Before many online video games, split screen played a big part in a majority of them. some games don't offer split screen at the expense of trying to prevent lag in servers and sometimes they can't do it due to memory restrictions.  
 
however this encourages lan partys and social gatherings. but sometimes it is downright annoying when you know a game could of had it. i'm sorry but even tho i have a high speed connection, i'd really like it if i could still invite friends over to play certain games. Because not everyone has internet and i used to be one of those people and i know what its like. 
  
i think its essential that game companys find some way to keep split screen in there as a alternative. because i believe it doesn't hurt anyone in the long run and it has been a standard for a long time. take it you don't look at there screen, its cool to only have the need to share one console and one tv. Not everyone enjoys plugs and television sets everywhere. 
 
For example, i own a video game that many of you probably haven't heard of. Its called tribes aerial assault. this game is on the Playstation 2 and i played this game when i was very young. it had around 16 players, now up to 32 players. And featured vehicles, weapons and expensive environments and had many multiplayer modes. no headset support, but that didn't matter much because i invited a friend over and we were able to work together as a team. We knew where each other's locations were and made it a lot less difficult. 
 
This was a short blog, but its bothering me because i am getting MAG for the playstation3 if any of you have heard of it. It doesn't support splitscreen, which i can understand to a degree. but developers need to knock it off already, they should at least try. After all, the game isn't the most beautiful considering the massive warfare the console has to support to prevent lag.