Fail?  What is this "fail" you speak of?  Most mainstream games don't mention the word fail.

It's a big issue that no one is really interested in fixing.

People want a challenge in games, but they also don't want to replay the section (or even restart the game in this thread's case) if they fail. I don't like the life system, but there's not a lot of alternatives.

systems work in comparative terms to the games the systems are employed on.
games generally have taken a nosedive in difficulty as of late.

No worries, Galaki. Games like Mario Party 2 already did just that! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6PxRwgjzZw

Yes, they're entirely useless.

No...game creators should think long and hard about the best system for their game instead of just following whatever the trend is. There is so much that can be done with health systems in general but most of that potential is wasted @.@

the game over screen was invented for arcades to get kids to pump in more quarters.

...arcade style games should probably retain that but a lot of games that is a pointless concept. it's one thing to game over on a top down shooter that can be played start-to-finish in an hour. could you imagine the outrage if 10 hours into assassin's creed you died and the game asked to start over. no one would ever play assassin's creed again. it just cannot be used on that kind of game,.. instead you use the checkpoint system.

so no need to retire,.. just make things right for the game being made.

Just do it like Demon's Souls. You die, you start the level over again. I find that quite motivating. It adds a hell lot of tension to the game and makes successes real sweet.

I have an idea, lets make a Souls game with a finite amount of lives, the player starts with 5 lives and you have to beat the whole game with those 5 lives. Plz From Software make this game :) 

For certain types of games, I could see the answer being "yes".

But for most? No.

Games over the last 15 years have already, with few exceptions, been getting easier and easier as it is. Between games that basically give you infinite lives/continues, to respawning health, to in-game tutorials and hints that hold your hand the entire fucking time......no, games do not need to get easier than they already are.

And it isn't even about "hard games = good games". I am not one who subscribes to the notion that games so hard you die constantly are fun, let alone the best. I prefer games, at least these days, where I can just kind of chill out and enjoy myself, not get to the point where I want to throw the controller at the TV. BUT, having said that, I still think that games have gotten far too easy on gamers these days.

Not every type of game needs a "lives" system, no. But I will say, certain types of games really do benefit from the possibility of a "game over".