Game over
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Game Over is a traditional message in video games which usually signals the game has ended with a negative outcome. Notably used first in pinball machines and, later, arcade games, it has since been adopted widely and is now commonly associated with video games in general; however, many other phrases have been substituted for it depending on the game,like "Mission/Challenge Failed" for mission type games, "You Are Dead/You Have Died/You Died" for survival horror games, and "The End" for some adventure games.
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[edit] History
[edit] Origin
The phrase was originally used in early devices such as electromechanical pinball machines, which would light up the phrase with a lamp (lightbulb).[1] The limited space available on electromechanical pinball machine displays prompted the shortened sentence structure, conveying the basic message ("Your game is over") with minimal extra characters. This abbreviated indication of the end of play became ubiquitous enough during the pinball era to be carried over into arcade games. Early video arcade games such as Space Invaders have the phrase "Game Over" simply superimposed on the screen, while more recent games usually have a separate Game Over screen.
Some arcade games additionally used the "Game Over" not only to indicate the end of the game, but also to signify that the game was not currently being played; a flashing "Game Over" would appear during the attract mode of the game to indicate that it was not in use.
[edit] Modern usage
The usage of "Game Over" varies. Most games of today have dropped the usage of "Game Over" for a successful completion of the game, and instead use other ending texts such as "The End", "Congratulations", or an outro and credits sequence. "Game Over" is then only used to signify failure, though some series continue to use the phrase for all endings, like the Soul Calibur series.
Common methods of getting a Game Over can include running out of lives or letting a time limit run out, although Game Overs can also be triggered by failing certain objectives. A Game Over in RPGs occurs when all characters in a party are killed or are otherwise unable to battle, or when the leader is killed in games such as Shining Force. Most games, particularly arcade games, give the option to Continue. Arcade games require the player to insert more credits before a timer runs out in order to continue playing from where they last died. In console games, players either have a limited amount of credits (most prominently in ports of arcade titles), or have to earn Continues by filling certain conditions like collecting a particular rare icon, or collecting so many items in a bonus stage. If the player is unable to continue, the game ends, and the player will have to start from the beginning.
Genres such as RPGs, first person shooters and survival horror games do not have a life system. If a player dies or fails an objective, the game is over. Most games will feature a screen in which the player can retry from a checkpoint, beginning of a level, or a safe house, or quit and return to the main menu. In games such as Final Fantasy and Resident Evil, the player will instantly be taken to the main menu, and will have to continue from the last place they saved their game, either using memory saving or entering a password.
