{"id":12892,"date":"2021-08-17T15:00:35","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T20:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geekine.com\/?p=12892"},"modified":"2026-01-16T03:56:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:56:36","slug":"what-does-1up-mean-learn-the-origin-of-this-famous-video-game-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geekine.com\/en\/what-does-1up-mean-learn-the-origin-of-this-famous-video-game-term\/","title":{"rendered":"What does 1UP mean?: Learn the origin of this famous video game term"},"content":{"rendered":"

1UP<\/strong>, Its meaning is "an extra life," but it hasn't always been that way. Keep reading to learn the origin of the expression.<\/p>\n

It appeared in the 1970s,<\/strong> Or perhaps a little earlier, in North American pinball games. If the player met any of the conditions or reached a certain score as a reward, they could receive an extra ball.<\/p>\n

Similarly, 1UP<\/strong> It was also used to refer to the first player in multiplayer pinball games. Next, it was the turn of the second player, or 2UP, and so on.<\/p>\n

Mario Bros and the 1UP that revolutionized video games<\/h2>\n
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The green mushroom from the Super Mario Bros. video game is one of the ways to get an extra life. | Image: Mario Wiki Fandom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Subsequently, Arcade games would use the same concept in the following decade and were very popular in the vast majority of countries. video games<\/a><\/strong>. At that time, you could see that a player had, instead of 1UP (one life), 3UP (3 lives), 5UP or 5 lives, etc.<\/p>\n

Super Mario Bros. was the first video game to use the term "extra life." These extra lives could be obtained in four ways:<\/p>\n