Couch co-op?

[LadyTessa]

I love that people can play together across consoles, but what we ABSOLUTELY NEED is the option to just pick up a controller and join the game while sitting in the same room with your friends or family. (Couch co-op)

I personally spend hours upon hours monopolizing the living room TV, and my kids or my spouse can't play this awesome game with me, unless they go somewhere else and use a different system. I hate that!

I understand if split-screen programming is too difficult an issue, but what about a certain centimeter distance limit (invisible tether) between players?  The camera could simply zoom partway out, so each player could still see what they need to, but it's not trying to track and load two different scenes constantly. 

[Creepercharge56]

Couch co-op is very much a yes, but your idea for execution does have a flaw: If my base is near the spac.r and me and my brother are exploring the oak hill area, what happens if he dies? Also, I prefer 1st person.