What happened to Game over screens?

[Cowabungaa]

That's because most games aren't meant to be about kicking your ass anymore, they're about telling a story or providing fun gameplay. A game over screen would only serve to interrupt that.

There's a less immersion breaking and more creative way to give your players that feeling. The already mentioned villain taunting in the Batman: Arkham games is a good example of that.

 

[imnot]

Because they are frikken annoying.

I liked Arkham asylums though.

 

[Snotnarok]

I miss them sometimes I really do. But they don't find uses in most games.

 

[skywolfblue]

And good riddance too, say I. Game Over screens are very frustrating, particularly if they come with an unskippable sequence or take a long time to load. When I die, I don't want to watch the game gloat: I want to go back and try again, preferably RIGHT NOW. Difficult games are just more enjoyable without them, and some games (like Super Meat Boy) would be completely unplayable with them.

This. Games are a 100 times better now with autosave and checkpoints then they ever were back then.

 

[Jamash]

Most games still have splash screens (with some kind of fade to black or transitional effect and unique music) when you die or fail the objective, it's just not a true game over that boots you back to the main menu, partly because you don't have a finite number of lives and partly because it would be tedious and unnecessary (as nowadays with modern hardware and memory, the game doesn't need to start from the beginning in order to re-load the game state into the memory).

Just off the top of my head, I can think of Red Dead Redemption, the Grand Theft Auto series (Wasted and Busted with an out of body POV), Space Marine (a splash screen and quote from the Codex Astartes on failure), Resident Evil, Mass Effect...

Spoiler: ...in fact, the Mass Effect game over screen is so iconic it's been parodied

Game over screens are still there, they never went away, it's just that you don't recognise them.

 

[krazykidd]

I just realized something. Game over screens are becoming more and more rare.

Play harder games.

Last three games I've played with any gusto are DXHR, Catherine, Dark Souls, and Batman:AA.

There's game over screens. Maybe you should play games with them.

Ha i forgot about catherine , and i loved the game over screen in that game , made me feel bad for letting vincent die , also darks souls didn't havr a game over screen but just a "you died" like i mentionned in the original thread post , and deus ex:HR i haven't played yet.

 

[an874]

To be honest I don't think it matters one way or the other. When a player fails or dies in a game as long as there is some indication of it, then it doesn't matter. Besides not having a traditional game over loading screen can be good in that it is switched out with something more interesting such as in the Batman Arkham Asylum or City in which when you fail you go to a quick scene of the villain who has just beaten you taunting you.

 

[Ruwrak]

I really like the Arkham Asylum/City style of game over, with the villain taunting you, makes me want to try again, I won't let them have the satisfaction, as opposed to a simple "Game Over" where I just get pissed

The Arkham Comment is actually what I experience as well. Heck I even die at least 1 on purpose to see what they got to say. It's just fun. .. . A game over screen that is fun.. Hrm. Food for thought.


Also the Dark Souls Game Over Screen "You Died" is appropriate. It's short, says what is a trademark for Captain Obvious and it skips the reloading bullcrap as fast as it can.

Also, captcha: Reason#9 ricalu.
Captcha thinks reason #9 is ridicalus (Yes I am aware of the horrible bad spelling of that word. Trying to make a joke there.)

 

[Legion IV]

That's because most games aren't meant to be about kicking your ass anymore, they're about telling a story or providing fun gameplay. A game over screen would only serve to interrupt that.

Easy is not fun, and a story is only as rewarding as it took to work for it.

Gamers these days need there ass kicked by hard games. not talking about you, just gamers in general.

 

[Soxafloppin]

Mortal Kombat 4 had the best game over screen ever.

I wouldn't say I miss them as such, I think "You are dead" does the job just fine.

 

[RagnarokHybrid]

I don't need the game to tell me that I lost when I already know I did.

"Game Over" screens are like being tea bagged by the game.

It was the most annoying thing, too, to be sent back to the title screen when the game knows the last time you saved was at least a few hours before you fought that obnoxiously overpowered boss.

And good riddance too, say I. Game Over screens are very frustrating, particularly if they come with an unskippable sequence or take a long time to load. When I die, I don't want to watch the game gloat: I want to go back and try again, preferably RIGHT NOW. Difficult games are just more enjoyable without them, and some games (like Super Meat Boy) would be completely unplayable with them.

Indeed.

 

[IamQ]

Maybe it's something I've missed here, but why do we care if we have game over screens or not?

It feels like someone just needs a reason to further hate on the modern games, so now their bashing their lack of game over screens.

I never cared for those screens, so whether their there or not, I don't give a damn.

Edit: Also, when I first thought of game overs screens when I read your title, the first thing I thought of was the "Epic Fail" thing that pops up in Bad Company 2 nultiplayer when you die of suicide, accidental or not, and I remember now how much I hated it.

 

[Delsana]

Kills immersion... but then so does reloading and DLC that says "download me".