Which is better for co-op games: 360 or PS3?

[Loony BoB]

Yes, 360 has Halo. Yes, PS3 will have FFXIII. Good for both of them. But when you live with your gamer girlfriend, single player games don't go far, and obviously all those online games won't do much good either as only one of you can play at a time (unless they have online and splitscreen).

So, I'm planning on buying a PS3 or an Xbox 360 in the next 3-4 months. What console has the upper hand when it comes to offline multiplayer games, preferrably co-op games? I understand that there are looking to be a lot of them out this year, so I have hope that you guys might be able to fill me in. =]

EDIT: It might also be worth noting that we already have two very powerful PCs, so if the games are already released for Windows anyway then it's unlikely I will buy a console for that game.

[Momiji]

I don't know very much about PS3, but it seems that multiplayer gaming is not something Sony was focusing on when they made the system--their focus was on making a powerhouse of a console. (*Awaits to be sniped by a PS3 fanatic*)

However, I DO know about XBox 360. Almost every game I've played so far on the system not only has a 1 player mode, but an online multiplayer mode and an offline multiplayer mode. The only exception I've seen so far is Call of Duty 4-- absolutely fantastic game (and seriously, I don't even like shooters, but this game is like crack to me), but no online multiplayer.

[Loony BoB]

Can you give me a variety of examples? In other words, examples that aren't all the same genre of video game? I don't like playing the same style of game over and over.

[Levian]

Xbox -> Online friends
PS3 -> Single Player
Wii -> Physical friends

Get a wii. >;o

[Aerith's Knight]

you can play halo with 4 players on a single account you know.

plus GoW and games like that. Xbox 360 has lots of co-op games. makes it fun

lets see.. there are racing games of course.. lots of co-op shooter games. co-op strategy games..

There are RPG, but i dont know if they are co-op.

and of course Viva Pinata .. the number one bf/gf game xD

[Loony BoB]

I wasn't aware that Halo 3 has all these co-op features. Interesting.

Xbox -> Online friends
PS3 -> Single Player
Wii -> Physical friends

Get a wii. >;o

Give examples! All I know about the Wii is that a lot of people play tennis. And I hate tennis. I was never a massive fan of Mario or Zelda, either, so those aren't massive winners for me. From what I understand, there are few 'serious' games on the Wii, and I like both serious and fun games.

So go on, enlighten me. =]

[Roogle]

The Wii is the console that focuses on multiplayer games. If you do not like classic Nintendo franchises like Mario, Zelda, or Pokémon, then you may want to bypass this console and purchase an XBox 360. Keep in mind that many XBox 360 titles are multiplayer and online, and they are usually very specific with regards to genre, too.

[JKTrix]

I think many of the games that would have co-op are shared between the 360 and the ps3, and most of them are shooters. One recent game that surprised me with its lack of split-screen co-op (since I'm assuming you are getting one system for the both of you) is Call of Duty 4. Or maybe it does have it, but I haven't been able to get it to work. I don't think Burnout Paradise has it either. Just a couple of recent examples from games I own myself. It seems that split-screen gaming is becoming a thing of the past.

The download services would probably be a greater source of co-operative games. Stuff like Calling All Cars and PixelJunk Monsters on the PSN have local multiplayer (though I'm not sure about co-op), and XBLA has a whole bunch of arcade 'classics' and newer stuff that have it as well. Though I imagine you guys are looking for something more substantive than your average arcade game.

There's also Rock Band/Guitar Hero and party themed games for both systems.

Off-hand, the only PS3 games I own (which is not a large number) that have local multiplayer are Virtua Fighter 5 and Warhawk--and neither of them are cooperative. I'd believe the 360 has a larger number of local multiplayer titles, but the majority of the ones I can think of are shooter-types (Gears, Halo, Lost Planet) and fighting games. Maybe some racing games have split screen?


The Wii obviously has loads of party games, 99% of them which are probably rubbish. There are a few pretty decent multiplayer/co-op games available though. Trauma Center: New Blood (not '2nd Opinion') is great with 2 players if you're into that kind of game. Some of the operations seem nearly impossible when you're by yourself, so with two players you can get things done a lot more smoothly if you cooperate.

Mario Galaxy's 'Co-Star' mode is a lot more involved than it would initially seem. It doesn't compare to there being a 2nd Mario on the screen, but the 2P hand can do some interesting things. There's a particular kind of jump that Mario can only do with the 2P assistance and 2P can manipulate the game's environment. Besides being able to make music with the enemies, you can make them stop in their tracks. It does make the game easier though.

Zack & Wiki has a similar feature, but it's much more limited. The 2nd pointer is just that--a pointer. All you can do is point out stuff. Not really fun, but useful if you want to help solve some puzzles.

And of course, Smash Bros is out in a few days.

So I guess to answer your original question, the 360 would be 'better' for co-op. For disc-based games I don't think you'll get a lot of genre variety for them, but arcade games have lots.

[Dreddz]

If co-op is all your interested in get a 360. I'd say Sony have more ambitous things going on with online though (littlebigplanet, Home etc) but whether those will be any good is up in the air at this point.

I'd really recommend to not make co-op as your decision maker as I think fundamentally you'll want a system for more than that. I'd say this is a good time to get a PS3 with what else is in store for it.

[KentaRawr!]

The only co-op I'm aware of for the 360 is Halo' sadly. But I suppose since the Wii has come into play, I can name a few on that.

The first 2-player co-op game I think of is Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Unlike how the title implies, it is not scary, at all. It's a light-gun game, though it's pretty fleshed out in comparison to some others. The game covers the story of Resident Evils 0, 1, 3, as well as some things that didn't appear in the games. At the start of each stage, you choose between the male or female character of the chapter, and then one of the weapons you've found from breaking objects in the past. Breaking objectx reveals goodies, of course. There are 9, main co-op missions, but the bonus missions can be made into co-op missions later on.

Another light-gun came (which has you aim at the T.V. if you wish, unlike in RE) is Ghost Squad, an arcade port for the Wii. It has some extras, but I honestly don't know what they are, as I've not bought the game.

Another one which comes to mind is Metal Slug Anthology, which as the name implies, is a collection of Metal Slug games. Metal Slug is mostly comparable to Contra, as you go from left to right killing things until you reach the end and fight a boss. Naturally, as with all games of this genre, there's co-op. Keep in mind, this also came out on the PS2.

There are more than a few good VC co-op titles, but with your PC's, you could probably already play them with ROMs and an internet connection. →,→

And, of course, there's Wii Sports, which comes with the system. It contains Tennis, Bowling, Golf, Baseball, Boxing, and 3 training games for each. You'll likely only play one of these, which is what everyone seems to do.

Also, if you get s Wii or 360, keep in mind that they are backwards compatible. If you didn't have the system they're backwards compatible with, you should look into the games that those systems have.

[Bolivar]

I think the majority of games being produced today are single player only. If they offer multiplayer, the whole split screen thing is fading out of the industry, so it'll most likely be online, and i guess we all know the 360 is really all about that. But ps3 is getting better with it, i think, with home supposed to come out soon, co op games like little big planet, etc. I also know Red Alert 3 for pc/ps3/360 is going to have a co-op campaign mode, i'm real interested in that, but that's just me. I would say overall, if you have 2 high powered machines, the best bet might actually be the PC...

Like Dredz said, because of the games coming out this year, i would still go with a ps3, but that's just my opinion, not having anything to do with co-op.

[Spuuky]

Yeah, you really, really, really need to be more genre-specific with this question.

People play the Wii for Mario Party and Smash Brothers and the sports games and things in multiplayer. Essentially every co-op game available for the 360 and PS3 are also available on the PC. There are some exceptions, always, but who knows what you are looking for? Soul Calibur IV or Virtua Fighter 5? Hack 'n Slash games? Shooters? "Party games"?

[Loony BoB]

That's just the thing - I like variety. I can play FPS, RTS, RPG, Hack'n'Slash, Party games, whatever. So long as Danielle and I can interact and not be doing the same thing over and over for months on end, then I'm interested. We've been known to play a lot of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Civilization IV but also enjoy 007-style games, Gauntlet games, Timesplitters games, Warcraft III, Baldur's Gate, Worms, WWE, Kart games... we really are pretty open on it. I'd love a good two player Japanese-styled RPG, but once you come down to it those are a rarity if they even exist and they won't keep us occupied forever.

The only thing I'm probably NOT interested in would be sports games and cheap games that have no longevity at all (which sadly covers most party games).

[Spuuky]

If you like FPS games, use your PC. Halo is better there (although why you'd pay that I have no idea), Half-life 2 is better there, Team Fortress 2 is better there, et cetera.

If you like RTS games, use your PC. Starcraft 2 soon-ish. I haven't played Supreme Commander yet, but it's there. Warcraft 3 if you're desperate, although it still has DotA, the best free mod to any game ever without question.

If you like RPGs, they are unfortunately all single-player. Final Fantasy 6 is two players, though. Really. Trust me.

If you like Hack'n'Slash, use your PC to emulate SNES games (I wish this was a joke, but honestly the genre has barely been alive since then), although Dynasty Warriors is great. The rest of them that are any good are single-player, though.

Party games are definitely a Wii thing. I am probably not the best person to answer this question, since my idea of multiplayer console gaming is watching someone else play a single-player RPG. There's always DDR/Guitar Hero/etc type games, but those generally aren't exclusive AND are PC-compatible if you know what you're doing.

[Loony BoB]

Seriously, all those are two player? That's insane.

Halo games generally don't come out on PC until a year or more after the 360, which makes that idea a bit meh, but at the same time Halo 3 is far from the be-all and end-all on my gaming wishlist, despite everyone going on about it all the time.

Looks like I'm better off just waiting for more of a reason to get a next-gen console, though. Maybe I'll just wait until FFXIII and then grab a PS3 like I originally intended, although to be honest I'm not harbouring high hopes for that, yet, either.