Did the concept of 'lives' make us better gamers?

[Csyzr]

I believe it did. knowing you only had 3 lives really amped up the effort one put forth to their videogame. I know I wasn't made of quarters as a kid and knowing I was one death away from going home forced me to get good, or else be bored the rest of the day.

today's games have all but done away with 'lives' and I'm noticing that kids who play 'sans lives' aren't as good at those that did.

I believe a healthy diet of saturday cartoons, (mighty max, action man, beast wars, tiny toon adventures, tazmania, x-men, batman, and spiderman) mountain dew and more logged hours at the arcade that my job, has really translated positively into today's gameplay. So sad for the Ipod, cell phone and disney channel driven kids of today.

[Tensei]

Anecdotal load of crap if you ask me.

If you take a look at professional gaming, you'll notice that the top players are almost always *young*. Reflexes and learning ability diminish with age, younger gamers have an innate advantage. There are, for example, very few professional starcraft players that can keep up after the age of 25.

Another point against it is the contemporary omnipresence of the internet; it's much easier for gamers nowadays to share ideas, techniques and knowledge than it was back in the day, which improves the overall skill level greatly.

[Gario]

Yeah, but you know what? I can still smash my nephews at video games.

Whaddaya say ta that, EH?!

[Ferret]

That may be true, but older gamers are also more experienced and developed most of the tactics and strategy employed by younger gamers of the current generation. Twitchy McNoobface might have fast reflexes and proactive thinking but...

[friendlyHunter]

In response to the topic title... I'm just thinking how incredibly impossible it would've been to get any good at Super Metroid, Zero Mission, Metroid Fusion, Dr. Mario, Tetris, and many other great games, if any of those games had a "lives" system that made you restart the game. The best part of Metroid games for me is playing the same boss over and over again in a low item run, and losing every time ^__^

(Well... and beating the boss EVENTUALLY)

The amount of skill and strategy it takes to beat some of those bosses sans energy tanks and ammo is insane, and it's hella fun. I'd be inclined to say that just pushing the save room farther from the boss room would've severely reduced the fun factor and the speed of my skill increase. Higher penalty definitely does not make better players. If SMB1 didn't have infinite continues, that would just make us REALLY good at level 1, but not the part of the game where skill matters.

[K.B.]

I thought this thread was going to contend that fresh air and diverse experiences made people better appreciate games and forced them to be more disciplined with what little gaming time they had left.

[Sansato]

I personally think that the concept of "lives" is a rather abstract one that varies from genre to genre. In platformers, you get multiple lives (or infinite lives depending on the game) and whether or not this makes someone a better gamer depends solely on the individual who's playing the game. Technically, RPGs give you multiple lives as well, but in the form of party members. Many of the RPGs I've played will give you a game over once your entire party is out of commission, and I have learned how to play smart in these games because of this. However, like with the platformers, your mileage may vary.

Simply put, the concept of lives can make some people better gamers, but it isn't going to work for everyone.

[EC2151]

Then you have games like VVVVVV and Ivy the Kiwi? where lives are mostly an annoyance and punishment for poor reflexes.

btw I just bought the latter of those two and I love it.