Item

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An item is one entry in a list, or one object in a collection of objects.

[edit] Etymology

The word started as Latin item for "also", "in the same manner", and got its present English meaning by people misunderstanding usage in lists where the first entry began "Imprimis" (Latin for "firstly"), and the other entries each started "Item" (Latin for "also"), in former times when most learned people in England knew Latin.

[edit] In videogames

In computer and video games, an item is an object within the game world that can be collected by the player character. Common video game items include:

• 1-ups or continues, giving the player character "extra lives" and allowing them to continue after getting killed. 1-ups usually come in the form of the main character's face (or to a lesser extent, the text "1UP").
• Treasure such as coins, gems or jewelry. These are often used to determine the player's score or exchanged for other, better items.
• Medicine, food or energy containers, which give the player extra health or defensive ability.
• Equipment, such as armor that can be worn for protection, or weapons used for combat. In addition, these weapons may require collectable ammunition.
• Several games have quest items (also known as plot items, or key items) required to complete the game.

Items are most often beneficial to the player character. Some games also contain detrimental items. An example would be a cursed piece of armor that confers a negative bonus to the wearer, and cannot be removed until the curse itself is lifted - the means to do this may be costly or require a special item. Some items may also be of absolutely no value to the player.