It forever changed: Local 'couch' multiplayer There's another entry on this list that really proved you could do 'proper' first-person shooters on consoles, but before the dawn of the Xbox and a certain green-helmeted hero was Rare's randomly-successful childhood-definer, and the integration of a split-screen mode that would change everything. Lately - and with the rise of online gaming in general - local multiplayer options have turned into just that; an option. Back in the 90's though, the idea of actually being able to play against your friend in the comfort of your living room was damn-near magical. Entire holiday's worth of time were lost to blasting each other's faces off with a variety of weapons, levels and characters. The best part though? Rare included the multiplayer mode as a last-minute in-joke before the game went into production, completely unaware that something that took a few hours worth of work would dominate the lives of so many others.
