I’ve been gaming for a long time. I started by when I was 3 years old. I would play the original Nintendo Entertainment System or NES. I of course was young and had help from my father a lot. So I basically started out playing games Co-op. Taking turns on Super Mario bros 3 mostly. Later I would get a Sega genesis and my half-brother would move in with us and away from his dad. We would play Sonic all the time playing as Sonic and Tails. Then I got Zombies Ate My Neighbors. This game really did co-op right and it still holds up on the Wii virtual console/ original Genesis version.
My next big step in gaming would be when I got a PlayStation 2 or PS2 at launch. I would play the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games(PS1 versions till they released them on PS2) as well as Tekken, Ready 2 Rumble and others. I remember mostly playing single player games on the PS2 and that’s when I slowly and surely stopped playing games. Between lack of Co-Op games and Jr. high/ High School I stopped playing video games all together. Right towards the end of High School I picked up a used PS2 slim with Guitar Hero and Killzone. I instantly fell in love with Guitar Hero(which I eventually migrated to Rock Band). I remember a friend telling me I could hook my PS2 Slim to the internet and play Killzone online. It was amazing. I soon bought a USB headset and ended up joining a Clan in Killzone. I hear a lot of people bash on Killzone, but to me it was my first taste of Online console gaming, and I was hooked.
When High School was said and done I ended up getting myself a Xbox 360. And I soon started playing tons of Co-op games with a friend via splitscreen. Some of the first games I played was Army of Two, Rainbow 6 Vegas 2,Spider-man Friend or Foe and Halo 3. Then I found Talkingaboutgames and eventually started this site and the podcast associated. Lately I’ve been continuing my Co-Op gaming with games like Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Borderlands, Halo Reach, Gears of War 2 and a few others.
Needless to say I wouldn’t really be gaming much without co-op gaming. Although I do play single player games I prefer Co-Op if I have the choice. That said feel free to hit me up on Xbox live sometime if your interested in Co-Op gaming. Gamertag= Poeticsoul444
While co-op gaming is awesome, I feel that it gets relegated to one genre, the shooter. I love co-op in Marvel Ultimate Alliance and this year’s football game enables decent co-op. I finished Army of Two with my nephew and that was a fun experience. I do wish more games included split-screen (couch) co-op. I grew up playing Double Dragon and Contra in the Arcades so co-op was a given. Great article.