Where have the real co-op games gone?

With the recent release of Capcom's brilliant fighter Street Fighter IV, it has made me contemplate what has happened to the games of today. Street Fighter is a standard staple in any gamer's history for one of the best competitive gaming experiences. Back in the day, you sat on the couch, pressed in front of the television vying for the chance to thwart your buddy and remain there with controller in hand while the next challenger appears. The same happened in arcades around the world where strangers battled for supremecy while stacks of quarters lined the sides of screens of each new hopeful trying to gain their position in the coveted top slot. Games of today have lost that spirit and have gone the way of the dinosaur.

I'm not saying that the games of today are bad, but it seems that with the advent of Xbox Live and PSN, we've accepted our fate that we no longer can have that brilliant side by side co-op or competitive spirit. We've digressed to the point of allowing ourselves to be badgered by foul mouthed thirteen year old pre-pubescent children who feel the best way to communicate their skills are through negative remarks about your father's sexual preferences. I'm talking of course about the mulitplayer experience. It seems that one of gaming's greatest achievements in community building has isolated each and every one of us to a group of strangers who often only know each other through random text and headset chatter. While some great relationships can be forged through these encounters and some epic gaming events can be waged, I still cant help but feel that we're missing a vital part of gaming as a whole.

Several games have paid hommage to this style such as the latest Gears of War 2. It has a fantastic co-op, I've mentioned Street Fighter IV which in my opinion re-invigorates the stale and dead next generation fighting genre. Army of Two, although it had problems, had an undeniable co-op reliability and although these could be done co-op online, they also include the ability to go old school and sit right next to the person you're playing with. Valve's Left 4 Dead is quite possibly the best example of the co-op experience and even does a brilliant job at managing the split screen options as well.

I know many of you will bock at the idea of split screen when today's games are filled with amazing graphics and visuals, but the only other option for this level of personal gaming interaction is through the console link. While this is a great option, its a very expensive option. Two copies of everything are needed for this to work. Keep in mind, I'm a fan of LAN parties on the PC, but dragging a large TV with you is beyond ridiculous. So as a result, we've all accepted our fate and put up with the oft racially charged antics of the online multiplayer experience.

I'm not asking for a revolution in gaming, just that consideration for the "couch co-op" be taken into consideration in future gaming revisions. Are we such a reculsive society that we cant deal with face to face competition anymore or have we just become a product of what the gaming industry has decided what is best for us?