1-up

English

Alternative forms

• one-up (extra life)

Etymology

"Extra life" sense borrowed from Japanese 1UP (wan appu) and perhaps popularized by Super Mario Bros. (1985); but the term existed earlier in multi-player pinball and other arcade games in the 1960s, where "1Up" and "2Up" were used as flashing notifications to indicate who would play next (or who was "up" next in order). See [1].

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwʌn ʌp/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /wɒn ʌp/

Noun

1-up (plural 1-ups)

1. (video games) An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try.
2. (video games) In a game with multiple players, an indicator or identifier of player 1.
   • 1982, Harlington Wood, Jr., Atari v. North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corp., 672 F.2d 607, n. 2 (7th Cir. 1982):

     Before any player registers points, the PAC-MAN scoring table displays in white "1 UP" and "2 UP" where the scores will appear.

   • 1998, Sega Genesis, Frogger 1998 - Walkthrough:

     This is the players turn (1-up or 2-up)

Derived terms

• 2-up

Translations

An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try

• German: 1-Up
• Icelandic: aukalíf
• Japanese: 1UP (wan appu), ワンアップ (wan appu)
• Korean: 1UP (1-eop), 원 업 (won eop)
• Swedish: extraliv (sv) n