The "Game Over" screen from the arcade game Snow Bros.

A Game over is a common message when the player loses in a video game. 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. Game over is the end of a video game. ... Game over screen from Snow Bros This is a screenshot of a copyrighted computer game or video game. ... Game over screen from Snow Bros This is a screenshot of a copyrighted computer game or video game. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... Snow Bros is an arcade game released in 1990 by Toaplan. ... Computer and video games redirects here. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ...

History

Origin in gaming

The phrase was originally used at the end of games, whether the player has won the game or not. Early devices such as electromechanical pinball machines would light up the phrase with a lamp (lightbulb).^[1] This usage was 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. A player of a game is a participant therein. ... Space Invaders ) is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado in 1978. ...

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 over a demo of the game to indicate that it was not in use.

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" 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. In computer and video gaming, the term outro refers to a sequence of graphics and music presented to the player as a reward for successful completion of the entire game. ... In general, the term credit in the artistic or intellectual sense refers to an acknowledgement of those who contributed to a work, whether through ideas or in a more direct sense. ...

With the advance of computing power, modern Game Over screens tend to be more elaborate than mere flashing text. The phrase may be animated and accompanied by graphics. Furthermore, many modern games don't actually use "Game Over" as the failing ending text. For example, the Resident Evil series uses the ending text "You Are Dead" or "You Died," in a font that resembles bloody slashes. Mortal Kombat 4 and Mortal Kombat Gold contains a gory Game Over sequence where the beaten fighter falls down a chasm into a spike pit if they run out of credits or choose not to continue. Many other variant texts exist, from "Mission Failed"^[2] to "Your adventure has ended."^[3] Resident Evil (known in Japan as Biohazard )) is a media franchise consisting of a survival horror video games series, comic books, novelizations, three Hollywood motion pictures, and a variety of collectibles, including action figures, strategy guides and publications. ... Mortal Kombat 4 (1997) was the last game in the Mortal Kombat series to have an arcade version. ... Mortal Kombat Gold is a fighting game in the Mortal Kombat series. ...

Occasionally, the screen contains no text at all, but merely a picture, as in Dracula or Duke Nukem: Time to Kill. The phrase can also be spoken by someone off-screen as the scores are shown, such as in the Halo series. Bram Stokers Dracula is a video game released for the Super Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive, Sega CD and Amiga games consoles. ... Halo: Combat Evolved, or simply Halo, is a video game in the first-person shooter (FPS) genre, created by the Microsoft-owned Bungie Studios. ...

Most, if not all games in the Half-Life series all have their own "game over" screens each depicting the player character's status being displayed on screen. In the HL1 series, should the player do something that renders progress through the game impossible, the game would display their status as "Evaluation terminated" and the reason as a post-mortem (indicating that the player character has died) (e.g. Subject attempted to create a temporal paradox). Half-Life 2 also utilises the same technique but only if the player renders progress in the game impossible or takes too long in some places. The game would show "Assignment: Terminated" along with the reason for termination while Episode One only states that "Alyx Died" if the player doesn't protect her from taking excessive damage. Episode Two also shows the same except the messages are written from the Vortigaunts point-of-view. However, since the game automatically reloads from the last save point at these points (except for the final scene in HL1 where the player is offered an ultimatum), they aren't technically game over screens . Gordon freeman, the main protagonist, on the first Half-Life cover Half-Life is a is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game series developed by Valve Software and published by Sierra Studios. ...

"Bad" endings

Further information: Bad ending, Multiple endings

A "Game Over" is not necessarily the same thing as a bad ending. A bad ending occurs when the player finishes the game but is not completely successful for some reason. Bad endings are usually ending branches where the player has chosen poorly or otherwise failed some task. For example, the main character agrees to join the villain and rule together; the damsel in distress is not freed; or the curse afflicting a character is not broken, and that character is dead in the ending. These endings usually have their own unique screens and results distinct from a standard "death." A bad ending occurs when the player finishes a video game but is not completely successful for some reason. ... Multiple endings refer to a case in entertainment (usually video games) where the story could end in different ways, depending on the actions of the characters. ... A bad ending occurs when the player finishes a video game but is not completely successful for some reason. ... A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... A poster for The Perils of Pauline (1914). ...

Twists on usage

As games have matured, new twists have been found to keep Game Over sequences unique. In Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, for instance, the game is related as a story being narrated by the Prince. If the Prince or Farah dies, the Prince stumbles a bit and says "No, wait, that didn't happen. May I start again?" or "No, no, she didn't die. I defeated those monsters and moved on. Shall I restart?" The Metal Gear series is particularly notorious for breaking the fourth wall, and has exploited the Game Over screen in game events. In Metal Gear Solid 2, several bizarre events occur, one of which is the sudden switch to the Mission Failed screen, except that the phrase "Fission Mailed" is in the corner, with the gameplay continuing in the small window that normally shows the main character's dead body. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater continues this tradition with a "fake death pill" that, when taken, shows the Game Over screen (though the player can still access items and revive themselves). Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a third-person action adventure video game published by Ubisoft. ... For the original video game titled Metal Gear, see Metal Gear. ... The fourth wall is the imaginary invisible wall at the front of the stage in a proscenium theater, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. ... Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (commonly abbreviated MGS2) is a stealth-based game that was developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 in 2001. ... Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (commonly abbreviated MGS3) is a stealth-based game directed by Hideo Kojima, developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2. ...

Cultural influences

The usage of the words "Game Over" in English certainly predates even pinball machines.^[4] However, modern usage outside of gaming usually at least references the "end of a computer/video game" meaning. It is sometimes used to signify an abrupt (and nasty) end, similar to the one a player might meet in such a video game.

• In the 1986 film Aliens, Bill Paxton's character Hudson uses the phrase to indicate what he thinks is a hopeless situation: "... Game over, man! Game over!" A voice sample from the film, shortened to "Game over, man!", was later used as part of the Game Over screen of the SNES game Alien³, based on the film of the same name. That voice sample was also used on the video game Major Stryker by Apogee Software.

• In the 1994 American film version of Street Fighter, when M. Bison thinks he has destroyed Guile's boat by remote control, he triumphantly proclaims, "Game over!"

• In the 1995 animated series ReBoot, the words "Game Over" are voiced when a game is completed. If a User wins the game, the words "Game Over, user wins" are heard. There is one exception to this, when a game was corrupted by a deletion bomb, and they said "Game Corrupted" instead.

• In the Saw film series, Tobin Bell's character Jigsaw uses the line "Game over" numerous times, usually at the end of the film to indicate his victims have failed his deadly "games"

• Japanese "Pink film" director Hisayasu Sato often concludes his films abruptly with the use of the legend GAME OVER and a surge of white noise, emphasizing the ambiguous nature of the reality of his films.

• WWE wrestler Triple H (who calls himself "The Game") often uses the phrase "Game Over" in his promos. He also has a shirt that on the front says "Game Over?!", with the back continuing the phrase with "You're Damn Right I'm Over!"

• Eric Gagné, during the height of his dominance as the closer for his previous team the Los Angeles Dodgers, was associated with the phrase "Game Over" as a gimmick; when entering a game during the 8th or 9th inning, scoreboards flashed "Game Over!" The team would sell merchandise with this phrase as well, in reference to Gagné. He currently pitches for the Boston Red Sox.

• A flashing Game Over message was displayed after the end credits of the British gaming television series Gamesmaster.

• In the Nintendo Adventure Books series, when an ending is reached, it would say Game Over. Should the reader reach the best ending, it would say "Game Over. You Win."

• In Super Paper Mario, a character that dies with no extra lives goes through what is called an "ended game". Those who have their games ended end up in a hellish place called "The Underwhere", but those who have less sins will go to a more peacefully place, the heavenly "Overthere".

• In the Seinfeld episode The Frogger, Jerry says "Game Over!" when George's newly-acquired Frogger machine gets destroyed by a truck.

• Houston rapper Lil Flip had a hit single called "Game Over" that featured a sample from the '80s game Pac-Man. He was subsequently sued over the sample and the case has since been settled out of court.

• In Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, the game over screen appears with some mild animated blood.

This article is about motion pictures. ... Aliens is a 1986 science fiction movie directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, Bill Paxton and Paul Reiser. ... William Paxton (born May 17, 1955) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actor and film director. ... The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES (also called SNES and Super Nintendo) was a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia, and Brazil between 1990 and 1993. ... Alien³ is a science fiction/horror film that opened May 22, 1992. ... Major Stryker is a 2D vertical scrolling shooter game written for MS-DOS, by Apogee Software (now 3D Realms). ... The year 1994 in film involved some significant events. ... Street Fighter is a 1994 action movie based on Capcoms popular fighting game series Street Fighter. ... For the Street Fighter character known as M. Bison in Japan, see Balrog (Street Fighter). ... Guile ) is a video game character in Capcoms Street Fighter series of fighting games. ... This article is about the television program ReBoot. ... The Saw film series is a horror/thriller film franchise created by James Wan and Leigh Whannell, beginning in 2004 and continuing to the present and into the future. ... Tobin Bell (born August 7, 1942) is an American film and television actor. ... The Jigsaw Killer is a fictional character in the Saw film series. ... One of the main focuses of the Saw film series are the traps, more commonly referred to as games and tests, that the characters Jigsaw and his apprentices Amanda and Hoffman created for their victims. ... Pink film ) is a style of Japanese softcore pornographic films. ... Hisayasu Sato , born on 15 August 1959 in Shizuoka City, Japan) is a Japanese exploitation film director. ... World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ... Paul Michael Levesque[4] (born July 27, 1969)[4] is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of his former Hunter Hearst Helmsley moniker. ... In professional wrestling, a promo is short for promotional interview, a dialogue or monologue used to advance a storyline. ... In professional wrestling, the term over means making a wrestler look good. ... Eric Serge Gagné (born January 7, 1976 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, pronounced ), is a right-handed relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. ... Mariano Rivera is the closing pitcher for the New York Yankees. ... Major league affiliations National League (1890–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 2, 4, 19, 20, 24, 32, 39, 42, 53 Name Los Angeles Dodgers (1958–present) Brooklyn Dodgers (1932-1957) Brooklyn Robins (1914-1931) Brooklyn Dodgers (1913) Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers (1911-1912) Brooklyn Superbas (1899... In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need. ... Major league affiliations American League (1901–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 4, 8, 9, 27, 42 Name Boston Red Sox (1908–present) Boston Americans (1901-1907) Other nicknames The BoSox, The Olde Towne Team, The Sox Ballpark Fenway Park (1912–present) Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds... A television program (US), television programme (UK) or simply television show is a segment of programming in television broadcasting. ... This article is about the television series. ... Book #1: Double Trouble The Nintendo Adventure Book series was published from 1991 to 1992 by Archway books. ... Super Paper Mario ) is a platform/role-playing video game developed by Intelligent Systems, a division of Nintendo. ... Seinfeld is an Emmy Award-winning American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989 to May 14, 1998, running a total of 9 seasons. ... The Frogger is the 174th episode of the hit NBC sitcom Seinfeld. ... For the actor, see Jerry Seinfeld. ... George Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the United States-based television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), played by Jason Alexander. ... This article is about the video game. ... Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a video game for the Wii developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo. ...

See also

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References