Support NeoGAF

[Tcbys]

X-0

I view it was Lives that are left in the reserve. I hate it displaying X-1 confusing.

 

[Cuburt]

I'd like to see this question posed as if people prefer to start a game with x3 or x2 lives.

I bet the poll goes the opposite direction.

 

[mullet2000]

x1. All of you x0 people are just wrong. Just....wrong. v_v

 

[Cuburt]

No wonder people hate the concept of "lives" in Mario games, they can't seem to remember that x1 is actually their last life.

 

[devonodev]

X1, because I have one life. When I die, I'll have 0 lives, and therefore be dead. Dead dead.

 

[Dart]

I like to think that x1 means one life left. That way I get excited when I find out a game has x0s. Also helps me be more conservative with my lives.

 

[Zalman]

I expect to have one extra life to use when it says x1. Therefore, I prefer x0.

 

[out0v0rder]

i believe they are called "mans", not lives

 

[Eusis]

Spoiler

I cant believe this conversation has gone on for so long lol! XD

But like I said earlier in this thread: anything times 0 is = 0.


Therefore;

1 character x1 = 1

1 character x0 = 0

Because of this, I prefer x1. Because it is your current player character times 1. I think of it mathematically.


EDIT: What everyone else said about x0 being better I also agree with though. There is no confusion. But I think there is confusion because everyone was reading it wrong.

You know, I wanted to state how crazy and inane it is to treat it as multiplication, but that actually makes the examples in the OP sort of interesting. It's Mario x 1 there, while it's DONKEY KONG BALLOON 0 there, so there does seem to be an indicator of "this is how many Marios there are" versus "this is how many continue balloons you have" for DKC, thus a logic that you have only that one Mario left while DKC actually is a consumable much like a potion or revive in an RPG.

 

[HolyCheck]

x1 for myself, as mentioned by some others, to me i've always read it as you have 1 chance to play this level before its game over.

or you have 693 chances to play this level before it's game over as I had on champions road the other night when I finally unlocked it in Super mario 3d world.

then 1 hour later me and my 2 friends had game over

 

[Skid 4 Dead]

X1, because I have one life. When I die, I'll have 0 lives, and therefore be dead. Dead dead.

This exactly.

 

[Skeleton]

x0

 

[Kaybe]

x0 of course. Then I know it's definitly the last life.

 

[taco543]

x0. Because x1 always makes think there's one more life left.

 

[Cute Dragon Here]

x0 person myself. I think I do really prefer how I am sure that that's the last life remaining in a game.

Though, I do also wonder about the point of this in a game that saves and also keeps track of lives...

 

[Ivory Samoan]

X0

X1 just exudes too much.....hope.

 

[Fuz]

X0

 

[Gangxxter]

I assume everyone here experienced that feeling of disappointment getting a game over despite dying with x1 life or that feeling of relief when you're given another shot despite dying with 1 life left.

I love that feeling of relief when the life counter says x0. But to be honest I think x1 is the better alternative because I always refer to it as the "life counter" and not the "extra-life counter". When you say "extra-life counter", x0 makes totally sense. I prefer the other way though.

 

[Captain Smoker]

×1, because you have one life left lol.

If you loose this one you have zero = you're dead

 

[KiteGr]

x0

with most other games representing your last life as x1, it's a plesant surprise to realise that you actually have one more.

It also makes more sence.

 

[nded]

I tend to think of it like quarters in my pocket at an arcade; the second I put a quarter into a machine, I no longer consider it part of the total number of quarters in my possession. There's not much point in keeping track of something that's already spent.

 

[Tribes of Trusty]

You can reason all the ways you want whether x1 or x0 is right, but x0 do not let space for confusion. Thus, x0 any day of the week for me.


That lives concept is outdated for most games nowadays anyway.

I tend to think of it like quarters in my pocket at an arcade; the second I put a quarter into a machine, I no longer consider it part of the total number of quarters in my possession. There's not much point in keeping track of something that's already spent.

If an arcade machine displayed "YOU HAVE 1 CREDIT LEFT" and then you died, leaving you in front of a "GAME OVER" screen, you'd be yelling at the scam it is ha ha.

 

[EloKa]

x1
because it says: you have 1 life left and that's the one you are currently using

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

x0. They are extra lives. When you are on you last, you got none extra.

 

[Version 3.0]

Ah, I see, so life is just an item to you?

Life? Of course not!

Extra life, yeah. Duh. They're called 1UP's and they're really handy. Small enough to keep in your pocket, easy to use, tasty. They come in lots of designs, the most popular being cute little heads.

Unfortunately, I have x0 of them on me at the moment. But hey, at least I'm not dead!

 

[quantumnerd]

Begrudgingly, x0. At the last life, it's unambiguous. It would be nice if the life total counter paralleled the health bar (0 = minimum) but since lives are considered powerups and not a statistic, I prefer x0.

 

[silver.tongue]

1.

I see that as the number of lives I have, not "extra" lives.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

x1. All of you x0 people are just wrong. Just....wrong. v_v

Conker 64 explained it perfectly. "If you run out of these things and have zero when you die, you can't come back to life."

 

[BeesEight]

1x, you monsters.

x0

because I do not have any spare lives, or spare coints to "insert" to have an extra life.

If lives are represented by the coins we've spent on the arcade, then it makes sense for 1 coin = 1 life. If I put a single quarter in, my life counter should read 1x, not 0x as you must pay to play initially unless we're going to make an arbitrary distinction that your first coin gives you two lives for reasons...

 

[slit]

Zero, easy.

 

[Jinoru]

Either.

I kinda like the added layer of challenge trying to reconcile the difference between game life systems when I switch between games.

 

[Nintendoga]

x1 = You have one extra life left
x0 = You have no more extra lives

Simple as that.

 

[Stop It]

Well, fuck.

x0 to me says you have no lives, full stop, you're dead.

You need a life to live, so x1.

*realises I am in the minority, runs*

 

[Endo Punk]

Last life = x1. You are on your last life, use it carefully. Definitely gotta go with x1.

 

[hbkdx12]

x0....It provides zero confusion

For all the people who prefer x1...if your playing a game for the first time, how would you even know that x1 meant that it was your last life until you actually died?

 

[Anth0ny]

x0, definitely.