 8 TIMES more powerful than a 360. So where the HECK is all that power going? We’re no longer at the launch stage of this gen so the devs finally know at least somewhat about the consoles they’re working with. We’ve also had 4 player splitscreen games for launches as well you know. Perfect Dark Zero had it. Mario Kart 64 had it. Yeah, MARIO KART had 4 player splitscreen. So why can’t 343 do this? The answer is they can but they’re choosing not to. That or Microsoft decided it was too expensive. I don’t know why but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that it can be done and it should be done. We’ve had 4 player splitscreen for 5 Halo games now! Even when Halo 4 was pushing the very limits of the 360, we STILL had it. Why are we backing down on this now when we need it the most?
Q: But playing with Guests online is really annoying!
A: Understandable, although this is not the case 100% of the time of course. If people really don’t like it then 343 can take it out for Matchmaking. What’s important is, local 4 player splitscreen is preserved.
Q: OK, so just get a Wii U then if you want 4 player splitscreen so bad.
A: I don’t WANT a Wii U. I don’t WANT to play Wii U games. I want an Xbox One and I want to play HALO. Not Mario. Not Zelda. Halo. (Not for the purposes of this discussion anyway. I love some Nintendo games.) And Halo has ALWAYS had 4 player splitscreen. And people loved it and did use it and knew they could count on at least that game to have it. Countless fond memories were had with 4 player splitscreen. Way back in the day, when my class was leaving for Christmas break, on the very last day of school, we brought out Halo 3 and a big HDTV and we PLAYED it 4 player splitscreen and every single one of us loved it, and it solidified in steel my own decision to pick up a 360 and a copy of Halo 3 for myself. And I’ve never regretted that decision. And now I’m looking forward to Halo 5. I’m on the hype train, and soon I find out that the feature that I’ve counted on to be there. That I naturally assumed would be there, would be stripped just as other recent game developers and publishers before it decided to do. And now I’m here to tell you 343. This is unacceptable for me personally. Literally unacceptable. Please do not go through with this and remember the importance of this feature when we now need it the most. Thank you.
