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PC Gaming Suggestions for Console-like Fun?
jayminer writes "We are a relatively newly married young couple who enjoy spending our spare time at home. We don't own a console but have a gaming laptop with DVI output to play games on our TV. My wife is also a CS major so she's computer literate enough. She does not like strategy games, MMORG or any other role-playing game. Apart from "Find the Sausage" jokes, we need quality gaming advice, preferably games which we can play with a single laptop connected to a single large screen, with two gamepads, a console-like experience. What are your suggestions?"
Just buy a console.
If you are wanting to play on your television opposed to a monitor, you probably have a pretty nice TV. Chances are your laptop cannot run at a resolution where you would even enjoy this experience.
The 360 and the Wii cost less than the original NES did if you count in inflation. Do some research in game libraries and pick one. Well worth the investment.
In terms of games, Guitar Hero is addicting.
My friend is in virtually the same situation as you, and he and his wife love to play Mario Party, or ROMs from older console games in general.
Lego Star Wars 1&2 works very well and has a good co-op feature.
Get a couple of USB dance pads and try out Stepmania, a free DDR clone.
Or get a Wii. Tons of simple flash games through the browser. Fun and simple.
Get some old-school console emulators and play some of the great classics.
I'm sure that what constitutes a "classic" will vary here on /., but I prefer some of the older Super NES games... Tetris Attack is awesome.
You didn't hear that from me, though...
Proudly supporting the Libertarian Party.
ROMS and emulators my friend. Also, "You don't know jack" is a good multiplayer trivia game.
"Not only do I have a girlfriend, but we're MARRIED, and she wants to play video games with me! Oh, did I mention she loves Linux?"
Give a try to old console and arcade emulators. My wife is into SNES Mario and similar stuff.
Although it's usually played with a mouse, the old Worms series is great fun as well.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
Two controllers MAME + street fighter 2 = great time. Unfortunately when me and wife play its two controllers + MAME + puzzle bobble :/
Although it is not the most graphically gratifying there a tons of great classic (2p) games to be played on MAME and other emulators.
-- if you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine
With a couple of game pads and any computer you can play just about the entire library of any classic system. I'm still addcited to some of the old SNES titles - Mario World, F-Zero, Starfox and Mario Kart. Seek and ye shall find.
Don't mean to be presumptuous, but I would recommend you spend your spare time outside of your house exploring the world. You will have plenty of time to stay in the house if/when you decide to have children.
Wii.
Much simpler- fewer wires.
http://blog.grcm.net/
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You won't regret it.
One never knows when one might need a rotten tomato... - King's Quest IV: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
The best game to play is "HIDE the sausage"!
Lego Star Wars 1&2 can be played on PC with either keyboard or controller and has a good co-op function. You can probably find a torrent of it easy enough.
Gametap.com. I like that. Go to walmart and buy a controller adapter for usb and you can both play games, old and new, arcade and console, from your laptop.
Trackmania id say. Its a very fun addicting game, and while i dont believe it has a Split Screen mode. It has a hotseat mode to take turns doing tracks. Plus there are two free versions of the games, which are both very full featured, Trackmania Nations and the just released Trackmania Forever.
a head designer was the guy who coined the term mmorpg. it is in fact the first (graphical, sorry mudders) example of an mmorpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SubSpace_(computer_game)
its like the original asteroids, without the asteroids, and instead a maze of a bunch of other ships (random people from around the world)
i think a lot of slashdotters messed with it 10 years ago, and forgot about it
however, i recently rediscovered it (its free now) and was surprised to find a lot of zones still heavily populated. each zone has a different variation on the basic ship types and their abilities. you can waste 5 minutes or half an hour on it, to great effect
nothing like meeting a guy in a tank from finland, dodging his mine, blowing him away, while a guy from china materializes out of cloak and shoots you in the back. its cheap and easy mmorpg fun without the massive time commitment something like WoW demands
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
In all seriousness, the total hardware cost of two gamepads, a TV out connector and a laptop graphics card needed to run the latest games will more than likely overrun the cost of just buying a PS2 or a Wii, Your spouse's tastes scream console gaming. No strategy games or RPGs? What does that leave? FPSes? Good luck finding a co-op FPS title.
For Co-op play, console is King. There are a myriad of two player titles out there to cater for all tastes, and co-op is something that even gets included in some one player titles, owing to its popularity.
PCs are not designed for what you're looking for. Consoles are, and they are cheaper, faster, easier and offer a better selection of titles. Just buy the damn Wii.
May the Maths Be with you!
I have a subscription to Gametap, and I've been very happy with that and my usb game controllers. It's got some multiplayer games, and some single player games. A lot of games from older consoles too.
Aside from that I recommend getting n64 roms and playing smash bros till you pass out.
Belief? Hope? Preference?The Existential Vortex
I have fallen in love with AudioSurf from Valve.. it's only limit is your music collection..
The issue with most PC Games even Multi-Player is they expect one person for PC, so they are normally networked for multi-player.
Get 2 USB Keypads, and a Copy of VMWare. Install 2 OS the VMWare and copy of each game on it. setup the virtual network correctly and Link one USB Keypad to each VM. Now Resize the VM Windows so you have Split Screen. And there 2 of you can play games at once (even 2 different ones if you feel like it) on your laptop all for the price of getting a console.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
If you're not too averse to sports games, I strongly recommend EA GAMES FIFA Soccer 2008 (or any of the FIFA games) or Konami has a good one out too... Pro Evolution Soccer 2008.
Jesus, if you've got to resort to games this early on in marriage, that's not a good sign.
Sexual deviance, man! That's what you need to try; your "find the sausage" game sounds like a good start. You're married, it's ok to do that now!
throw new NoSignatureException();
So what part of "No 'Find the Sausage' jokes" did you not understand?
And what illiterate dickhead modded you Insightful?
(God, I hate teenagers.)
J.
You're only jealous cos the little penguins are talking to me.
Ep1-3 and 4-6 are both excellent and are PC-available.
I think guitar hero has a PC port, if you're into rhythm games. (ba-dum-ching!)
Slashdot Patriotism: We Support our Dupes!
Serious Sam is one of the few PC games that allows you to do split screen, so I would suggest trying that out, it's a great experience! Saves you from trying to set up a home lan just to play with one friend. Wacky Races by Apogee is another great game that allows split screen play on PC. There are a few Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat games ported to PC as well. Other than this, unfortunately co-op and multiplayer console style games on a single PC are really hard to come by.
Twinstiq, game news
I missed the two-player, one laptop requirement from the question.
Demented But Determined.
This is Slashdot, so I'm going to guess "all of it".
What did I win?
http://twitter.com/onion2k
Do you then make a sausage taco?
Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
Jay Miner died in 1994?!!1
:|
oookay.. on topic, and in refference to your nick...
You could try one of the many UAE amiga emulators out there (E-UAE, WinUAE)... although the Amiga was kind of a hybrid Console/PC it had alot of good games many of which was focused on 2 player action.
These will probably be better with joysticks than gamepads... And I'm not sure if any of the UAE's actually supports gamepad-like devices
Well.. Worth a try?
Really. Just buy one instead of trying to shoehorn a laptop into the role. As a new couple with (presumably) no kids yet, you can spare the change. In fact, if you're really price-conscious, go buy a 1st-gen Xbox for $25 or so and pick up some games at mom-and-pop used game stores for $5-$10 apiece. There are plenty of split-screen shooters and racers for the original Xbox that you two can spend countless hours on.
Our intelligent designer has never created an animal that we couldn't improve by strapping a bomb to it.
For the console-like fun experience, you need a stick, a sharpening tool, and one of your eyes.
Nintendo-Hard, look it up.
(I kid, I kid).
When using an emulator you can buy a USB adapter and then use PS2 controllers rather than cheapo ones made for the computer. http://www.amazon.com/Playstation-PC-USB-Gamepad-Converter/dp/B000F6BGXY I would assume they also make them for other game system controllers too, but I haven't looked
Download a console emulator. Look them up on google. They are tiny pieces of software that emulate older console's hardware. Look for the ROM packs on BitTorrent- they are 600MB - 2GB depending on the system you choose, and usually include EVERY GAME EVER MADE for the console they correspond to. The emulators usually run flawlessly too.
FOXTROT UNIFORM CHARLIE KILO
I'd say just buy a console or two. A Wii/360 combo may keep you both happy. My wife is not a gamer but loves the Wii. Personally, I really don't like the Wii. It will not satisfy the hardcore gamer. The 360 has many good titles worth checking into, Halo, Mass Effect, Gears of War, Dead Rising, Oblivion, and Orange Box, to name a few.
Here's a site showing the best atari games ever complete with the awesome box covers. So real gems in there, many you probably never heard of. Get an emulator and enjoy the nostalgia.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
buy a ps2 and lego starwars. Even if you don't like starwars. My partner and I played through both games together and it was great fun. We are waiting for lego indiana jones! Most fun co-op series I've ever played.
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Mod me to hell but I think honey and hubby can do things more worthwhile i.e. "Find the sausage". Than to figure out what video game stimulates them.
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... and softmod it.
Then you can play original XBox games (which are cheap now), run emulators to play old NES and SNES games and run XBMC so you can use it as your multimedia center.
I figured I would log on to an Ask Slashdot and sure enough everyone would be suggesting consoles. This is the last thing we need, when it comes to gaming.
I feel that World of Warcraft is good for two people to play and seeing the game is a lot more fun when you play with people you know in real life that is a great suggestion.
I also recommend getting the Half Life 2 Orange Box, and yes I know that you can get it on a console too but IMO FPSs will never compare to a PC experience. Portal alone is enough to send you both into tears from laughing.
Crysis has a great storyline combined with some of the best game play I have seen in a while.
Just whatever you do, don't get a console. All you will get is re-branded sports games, FPSes with shitty controls and maybe one actually good game every now and then.
Even a good SNES emulator i.e ZSNES is a whole lot more then current console offerings. You can play Chrono Trigger, FF6 and a lot of other classic games you can not play on any current platform other then PC via emulation.
is a great Guitar hero clone, if you want to spend some money get Guitar Hero III, but be warned it is very buggy. http://fretsonfire.sourceforge.net/
By completely ignoring what you asked for I would recommend you buy two Nintendo DS's and just wireless a couple of games. My wife and I do this and it's (a) no hassle, just works (b) great fun and (c) when one of you doesn't want to do it the other can watch tv...
I hope she likes fighting, FPS, sports or puzzle games, cause that's about all you have left multiplayer-wise. I'm not even to sure about the puzzle games.
There is a war going on for your mind.
That and there's also pretty much every sports game ever made, if you're into that.
I'm sure I don't have to tell you to ignore all the calls to "buy a console" - there's more great co-op PC games than ever before. The only advice I will give you is to forgo your requirement to play on a big screen since your laptop's resolution is far superior. PC games assume you're playing on a monitor so downgrading to TV resolution will, among other things, likely make text unreadable.
One game my wife and I play religiously is the new Sam and Max adventure series from Telltale Games. It's an episodic series that just concluded its second "season". The gameplay is at a casual pace, the dialogue is absolutely hilarious and very clever (especially for a CS major - many nerdy jokes), and is honestly (in the case of my wife and I) a good-natured and romantic way to spend time together. It's $9 per episode or $35 for an entire season, and it's a steal at either price (moreso for the season).
Do you only have one gaming PC? I used to play a free racing game with my wife called Trackmania Nations, but we stopped when we learned of its evil copy protection. The game has been re-released on Steam which replaces the copy protection. It's a very Hot Wheels kind of game with high speeds, loop-dee-loops, and no penalties for crashing.
Another great game is Peggle - a puzzle game similar to Plinko on The Price is Right. Rounds are short enough that you can alternate and enjoy watching each other play. You can buy the game or try the free demo on Steam, though I believe you can buy a non-Steam version as well.
Happy gaming with your ladyfriend, and I hope you'll consider forgoing the television requirement. Playing PC games on TV is like going to a concert wearing earmuffs.
Play Starcraft.
Makes you think, requires a bit of dexterity, it's cheap, and it runs on the crappiest of hardware.
Play the UMS games (Use Map Settings) -- they are games in and of themselves. Things like Tower Defence and others are popular here.
Trust me, easy to pick up, casual gameplay, and lots of fun!
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
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then buy AudioSurf. It builds 'tracks' based on mp3's, and plays somewhat like Klax. It's an excellent game and you'll have fun re-experiencing your favourite music.
Ingredients: Turkey, Mechanically Separated Turkey, Water, Salt, Flavour.
EVERY system that's currently out will be hacked and emulated within the year.
/w a 46' tv sometime.
i've a dual core desktop im gonna try that
i'd say make a game folder and load it up with each system.
nintendo games - about 1200 roms/games available
snes - over 600 for sure
sega gensis - 500 easy
playstation 1-2-3 - each disc can be stored on the hard drive as an image that emulators will play
get 2-5 controllers (usb) and work with emulator programs that will support lots of controllers. gravis makes a ps2 looking controller (pc game pad pro does the job well)
i've also seen REAL controller hook ups for each system. playstation to usb adapters can get your favorite controller working on a computer.
don't listen to people saying to buy a game 1 at a time. save your money for hardware (unless its multiplayer your after and are using default servers)
3 games at 20 each or a 60 dollar 5.1 system for the big tv.....
bomberman 1 and 2 for super nintendo are fun for multiplayer
you can always use original controllers if you buy a few adapters from ebay/somewhere online.
Get mame.
A lot of the old arcade games had less demanding attitude than games today. They actually had to win your attention as you passed by the arcade machine, and were designed for you to want to keep playing (and pop in more quarters). Fighters, brawlers, sports, hack and slash, puzzle, side/top-scrolling shooters, and countless others I'm overlooking: they're all on there, and they're not afraid to use bright colors and really nice 2d sprites. The best part is that almost all of them are 2 player, and a good majority is co-op.
I've found that there's not much more fun than teaming up with player 2 and beating the crap out of the computer with infinite credits. And really, how can you go wrong with a bizarre co-op puzzle game hybrid ?
This is a dated reference, but try to find some copies of the different versions of You Don't Know Jack. This is great for a young couple and really keeps the conversation and interaction going while you are playing... And the innuendo doesn't hurt either.
A few options I can think of:
1. Play games where you take turns (think Golf games and the like)
2. There were a few first-person shooter games that supported split screen (I know I tried it with Serious Sam a number of years ago). Probably nothing recent, since the console is for that type of game.
3. I remember playing a racing game that supported split screen. I mostly liked/played the rally type of racing, so try Colin McRae or some of the similar PC games to see which one (or more) it was that supported split-screen.
No, this isn't a variant of the "find the sausage" joke.
Since no one else is looking like they want to actually answer the question...
Look into the worms series of games. I think there are 3-d versions nowadays, but even the old 2-d versions were hilarious. Sure, they're dumb, but can be very funny.
Screw a PS2. If you're a couple looking to have fun, get a Wii. I'm a fan of the Xbox 360 and don't own a Wii, but even I must admit that there is no better console for family fun.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Tunneler!!
Those of us who think they know everything annoy those of us who do.
My wife and I play pyKaraoke. We think its fun. We can go to parties and do the same thing. In fact sometimes I take my linux laptop around with a microphone and some external (amplified) pc speakers to parties and we do group Karaoke.
Since the post talks about what games the misses dislikes, I'll do my best with that even though no insight about what she does like was provided. Worms Armageddon is a seriously fun game anyone can play. It's an old game, and I want to say there is some hacked version that can run at higher resolutions than it was originally capable of handling, so I would suggest buying the game and looking into that. Also, I would recommend looking into emulators for NES, SNES, and so on. There is a ton of stuff out there for that which could provide a wide variety of games that are tons of fun to play (even if the graphics are far from top-notch).
Even though you can't go spit-screen on this one, if either or both of you likes racing games, GTR2 is a seriously good racing simulator, but keep in mind that the average person might find its realistic physics to be frustrating. The Logitech Momo force-feedback steering wheel works exceptionally well for this and other racing games.
If the misses also likes diablo-style games, Titan quest is a game my wife enjoyed. Again, you can't go split-screen here, but it could provide some good entertainment for both of you. Of course, if you have another PC in the house, you could play together over a LAN. ^_^
If you want the "console experience", use an emulator and grab a few ROM's. They actually have torrents that compile every SNES and NES ROM ever made.
Buy a deck of cards or a board game for smarties like scrabble or upwords.
It's nice to look at your wife while you play a game. Don't you spend enough time staring at computer displays already?
It took a real world war to end the airplane's patent wars. - Fâché Rouge -
My boyfriend and I have had a lot of fun with Cortex Command. It's a really entertainingly adolescent wargame that supports splitscreen play and joystick controllers.
It's not actually finished but its active mod community makes it not matter - if one of you skims the forums now and then, you'll find all kinds of giggle-inducingly overpowered toys to play with. It's ultraviolent but it's on the border between 'obscene' and 'slapstick'...
egypt urnash minimal art.
I've got a second hand Dreamcast at home for 50 euro's (roughly 75 US$) with a bunch of games. Consoles of around this generation (N64, PS, GC) onwards have all the types of games you'd want for a fraction of the cost of modern consoles.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
It's not that expensive and has a bit of games on the free side as well - gameamp is basically a glorified emulator but has some stuff up to the playstation 2 era (god of war, legacy of kain, some other stuff) and some PC games.
Armagetron (http://www.armagetronad.net/) is has a split screen multiplayer mode. Great, console like, game.
If you like Old School, I'd recommend GBPVR (http://gbpvr.com/) with the GameZone Plugin. It offers a nice setup for running multiple emulators out of one menu system. For instance, I have Atari 2600, Turbo Graphix, NES, SNES, NES64, GameBoy, Genesis, Mame, and Playstation 1 running off our system. Plus it allows for collection of ripped movies... But even for just games, it wraps them all up in one system, plug in a couple game pads, and you're all set.
I am this girl. Not as in married to OP but married to my network engineer and all around computer geek husband, play video games w/ him, watch him play video games and love Linux.
/. I think my work here is finished. Honey, do you think we could fit a PS3 between the Wii and 360?
AND ON TOP OF THAT I gave him his own room for electronics. He has a rack.
AND ON TOP OF THAT I have our living room furniture especially arranged to accomodate his chair-side technology requirements, and I don't make him put it away every night.
AND ON TOP OF THAT I love technology for birthday/Christmas/anniversary/in-lieu-of-flowers.
AND ON TOP OF THAT I named our first dog CmdrTaco. No kidding.
I'm so happy to have made my husband the envy of
http://www.gametap.com/ I would look on there, they have tons of classic games that you can play on your computer for a small subscription fee.
Well, I was doing the exact same thing having a desktop PC hooked up to the LCD TV and using an ATi Remote Wonder II to control it from the couch, but felt the experience was less than satisfactory compared to say a dedicated gaming console. So, now I have my xbox 360 for gaming and have MythTV still on the PC. The thing I really like is that with the MythGame plugin I can do all my retro console / mame stuff from the MythTV interface with a remote + gamepad and have the xbox for the heavy duty games that require a lot more power than my media PC can provide.
However, if you don't wanna even consider the console route check out the following PC gear to make for a much nicer experience.:
-Microsoft xbox 360 Wireless Gaming controller (works very well with the "Games For Windows" branded games)
-OR-
-Logitech RumblePad 2 gamepad. (it's also wireless but requires hacks to use in some games)
-ATi Remote Wonder II (works as a remote and doubles as a mouse)
As far as games go, before I got my 360, I was playing Guitar Hero III a lot on the PC, but it only ran above average on my E6600 @ 2.8GHz CPU and 2GB of RAM. Multiplayer on Hard and Expert settings was difficult as the game would sometimes become choppy and lag during gameplay. I don't experience this on the 360. (Thanks for the craptacular port, Aspyr.)
I was also playing a bit of Sins Of A Solar Empire. Its an RTS game which I believe I read was off-limits, but it's good none the less. There's also the whole range of EA Sports games which work natively with the Logitech Rumblepad 2. Lastly, I love ToCA Race Driver III. It's the best racing game on PC.
Those are my recommendations. Take them for what they're worth..
That's one genre that's boring by yourself, but real fun for two. Adventure games are a huge genre. If you hate Myst, you can still find something you love. Very comfortable to play from a couch, since all you need is a mouse. A $10 game on clearance can give you 20+ hours of constantly new gameplay. Like scary/creepy movies? Look for a game where Jonathan Boakes is involved. Dark Fall is creepy, but still full of challenging puzzles. Like amazing graphics? Look for something by Benoit Sokal - try Syberia or Paradise. For tougher puzzles, try safecracker. Then there's always the depth of storyline you find in Myst. Some of these games are almost cinematic in the way the story unfolds.
A recently married couple needs quality advice about gaming? Who did you marry, your sister? Guess I forgot this was Slashdot after all...
alias possession='chmod 666 satan && ls
and then download some games. Some games are public domain now and can legally be downloaded.
You will need to purchase the Amiga ROM file legally though.
Most Amiga games have better game play than modern games with ultra realistic graphics and video cards that consume upwards of 600 Watts, but the game play absolutely sucks.
As the island of our knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
My partner and I have probably spent more time cooperating on single player games, than competing on two player games.
Classic point'n'click adventures like Monkey Island, Sam and Max Hit The Road and Day of the Tentacle, for example. We also played a lot of text adventures (Google "Interactive Fiction" and "Curses" for a fantastic one).
More recently we played the new Telltale Games episodes of Sam & Max on the PC, rigged up to a TV almost as you described. I got some joypad-to-mouse software, and we sat on the sofa playing together -- taking it in turns to take control. They're not quite as good as the classic original, but they're entertaining enough.
We played a lot of two player puzzle games on the original Playstation -- Bust a Move for a while, then when we discovered it, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. The former is widely available, including on the PC and in MAME as Puzzle Bobble. The latter came out recently on Xbox Live Arcade and PSN. I think there's a Steam release in the works.
Who says you can't play games AND make sweet love? A good game could be like foreplay... get the tension just right then BAM! sweet sweet lovin'
The last thing you want in this scenario is to actually care about the game... so no RPGs or MMORG or even Team games... just good old fashion PVP action.
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
As a console owner, I have to concur with some of the earlier posts. Go for something like a 360, and get Rock Band (a lot of fun). Or go for M.A.M.E.
Best 2 out of 3?
Trench wars basing is the most fun and addictive thing you can do in subspace/continuum.
As a player who has played in Trench Wars for about 10 years now, let me tell you, it kicks ass. I always go back to it when I get bored with other games. Basing is a fast-paced conflict between two teams of 8 players, for control of a flag room, and it can be really intense. Basing is a highly tactical, aggressive, challenging team sport. It is where all the skilled Trench Wars players eventually gravitate.
But there is also lots of other stuff to do in Trench Wars (play in pub zones, javs, duels, elim, TWD = squad-based matches refereed by bots, TWL = leagues refereed by humans).
Also there are volunteer staff members who constantly host events in special arenas. Turretwars, zombies/twtown, hockey, racing, mario, fishtank, and dozens and dozens of other ones.
I solved my need for pick and play gaming with a modded Xbox. ROMs, MAME and it makes a decent media streaming device.
No sig for you!!
But Worms 2 or Worms Armageddon seem to match the bill pretty well.
If you like strategy games, the Civ series or its (in my preference, superior) offshoot, Alpha Centauri are excellent, and turn-based goodness.
Guitar Hero is available on the laptop, and two can play. Its a great game.
One never knows when one might need a rotten tomato... - King's Quest IV: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
I personally recommend that specific version of Rock Band. The lack of character customization really destroys a lot of what makes it truly special.
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
The "You Don't Know Jack" series of quiz-show type games everyone loves and it's two player and it'll work great hooked up to your tv. You can just share a single keyboard to buzz in your answer.
it's free, cross-platform arcade game with split screen mode. You could download it from the http://btanks.sourceforge.net/ Have fun! :)
(answer to your actual question at the very end, because you MUST read the first part)
BUY AN XBOX. SERIOUSLY! I picked one up for $50 a while back... most entertaining $50 I've spent! There are a TON of great coop and 2 player games for xbox. Much more than for PS2 or gamecube IMHO. It's also ridiculously easy to mod via software alone, especially for a CS major. Games are cheap (often $10), and that ng thing that we are sworn not to talk about has dozens of xbox games posted a week.
Some of my favorite COOP games were Halo 1, Halo 2 (better), The Warriors, Razes hell (it's impossible, so cheat a little and it becomes a REALLY great game), Justice League Heroes, Destroy all Humans 2, both Time Splitters (second one is better), the Conflict Denied series (last one is best)... and there are DOZENS more! (and hundreds of 2+ player non-coop games)
If you are willing to skirt the law a bit, the Xbox Big Ass Emulator Disc DVD's 1,2,3a,3b have all of the MAME, Atari, Genesis, Nintendo, Snes, Neo Geo, Gamebody, etc. etc. games that were ever released.
As for native (non-emulator) PC, 2 players, one screen, two joysticks... Let's see.. Marvel Ultimate Alliance was really good (and looks way better than the console version). Rise of Apocalypse was mediocre. The teenage mutant ninja turtles games were ok (the last one was actually quite a bit of fun). There's a recent 2 player spiderman game that was pretty monotonous... That's really about it as far as I can remember.
Congrats on the marriage. Funny, when I was a newlywed computer games were the last type of "game" we thought about playing. Anyway, ahem, 3 kids later...
MAME is always fun, plenty of games there. Also try some of the older emulators like the Atari and NES/SNES ones. Once you're bored with those you can always get a Speccy emulator (Spectaculator, SPIN, etc.). Once you're bored with those try Gametap.
Or, you could just buy yourselves a console and get one of the Namco museum compilations. Or DDR, or Guitar Hero, or Rock Band.
- The games are cheap or free
- It's all legal
- They're usually easy to pick up and play, with a focus on fun game mechanics over action-movie style production
- You find new, creative ideas all over the place
I find a lot of good games at the experimental gameplay project - which came up with world of goo and crayon physics, among others. http://www.experimentalgameplay.com/You can also check out the indie games festival's guide to games: http://www.indiegames.com/play.htm
In addition, Wired offered a list of the best indie games of 2007 at http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/commentary/games/2007/02/72796
Its a little known fact you can use Xbox 360 controllers with windows. Even the wireless ones with one of these : http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360wirelessgamingreceiver/ Makes it feel much more consoly. Now you just need to pick a game, which is easier said than done.
You Don't Know Jack ;)
This game is the BEST multiplayer experience you will find on a PC without playing a console game through a ROM. You won't find any other multiplayer experience that both of you can play on the same screen.
In fact, almost ANY trivia game will fit this bill, but You Don't Know Jack is just the most fun of them all. Brings a whole new meaning to "screwing your wife".
Chippy
Boxhead is really fun for 2 players. http://www.kongregate.com/games/SeanCooper/boxhead-2play-rooms enjoy
Can I bum a sig?
Then, you can play find the wii-wii in lew of finding the sausage. That or you can play fun games like this: http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=227
Pinball and you can play the real games on your laptop with VPinMAME / PinMAME and Visual Pinball
http://www.vpforums.com/
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You'll have that sometimes...
The Worms series is full of great hotseat games that can be played on a single computer. My girlfriend and I both love Worms Armageddon.
As a majority of people have already stated emulators can be fairly entertaining. Also as previously suggested... get a console. Games for Xbox and PS2 can be had fairly cheaply from a used games store. These options aside, I have a few other suggestions for you. Casual gaming on the internet is really taking off. Kongregate.com, Addicting games.com, and a host of other sites offer a wide variety of interesting games to play. If you would like to stay fixed on your laptop I might suggest "You Don't Know Jack", or anything from the Worms series (Made by Team 17).
Most MythTV distributions include a MAME emulator, as well as a SNES emulator, and support for several others you can optionally download, install and configure in their menus.
The nice thing about this is, it gives you a good excuse to dedicate an entire PC to your TV set, since it works as a very capable DVR, gives you a set-top web browser, and other goodies.
The downside? At least from all the knoppmyth distros I've used, I've always had some hassle getting MAME working well with it. (EG. You can purchase wireless gamepad type controllers from Logitech that use USB dongles and are detected just fine in Linux. But you'll have to do some creative stuff with the xmame config file so you have all their buttons assigned in a sensible manner. If you don't assign one to simulate dropping coins in, for example, you'll never be able to get a new game to start from your controller.)
Mooooo!
Wanna do another cow run?
This post brought to you by your friendly neighborhood MBA.
If you like fighting games and don't mind the gray area of expired beta abandon-ware M.U.G.E.N. and it's still updated clones are for you. It has downloadable (sp?) characters from almost every major fighting game and many from Anime and non fighting games as well. Just don't look for impressive computer controlled opponents or a whole lot of cross package balance and you'll do fine.
I've seen this a lot, especially on ports of old console games or games being developed for PCs and game consoles: Game makers decide that multi-user "co-op" play, or 2 people playing a game on the same PC, does not seem "logical" enough to include in the game.
There's always Rapid Onset, Vital Passage, or Sudden Thrust.
N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
...Because the only games worth playing are made by small companies and independent groups...
Right.
by their publishers, and some publishers don't even exist any more.
As the island of our knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
Pressing a button to put in a quarter is my favorite part.
When I think of the number of times my weekly allowance was ALMOST enough money to beat Double Dragon... now it's "Hahahah, fuck you Willy. Click, click, click, click..."
Petty I know. But very satisfying.
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
There's a PS2 emulator that can handle a FEW games here and there, but by and large, no. GP is an idiot.
Check out Worms: Armageddon. I think it's the strongest in the series and has provided my wife and I with many hours of fun. It's a 2D tactical shooter akin to the old Scorched Earth, but you're controlling cute (heavily armed) worms. The weapons are silly and the violence cartoony, but the mechanics of the game are excellent. The weapons are well-balanced and provide many different creative uses.
Later entries in the series (especially the 3D varieties) stumble a bit and the early games look *really* dated. WA though, strikes a very nice balance between graphics and playability.
Any plan which depends on a fundamental change in human behavior is doomed from the start.
Excellent themable 3D remake of Scorched Earth:
http://www.scorched3d.co.uk/
Meat Fighter!
http://www.meatfighter.com/
And there's always Tux Racer:
http://tuxracer.sourceforge.net/
I don't understand why you even brought up XNA. There's no reason to shell out $500.00 for five years of unfinished indie games. Besides, Xbox Live Arcade houses a few good games with local multiplayer, many of which are not published by large companies. I don't think you even need a Gold (paid) Live membership to buy them, either.
For many here on /. you are going to need to back up and explain this "wife" you speak of. I searched all over the 'egg and cannot find one.
But seriously. My fiancee likes more empire builders (caesar, settlers, sim city). For two player cooperative games she seems to like Lego Star Wars. She has also spent time with the kids Wallace and Gromit games and the like.
Trivia games are fine, but why not just sit at the table and play a tabletop version. Same with dancing games. Get out somewhere with music you like and dance.
Just my thoughts.
Overlord. And it's expansions. For that matter, anything with the "Games for Windows" stripe at the top. They all work with the proper gamepad, that of the 360. As I'm an insensitive clod, I'd simply suggest getting a 360, though it is my understanding that they're full of sausage.
There's a game called Ragnarok Battle Offline. If you google for it you can find it and the translation patch. It's a REALLY good side scrolling beat-em-up with RPG elements. It supports up to 3 people on one computer. Multiple classes (Swordsman, Archer, Thief, Merchant, Magician, and Acolyte) that all play very differently from each other. Your choice of playing as a male or a female even changes the character's combat style. All in all, it's a heck of a lot of fun.
and that's World of Warcraft. Your wife will learn to love it like the rest of us already do! Remember to get 2 copies :)
This is a viral signature. You are now infected!
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http://www.gltron.org/
can be played on one keyboard
great group fun
and free
btw. usually for many games it sucks to play on one screen, because it has to be divided up some way
Worms Armageddon really is amazing, especially 2-player, but for certain weapons (which you can turn off) I believe it requires a mouse. C-Dogs is also really fun if you can get it to run properly with sound. (I believe it's a DOS game)
Mr. Period: Nine is the one that's right by ten!
Nine: One day I will kill him. Then, I will be Ten.
But you will take the time to post to slashdot...
No, I'm sorry, when it comes to co-op games that HUGE PS2 library has it all over the X-Box.
Audiosurf from on steam is an amazing game. Especially for 10 dollars. Can be two players and is an audio experience in and of itself.
I agree with the sentiments from other posters that knowing about what you guys LIKE would be more helful than knowing some dislikes, but I'll also venture a couple thoughts. 1) If you're determined to stick to your laptop, definitely grab a copy of Soul Reaver on eBay (go for the FIRST version). This game had the benefit of some great story writing and an incredibly ambitious scope. I liken it to "Tomb Raider with Vampires, plus harder puzzles". It is a bit over the top and melodramatic, but that can be kinda fun with a vampire story :) Follow-on games were more shaky. Soul Reaver II being okish (get it if you get sucked into the story), Blood Omen II sucking (get it if you are ADDICTED to the story) and Defiance being pretty decent (get it cuz it's fun).
2) If you do end up picking up a USED/OLD console then I'd definitly suggest PS2 and:
- Soul Reaver I (see above about rest of Legacy of Kain series too).
- The first three games in the Ratchet & Clank series.
- (I know this is getting close to stated dislikes but) Kingdom Hearts was a pretty fun/whimsical experience.
your laptop can emulate everything up to and including the Dreamcast, most likely. I suggest downloading console classix for everything 16-bit and under, and then I suggest ePSXe for PSX emulation and Chankast for the Dreamcast emulator. UltraHLE is still one of the best N64 emulators out there (though I don't know if you still need a silly GLide wrapper)
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Audiosurf on Steam is amazing! I would also suggest FIFA 2008 (great for 2 player head-to-head) and the Need for Speed series is great too.
Even on an SD tv, some of the older games such as Alice, Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, and Halo are fun. With an HDTV, you should check out King Kong, FarCry, and games like that.
If you are looking for stuff to play with a gamepad:
Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, King Kong, the Need 4 Speeds games, and of course console emulators are great. In fact, if you do not have a great graphics card, but have a good processor, SNES, Gennesis and other emulators may be a godsend. But I am not going to tell you where to find ROMS, you will have to find them on your own.
Also, I think there is a PC version of Guitar Hero that you may be interested in checking out.
Goto 3dgamers.com and there are TONS and TONS of demos there that you can try stuff up, including demos of all the games I have mentioned earlier.
...at zone.msn.com has all kinds of free games including arcade style, card games, and puzzles.
PS2 has finally gone sub-$100 refurbed, and there are more games for it than ET cartridges buried in Arizona, including classics of just about any genre. Multitap purchase needed for more than two player games though.
Xbox is around $50 refurbed, has many PC ports in a much more friendly multiplayer environment than the PC, the Xbox version of just about any used game is going to be significantly less than any other version, 4 controller ports if you've ever get friends coming over.
GameCube is $30 refurbed, has a lot of good multiplayer games as well, but less overall selection than either of the other two, and the game prices are higher in general.
Any of these options will end up being better than trying to find PC games that will let you replicate a console like that. If you're set on doing it, the only real way to emulate a console experience is frankly emulation.
Other great multiplayer action RPG choices for PS2 are Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 1 & 2 (though 2 is in high demand and pricey as a result), Champions of Norrath and Champions: Return to Arms (basically two more Dark Alliance games set in the EQ world, but that doesn't make them too far different).
Lately I've noticed that the gaming companies took all the news on people playing games on consoles more than PC to heart...and what's happening is that the games are being built for the consoles and not the pc first. Like Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Call of Duty 4 on pc is so~so where as on the 360 or PS3 it's awesome and everything feels right where as the PC the controls seem clunky and awkward. Vegas 2 has it's own problems but has the same problems as COD4 as well. So you want console like fun on PC? Try playing DIRT on the 360 then switching to the PC...Then you go to the store buy a wireless adapter for your PC for the 360 remote, feels much better doesn't it? Same goes for COD4, though not so much for Vegas 2.
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For more guitar action, be sure to check out Frets on Fire
With a little bit of google-ing you can apply a 2-player mod and import all the music from Guitar Hero 1, 2, Encore and 3...
Several people have mentioned emulation, I'd recommend a Commodore 64 emulator, there are tons of good 2 (or more) player games, here's a short list of games to try:
Oops, forgot to log in for that comment...
You can find everything you need to play the above here!
My favorite C64 emulator is WinVICE
"There are people who do not love their fellow human being, and I _hate_ people like that!" - Tom Lehrer
Emulators are now SUPERIOR to consoles in every way. Better graphics, better controllers, easier load system (don't have to have disks, cartridges all over!). I highly recommend the emulator 1964 and Mario Kart 64. That is THE top game at this house, and we have an xbox 360, a ps2, and 5 networked computers. Doesn't matter, the people who come over always turn on the projector and start Mario Kart 64.
http://a977.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/73/l_ae58c1bb24714fed7fd88ce2f5283878.jpg
With this setup everybody gets their own 6' screen! We also use the high resolution texture packs, and the surround sound speakers with the sub woofer cranked. The lightning bolt is thunderous!!!
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
Gish!
Great single player platformer, with 2-4 player deathmatch/race/etc modes.
Best multiplayer PC game, if you get controllers it's off the chain. Runs on any machine (AFAIK).
Liero.
In the vein of buying a console, unless you need online multiplayer the best consoles are: A Modded Xbox (original) tonnes of games/emulators media support and no disks, or a Dreamcast.
Enjoy.
Since this seems to be the thread that's NOT about "buy a console", "play console roms", or "hide the sausage" I'll add my recommendations here:
;)
Competitive PC games:
1) Fighters: Get MUGEN (and its infinite supply of custom characters/stages/mods/etc) There are Linux and Windows ports and clones of various levels of actually working-ness. I think the WinMUGEN port is probably the best supported. In modern times, pretty much the only PC fighters are Japanese, some of them have translations out there but might be tough to get legally (play-asia, paletweb, a few other sites exist for imports).
2) Sports: Looks like people still make multiplayer football/soccer/etc games for the PC. These are all going to be Windows games (might work in Wine)
3) Puzzle Games: Frozen Bubble and a billion others out there have competitive modes.
Co-operative PC games (because rubbing it in when you win is likely to mean you'll be rubbing one out on your own tonight):
1) Puzzle games: even if you can't find a co-operative tetris clone, there's always Shoulder Surfer Solitaire... if you can stand it
2) Shoot-em-ups: almost all work with gamepads. A lot of them DO have two player co-op modes, but most of the freely available ones are single player. http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/windows/gr_e.html has a two-player gamepad mode. I've successfully built this guy's C games on Linux with a few Makefile tweaks, haven't tried porting the games he wrote in D.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Use an emulator and some old controllers from http://www.joystiq.com/2007/04/12/nes-usb-controller-dont-make-it-buy-it/ You won't ever have to blow on the cartridges or work special magic to make it stay down.
Works well to play a lot of old school console games and it's legal.
People who didn't know us in college are always amazed that my wife plays console and PC games with me, enjoys some flavors of tabletop RPGs, and puts up with my incessant need to acquire more geek toys. Even after 7 years of marriage, she managed to surprise me a few weeks ago when I was telling her about how I booted off of a Knoppix CD to retrieve some files she needed off of a years-old Windows box that hasn't been booting properly for a while and she turned to me and said "Isn't it about time that we just back up what we need and fry that machine to put Linux on it?"
I love her more every single day.
"Linux doesn't exist. Everyone knows Linux is an unlicensed version of Unix"- Kieren O'Shaughnessy
Doom2 is why I bought a computer. Get some of those old games... you can play co-op or deathmatch or whatever. Other than that... buy old NES and SNES cartridges on Ebay for legal reasons, then download the ROMS and play the ROMS on emulators.
Offtopic as hell, I know...
But "Myriad of" is grammatically incorrect since "myriad" litterally means "A lot of". So it's like saying, "There are a lot of of two player titles...". Myriad is a great word, use it with care.
"There are a myriad two player titles..."
Thank you, and good night.
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
This is sort of like saying, "I want a car that gets killer gas millage, is incredibly reliable and fairly compact... oh, and it must be made by GM"
No dipshit... buy a Toyota or a Honda.
What this couple needs is a console. Everything they've asked for fits more with the philosophies with console gaming. Price will be comparable to even slightly to a console's advantage. The only thing stopping them is some irrational love of PCs, or some irrational hatred of consoles. I'm sorry, but few are going to cater to this type of bullshit. This subsection of gamers is too small to waste money on.
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
No dipshit... buy a Toyota or a Honda. In this analogy, GM replacement parts are made by every generic maker, but Toyota and Honda replacement parts are made only by licensees of Toyota and Honda.
Yeah, and a hamburger costs more than a steak, so long as you need to buy a house in which to eat the burger.
You need to reroll. ;)
Dude, just get a used Wii. While I managed to find a girlfriend who DOES enjoy mmorpg's, we have also had a blast with the Smartypants trivia game on the Wii, and a few other Wii games.
Lode Runner: The Legend Returns is a puzzle type game with excellent coop play. Some of the levels are designed where you can only beat it if you time your cooperation.
Pocket Tanks Deluxe is also a classic.
Since everyone else just seems to tell you to get a console, I'd thought I'd actually list a few good PC games that are actually fun to play multiplayer on the same screen. Yes, they do exist. It's a great platform for the task, and if people started actually taking it seriously as such, we could probably see more games like this.
Worms Armageddon (already been mentioned a few times)
Heboris (great customizable two player Tetris game)
http://tetrisconcept.com/wiki/index.php?title=Heboris
Super Mario War (very fun party game where the goal is to stomp on the other player's heads)
http://smw.72dpiarmy.com/
Stepmania (DDR style game that can take all sorts of songs)
http://www.stepmania.com/
Atomic Bomberman (8 player Bomberman on the PC)
You Don't Know Jack (fun and wacky non-trivia game, huge series of them)
Also, try looking at the list of simultaneous player games at Home of the Underdogs. There are a LOT of games. (http://www.the-underdogs.info/multi.php?sort=SHS)
strip poker
Is it illegal? Grey area. But can you honestly consider it immoral at all? Nintendo don't sell PC versions of their games, they never did.
Gametap! (No. Seriously.)
Retro Emulation. (With an emphasis on the SNES. ZSNES is the obvs one.)
15 dollar gamepads from Radioshack.
'nuf said.
Oh wait. THE CURSE OF MONKEY ISLAND. That game can make any woman a gamer. No lie. Make sure that you have a nice stereo hooked up.
I just want to throw up my whole hearted support of GameTap. They have plenty of great old console games. Even better (and I know this isn't what you want), they have some truly awesome older computer games. You can really start to appreciate the quality of what came before. Games have gotten prettier, but after having fooled around on game tap of a good year so, I don't think they have actually gotten any better.
How is this modded off topic? The OP asked for suggestions for arcade style games. I provided a link to a site with lots of old-but-free arcade games. How is that offtopic??
There are pretty cheap adaptors to make game controllers (PS2) work on the computer and many emulators let you map the buttons quickly and easily. I haven't tried any games with 2 controllers this way, but I hear it's possible. Also there is a way to make a Wiimote work with through a cheap Bluetooth usb dongle so you could play various games (many online ones) with that as well.
"To be is to do." --Socrates
"To do is to be." -- Aristotle
"Do-Be-Do-Be-Do..." --Sinatra
Great for you! Thanks to you it took me 2 months to finish Soul Reaver!
There was a game called Gods some time ago that is a whole lot of fun and very console looking. The Bitmap Brothers who produced that (and also Xenon 2 which is great) recently released their new Speedball game over Steam. You should get that too. I'm a fan of most of their stuff, as you might guess.
Also, since "RPG" covers so much ground these days, I will recommend Summoner (the first one) since it was a lot of fun but it's a "console RPG," as is Anachronox. I can highly recommend Anachronox also. It's funny in a way that most games try to be but are not.
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."