Split screen in games

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Obiwanshinobi
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Split screen in games

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

Technically it may be nearly as old as graphics in video games (the likes of PONG), but I'd like to know when and where split screen in "modern" sense started. Like, a substitute for LAN: one setup making for two or more. Was Herzog Zwei the one?
(I do know there are mind-bending bordeliners out there, ranging from Binary Land to Kuri Kuri Mix, thus I don't expect any definitive answer.)
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louisg
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Re: Split screen in games

Post by louisg »

Split screen goes back quite far. The earliest one that immediately leaps to my mind is Racing Destruction Set (1985), but I am sure even that is relatively late to the split-screen game.
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BryanM
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Re: Split screen in games

Post by BryanM »

wa...wat is the question? Split Screen like as old as dust, or multi-out where each player gets his own monitor?
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Obiwanshinobi
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Re: Split screen in games

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

When singleplayer is on single screen, multiplayer - split screen. As if you had 2 computers linked and 2 monitors, but you have only one. Local multiplayer in many racers and Halo are examples.
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ZellSF
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Re: Split screen in games

Post by ZellSF »

Obiwanshinobi wrote:Technically it may be nearly as old as graphics in video games (the likes of PONG), but I'd like to know when and where split screen in "modern" sense started. Like, a substitute for LAN: one setup making for two or more. Was Herzog Zwei the one?
Zwei is German for two. Herzog did splitscreen before its sequel.
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BryanM
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Re: Split screen in games

Post by BryanM »

... Street Racer? .. Dragster? ... Xenophobe?

I don't know much about the Fairchild beside having all this vvvvv up in my grill. ~2600 era mechanic for sure.
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louisg
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Re: Split screen in games

Post by louisg »

You could even count Dragster on 2600 :)
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Obiwanshinobi
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Re: Split screen in games

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

Didn't know paleo-computers had so many split screen games. Can't remember anyone playing Lotus this way, so I guess it was already coming out of fashion. (Then again, Lotus wasn't best known for its gameplay.)
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