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Gaming companies contributed to the death of LAN parties too. They killed the "split-screen" gameplay that would support 2-4 players on the same machine. They wanted each player to require their own copy of the game. They killed LAN support, forcing you to play on their servers. Culturally we saw a shift towards social isolation. People are more comfortable talking over a mic.
This is not how lan players would have talked or thought. “Just a bunch of geeks having fun” if anything. Oh, it's Ars.
Indeed. I was (arguably) too old by the time LAN parties were a thing -- my generations' LAN party consisted of a bunch of guys huddled around a (single) home computer. But I do recall the outcry when SC2 was released w/o support for IPX (which wasn't supported anymore by Windows) or other means to play against other gamers server-less in a LAN.
Gaming companies contributed to the death of LAN parties too. They killed the "split-screen" gameplay that would support 2-4 players on the same machine. They wanted each player to require their own copy of the game. They killed LAN support, forcing you to play on their servers. Culturally we saw a shift towards social isolation. People are more comfortable talking over a mic.
I also think that the rise of quality gaming consoles helped kill off LAN parties. the xbox/etc took over pretty fast.
Xbox Live and co. was probably the real death knell of LAN.
Since the pandemic hit we moved them to be online over Discord and I'd say that they've been just as fun as the in person ones. There are obviously pros and cons but given we're all much older now and many people have moved away I doubt we'll ever have an in person LAN again.
Is it just me or does the last section - "what killed the LAN party" keep appearing infinitely many times? I read it at least three times before realising I'd already read it, ha.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Gaming companies contributed to the death of LAN parties too. They killed the "split-screen" gameplay that would support 2-4 players on the same machine." Even consoles suck with this now. It seems like none of the big games support more than 2 players.
Exactly. I wanted a coop split screen shooter for the PS 5. I checked out 4 games. None had coop splitt screen. 2 were alway online which would require me to get a PS Plus subscription. Games were: Back 4 Blood, Call of Duty Vanguard, Rainbow Six Extraction, Alien Fire Team Elite. I still invite friends for Xbox 360 LANs. Just connect two consoles and play with 8 players. It is super fun and the hardware is dirt chea…
This was a great article, though I felt it was incomplete without the inclusion of the infamous “guy taped to ceiling” photo. A picture’s worth a thousand ping… https://thenerdstash.com/lan-party/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I also think that the rise of quality gaming consoles helped kill off LAN parties. the xbox/etc took over pretty fast.
Xbox System link was a thing, for a time. Xbox Live and co. was probably the real death knell of LAN.
Connecting two PS2s via FireWire/I link, two multi-taps and two big tvs for 8 player time splitters 2 is an all time favourite memory of mines.
Memory is fuzzy, but I think Gran Turismo 3 also could do this.