Cooperative video game, often abbreviated as co-op, is a video game that allows players to work together as teammates, usually against one or more non-player character opponents (PvE). It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player (PvP) or deathmatch. Playing simultaneously allows players to assist one another in many ways: passing weapons or items, healing, providing covering fire in a firefight, and performing cooperative maneuvers such as boosting a teammate up and over obstacles. In its most simple form, cooperative gameplay modifies the single player mode of a game, sometimes with broader modifications to the story and gameplay. Examples include beat 'em up games such as Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, and Die Hard Arcade. Other co-op games are designed for cooperative gameplay, with each player taking a special role in gameplay, or alternatively take advantage of having multiple players in an impactful way on gameplay. Example for such games include the Left 4 Dead and the Payday series. Co-op games can be played over a network via a local area networks or wide area networks, such as in the Destiny and Borderlands series, while other co-op games can be played locally using one or multiple input controllers, with It Takes Two as an example. Some games such as Mario Kart Wii and Call of Duty'''s co-op modes allow two players from the same console to play with others online. Co-op gameplay has been gaining popularity in video games in recent years, as controller and networking technology has developed. On PCs and consoles, cooperative games have become increasingly common, and many genres of game—including shooter games, sports games, real-time strategy games, and massively multiplayer online games—include co-op modes. History Arcade co-op gaming The first video game to feature co-op play dates back to 1973, with Atari's arcade video game Pong Doubles, which was a tennis doubles version of their hit arcade game Pong (1972). Co-op play was later featured in another Atari coin-op, Fire Truck (1978). As its title suggests, the game involves a large fire truck, and in two-player mode both players are required to cooperatively steer the vehicle along a winding road, with one driving and steering the tractor of the truck and the other steering the tiller for the rear wheels, controlling the swing of the trailer. Several early 1980s arcade coin-op games allowed for co-op play, but typically