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Is it just me, or is that the most disheartening thing ever in older games like 'Pacman' and 'Digdug' and a plethora of other old arcade games? You strive to defeat it, pumping in quarter after quarter after profane language after quarter. Then you get to the end and sweet victory. What do you get? "Congratulations! You won!" then "Game Over."

I mean, well, it's pointing out the obvious that the game is in fact over. D'uh. But with the more modern gaming conotation of it meaning 'You suck, go home, don't play again' it's really kind of a let down. Am I the only person that thinks of it like this? That it gets you on the big 'I PWNd ALL y'all ghosts!' high then drops you down by saying the equivalent to 'You're a loser'?

The first time I got it, I thought I didn't beat the game the 'right' way. But yeah. In the words of Mugatu: "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"

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Games on the Go
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy: Four Warriors of Light
Baldur's Gate

Too much to play, so little time!

Greg

That's because you're looking at them from a modern point of view.

In the day these games were created, people played for two reasons.

1- To have fun.
2- To beat the high score/their personal high score.

Beating the game meant you'd exhausted everything the game has to throw at you and have no further opportunities to raise your score. If you haven't beaten the high score, then you need to try harder next time. If you have, then that alone is rewarding enough: you r0x0red the game and now some other poor sap will have to follow in your footsteps in hopes of not merely being your shadow. Competition, competition, competition.

Nowadays, games are meant to have storylines and an A -> B -> C start/buildup/climax path. Few games that are simply centered on keeping you entertained and having you beat a certain score are rare (DDR comes to mind. That's roughly it though.)

So no, you didn't beat the game the "wrong" way. You're not even supposed to "beat" the game. You're supposed to beat your score and better your skills at the game.

Edit: By the way, "Game Over" doesn't mean "You lost, sucker!" It means just that: the game's over. Wether you've won or lost is another matter entirely now.

This post has been edited by Silverlance on 8th May 2005 20:21

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

good points all round. But I have to agree. Everytime I've seen a screen saying game over when I win a game, I'm like "what? I won! Don't say 'game over' to me you smegging piece of &*^$! What kind of congratulations is that?" Throws chair through tv screen, "Aaargh! Who's a game over now?"

I can't help but feel that way.

But if I actually lose and get the screen, then it doesn't bother me. much

And of course it saves a tv and some embarrissing explanantions of total madness.

This post has been edited by fatman on 8th May 2005 20:59

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'Let that be a lesson to all oppressive vegetable sellers.'

Lol...I'm polish, so before I learned "game over" meant the game ending I was totally suprised at "GAME OVER" signs when I beat the games.

I mean, I had no idea what it meant, I always got it when I got beaten by the game. Then I get it when I win.
Litte-7-year-old-me: "Huh??? I won...I think...er...darn."

Nowadays I don't find it so irritating, that I get a "GAME OVER" sign when I beat the game. It means the game is over and nothing more.

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"I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway

"If you retort against this, so help me God I'll shove any part of your anatomy I can find into some other part. Figuratively, of course." - Josh

"We have more, can deliver tuesday." - Del S

Good old CoN

I don't like it. "Game Over" doesn't inherently mean that you lost, but that's the context that most of us get. It should just have some generic message about how we're masters of the universe for getting such a great high score.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Quote (Silverlance @ 8th May 2005 15:20)

That's because you're looking at them from a modern point of view.

So no, you didn't beat the game the "wrong" way. You're not even supposed to "beat" the game. You're supposed to beat your score and better your skills at the game.

1. Oh, yeah, I know I am. As I said, the context has changed over the years. Regardless, it's still disheartening lol =P

2. Yeah, I realize that NOW but as a child, it broke my little bleeding heart *sniff* lol

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Games on the Go
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy: Four Warriors of Light
Baldur's Gate

Too much to play, so little time!

Greg

There was an ending to Pac-man? I've spent a very very long time on that game and I always thought the levels just looped and the ghosts got faster til you literally could not win.

Quote

Yeah, I realize that NOW but as a child, it broke my little bleeding heart

I think his point was that when we were children endings weren't standard. So when we saw game over, we just knew it was time to turn the system off or try again to do it better.

This post has been edited by The Ancient on 10th May 2005 05:06

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"That Light has bestowed upon me the greatest black magic!"

The way pacman ends is something called the split level- The screen splits in half I guess and you get trapped. It's considered the end of the game.

More info about the split level and pacman-
http://jongy.tripod.com/History.html

Some people claim there is something beyond the level, while others-
Billy Mitchell for one- claim there isn't. He's even staking money on it.

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If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

Pac man has an ending??? wow i didnt know that so does that mean tetris has an ending too?*has pondered this long and hard and cant figure it out*

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Don't fear the reaper!
Wonderful system this "Democracy" is no mechanism to break a tie -Dinobot-
It's spelled Raymond Luxray Yatch but it's pronounced Throat Wobbler Mangrove.
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici
Sic Semper Tyrannis bush.

Some games, mostly beat 'em ups, still use the 'Game Over' screen at the end. I actually agree...while it's not actually bad, it is something I'm used to seeing when I loose...I'd much rather see 'The End'. Hehe.

But more annoying than that are games like Duck Hunt, Gauntlet, or Dr. Mario where there is no end...it either just starts over or just keeps replaying the last level. I want praise dammit!!

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The Arcana are the means by which ALL is revealed.

I personally thought "Game Over" was more polite than Resident Evil's approach.
"You Died!" ? Why not just say "You Suck" or something...



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"Dance, water, dance!"
-Demyx, Kingdom Hearts II

"I met my love before I was born..."
-AFI, 'Love Like Winter' from 'Decemberunderground'

Currently Playing: Guitar Hero, Shadow of the Colossus

"You suck!" would not be good marketing. It would be funny, but it would alienate more people than it would attract. Of course, market share isn't something the Brothers Chaps are concerned about, so they have no problem keeping their trademark YOUR HEAD A SPLODE.

"You died!" is in a number of games where that's very relevant. If I recall correctly, Splinter Cell is one such game.

Quote (Shinjutsei; from below)

*does a barrell roll*

Let us refer to a situation from that game that corresponds with the topic.

Quote (Slippy; in Star Fox 64)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 12th May 2005 15:28

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

I was being sarcastic.

*does a barrell roll*

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"Dance, water, dance!"
-Demyx, Kingdom Hearts II

"I met my love before I was born..."
-AFI, 'Love Like Winter' from 'Decemberunderground'

Currently Playing: Guitar Hero, Shadow of the Colossus

'You Suck!' would be the kinda' thing mothers would both love and dislike in gaming lol.

At first there'd be the initial 'Well that was rude' response as her child lost, but then she'd be overcome with joy as her child's pride was wronged so thusly by the game that they never played any system again and instead read for pleasure for the rest of their natural lives.

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Games on the Go
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy: Four Warriors of Light
Baldur's Gate

Too much to play, so little time!

Greg

i'm surprised nobody has said anything about "snake is dead" -> "TIME PARADOX." lol.

Quote (Shinjutsei @ 12th May 2005 08:33)

*does a barrell roll*

You know you're a dork when that line reminds you not of Star Fox 64 but a board you haven't visited in almost a year.

Err...anyways, I, for one, am a big fan of MGS2's "Fission Mailed!"

This post has been edited by SilverFork on 13th May 2005 15:26

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Words of Wisdom:

If something can go wrong, it will.

If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. - Murphy’s Law

Boing! Zoom! - Mr. Saturn