What ever happened to alternating games?

[Beefy Hits]

Remember back in the day when you could put 2 quarters in an arcade machine and when the other guy died, the 2nd player took over and played? I'm talking games like Super Mario Bros.

Why did this mechanic die? Was it a way to make extra money in the arcade? Did the technology of the time not have enough resources for 2 people to play at once? What was the most recent game to use this idea?

[BydoEmpire]

I think the mechanic died because most people like playing at the same time, as opposed to waiting for the other player. As for why 2p simultaneous developed, I think it just took a few years to evolve, so to speak. Developers weren't really thinking about it in the beginning (there were obviously exceptions like Warlords, the coin-op is awesome btw, and Mario Bros). They were thinking more about how to engage one player, and tried to create the game they wanted to play. I think the 2p simultaneous play really took off after a few games exploded in popularity, and showed operators they could make twice as much money at a time - Gauntlet, Double Dragon, and perhaps even Street Fighter 2 to some extent, though that came out a little late.

[poieo]

Sprite/hardware limitations probably had a little to do with it too.

[davidbrit2]

It's probably as simple as having two revenue streams occupying your machine, as opposed to one.

[50TBRD]

2 player alternating is an old thing, why do that when we have the capabilities to do 2 player simultaneous. Its more fun that way.

They invented the concept of split screen or link/battle cable. Which allowed for 2 player simultaneous.

And also, that's kind of most conducive to platformers with relatively short levels and little stategy (mostly skill). There aren't to many platformers these days, and most level are much longer and there is a lot of times a puzzels has to be solved which would make a single turn last much longer.

[davepesc]

I can think of 2 reasons:

1) People hate to wait, so you may completely lose the money from the second player AND...

2) Two people playing simultaneously = double the income. Just think about how many quarters get dumped into 4-player simultaneous games like Gauntlet, The Simpsons and Off-Road.

[boatofcar]

Besides SMB, what other games used this mechanic? I've never played a game where the second player picks up right from where the first player dies...