Yomei Kensaku Sābisu X-Day

Yomei Kensaku Sābisu X-Day (余命検索サービス X-DAY, lit. Life Expectancy Search Service X-DAY), also known as simply X-Day, is a quiz arcade game developed and released by Namco in 1993 in Japan only.^[1] It is currently one of the few Namco games to not be emulated in MAME and is based on human survival in a post-apocalyptic world. A sequel title, Ren'ai Jumyō + Nikutai Jumyō X-Day 2, was released two years later in 1995 and also ran on Namco NA-1 hardware; and, much like its predecessor, is currently unavailable in MAME. Soundtrack albums for both games were released by Victor Entertainment in 1995 under the Namco Game Sound Express label.^[2]

Gameplay

Once the player enters their name and gender, his/her "life expectancy" bar is set with five different categories; "Eating", "Body", "Heart", "Ring" and "Technique". Each question will randomly select any category and ask the player a question relating to that category, and the player must move the joystick left for "yes" or right for "no". If a question is answered correctly, then the player's "life expectancy" bar is raised a level; but if the player should fail to answer the question correctly, then his or her life expectancy bar will instead deplete a level; a level will also deplete from the bar if the player does not give an answer in a given time limit.^[3] When the player manages to answer all questions, if the life expectancy bar is positive, then the cabinet will print a small certificate congratulating the player;^[4] but if the player answers all questions but their life expectancy bar is negative, then a "zombie certificate" will print and states that the player has failed.^[5] In both cases, once the player answers all questions and the game determines the outcome, the game will be over.

Sequel

A sequel game, titled Ren'ai Jumyō + Nikutai Jumyō X-Day 2 (恋愛寿命+肉体寿命 X-DAY 2, lit. Love Lifetime + Body Time X-Day 2), was released two years after this game's predecessor in 1995 and it also ran on Namco NA-1 hardware like the original title. The game is heavily centered around love, with the player now having a "love life" bar as opposed to having a life expectancy bar. The "love life" bar measures the remaining days of love between two individuals, which can be either male or female.

References