

Headsets and microphones are at the ready, with players speaking hundreds of languages in a huge melting pot of community. Teams are taking on teams in huge matches across the globe. Hundreds of players are playing in a single game simultaneously. They were all multiplayer!įast forward to the multiplayer gaming of today that’s replaced the local play with an online experience. It was an opportunity for us to see the future of gaming: these impressive, interactive rigs with rideable motorcycles, guns in holsters, and incredible graphics for the time. We would also visit arcade halls for those group experiences.

It was an event! The curtains were closed, the phone off the hook (actually off the hook, and not in a rad way, kiddos)-we closed ourselves off from the outside world for quality time within our family unit. We would settle down for the night around the console. We would prepare in advance: take a trip to the store, load up with all the sugar and candy. I remember some of the best gaming memories I had as a kid were family game nights. We planned gaming nights, invited our buddies over, or visited a friend’s house to check out the newest games. There’s cheating, there’s banter, and there’s the occasional punch in the arm.Īt one time, the console was the hub that brought groups together under one roof. There are games like Contra, Double Dragon, Mario Kart, Final Fight, Streets of Rage. You’re told to keep it down and you giggle it away. You’re lying prone on sleeping bags in the dark, feet curled in the air behind you with a bowl of noms between you. Welcome, Player 2! You and your buddy, brother, or sister are excited for that long-awaited night of gaming. Then untangle the cables, plug in the controller, press Start. Put in that cartridge and push the button. There’s no internet to pull you away, no social media to scroll, it’s just you and a friend with a game.
#Which console had the best local co op games tv
It’s the 90s… TV has taken the fast train to Boringville, but you don’t care.
