Why is a group of four players the standard for the majority of games?

Question

Be it TTRPGs, board games or video games, a group of four players is the standard size.

DnD and adjacent systems balance their challenges around a party of four. Most boardgames come with four colours for players to choose from. Most video game consoles only can connect four controllers and most video games like Smash Bros and Mario Kart only have four slots? Why is that?

In: Other

Answer 1

4 was the most you could do with split screen before it was impossible to see anything useful. CRT TVs were very small compared to even entry level flat screens today and the resolution was very poor by today’s standards. Couldn’t say about other games but for console gaming it was the best option, at least until online gaming rolled around.