The phrase has since been turned into quasi-slang, usually describing an event that will cause significant harm, injury, bad luck, or even death to a person.
However, since the turn of the century, it has largely fallen out of fashion in favor of unlimited lives and endless checkpoints with autosaves, although it very much remains the norm in arcades, as they require payment inserts.
Kamen no Ninja Akakage released in 1988 by Toei for the Famicom has "game over" on top of "continue" with a cursor to be properly positioned to get the desired choice.
Screens that display at equivalent points are considered "Game over" screens, even if the message that is displayed is entirely different, such as "YOU ARE DEAD" used in Resident Evil, God of War, and Left 4 Dead, "YOU DIED" seen in Dark Souls, Cuphead, and Minecraft (though Minecraft uses "Game over" if one dies in hardcore mode), "GOOD NIGHT" seen in Klonoa and Luigi's Mansion.
Another variation includes "THE WITCH HUNTS ARE OVER" used in the Bayonetta series, "YOU WERE SLAIN" in Terraria, and "DRIVER DOWN" in Hill Climb Racing.
Survival Mode of the said game, however, have the normal losing sequence and cutscene plays, with only the game over result dialog box differs where it says "You survived for (number of flags completed) flag(s) before dying a gruesome zombie death!!!"
In January 2011, protesters and rioters in several North African and Middle Eastern countries used the slogan "Game over" on banners to express their anti-government sentiments.
The "Game Over" quote is heard in full after the final ball is drained in Zen Studios' virtual pinball adaptation of Aliens.
[8] The phrase is also used various times in the Saw movie series, because of the antagonist's penchant for referring to the traps he creates as "games".