My nephew asked why we all had to share a screen in Overcooked

I was playing with my 12 year old nephew over the weekend, and after we lost a level he just said, 'Why can't we each have our own TV?'. It hit me that he's grown up with online games and split-screen is weird to him. I tried to explain that sharing one screen was the whole point, that you had to yell and point and bump into each other. It made me miss the old Halo 2 days in my friend's basement, four of us on one couch. Has anyone else had to explain the appeal of couch co-op to a younger person?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonl863mo agoOG Member

I mean, I had to do this with my little cousin. I just told him it's like being on the same team for real, you know? You can't just mute everyone, you have to actually talk and laugh when someone messes up right next to you. It's the chaos that makes it fun.

price.tyler1mo ago

Oh man, I gotta push back on that a little, @simonl86. I think you're romanticizing the forced social aspect way too much. Having to sit next to someone and fake laugh when they screw up is exactly why online gaming took off in the first place. People wanted to escape that awkwardness. I remember having to play GoldenEye with my older brother and he'd just get pissed whenever I lost or accidentally looked at his screen. It wasn't "chaos" that was fun, it was stressful. Kids today can mute and find their own vibe without someone breathing down their neck judging every move. Let them have their own space, seriously.

blairwhite3mo ago

Honestly, it's just a video game. People act like sharing a couch is some deep life lesson. It was fun back then, but maybe kids just like having their own space to play.