What's In A Name?

[zektbach]

Which instantly reminded me of:

Pong

now that was an ace name.

Simplicity wins when it comes to game names...

If they had have named Silent Hill, Paranoid Moron in Monsterville.

If they had have called Metal Gear Solid, Sneaky Boy.

If they had have called Mario Bros, The Adventures of a Plumber who does no Plumbing Whatsoever.

Things would have been so much better.

[dr_lha]

Bonk: Greatest game title ever.

Super Bonk: 2nd greatest game title ever.

[Simon S]

Stunt Car Racer is a name I've always liked.

Vagrant Story had no tramps whatsoever, but it sounded interesting as a name.

and always thought Phantasy Star was a well dodgy name.

[ChrisN]

Rik Dangerous.

Oozes style that does.

[Jairus]

VAGRANT STORY

Vagrant = homeless, drunk, bum = tramp

Story = tale = tail = cock

=

TRAMPS COCK

That's what the guys at Square were thinking.

Vib Ribbon. I don't know why, but I love the word ribbon. I love those ribbon cables you get with the steel battalion controller, they feel fantastic. Also, the word VIB seems to just escape from your mouth really quickly. VIB.

[Boutros]

Rik Dangerous.

Oozes style that does.

ah, good old Rickyboy... what a fabulous game that was :-)

[Boutros]

best games title ever:

Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Benders

[Jairus]

Does anyone remember Pussy City Pimps?

I actually have that bucaneered on my xbox. It's fantastic. I think i've got HIV on it though.

[dr_lha]

Let us not forget also:

Fat Worm Blows a Sparky

[Boutros]

or

Leasure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patty does a little undercover work

[JedEvangelion]

Let us not forget also:

Fat Worm Blows a Sparky

Gaaaaah. read through the entire thread only to see it there on the last page.

I was gonna say that. Great name, great game (for it's time).

[Chopsocky]

I know some wouldn't agree but I find 'Lylat wars' sounds a hell of a lot better than plain old Starfox 64.

[will]

Devil heart storygun.

[Jim Miles]

MDK. Always hated than name and it didn't seem to suit the game.

[kthxbliz]

Really like Devil May Cry. I think Resident Evil was once great but the name is tarnished somewhat because it's been in the limelight for so long now. Agree that Katamari Damacy is a great name. I also quite like Splinter Cell. Jet Set Radio rocks. Battle Engine Aquila has a certain charm but falls short I think because the game wasn't up to much. Deus Ex has some style but is a little cryptic and perhaps a bit geeky.

Some good names:

Fantavision

Splinter Cell (just the first one)

Jet Set Radio (just the first one)

Katamari Damacy

Battle Engine Aquila

Deus Ex

Devil May Cry (again, only the original)

Kingdom Hearts

Malice

Timesplitters

Wild Arms

Radiant Silvergun

Frequency

Guilty Gear X

Rainbow Six (just the original again)

Anything generic, with hyphens, colons or numbers is terrible. As is anything too geeky and/or anything that just tries too hard.

Some examples of poor names:

DRIV3R

Dragon's Lair

Dead or Alive

Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex

Champions of Norath: Realms of Everquest

England International Football

Eternal Ring

Gauntlet: Dark Legacy

Gradius IV

Driving Emotion Type-S

H30 Surfing

Some may notice almost all of my examples are from PS2 games. I scanned a full list of UK titles until I got bored, these are my resutls.

[acidbearboy]

Anybody remember the Super Famicom title 'Bastard'?

[Andy_Tanner]

Anybody remember the Super Famicom title 'Bastard'?

yeah! i never played it but i certainly remember the name. i wonder what they'd call the sequel, 'Cunt' maybe.

[AndyB]

Plok

[Tequila]

I despise the name Resident Evil with a passion!

Sounds Ghey IMO

'Hi. I'm evil and I live here' /points to old mansion/

It sounds what now? I don't (want to) recognise that sad term.

[Ste Pickford]

Plok

Best, or worst?

[bingowings]

yes: Biohazard, Panzer Dragoon, Xenosaga, Super Mario Sunshine, rRootage, Metal Slug, Gunstar Heroes, Gran Turismo, Chaos Legion, Naruto.

no: Resident Evil, Quantum Redshift, Halo, Project Gotham, Star Wars, Time Crisis, Robocop vs. Terminator, Great Giana Sisters, Shadowrun, anything with a real person's name ie. Colin McRae's Dirt Splat Drive-a-Thon, Tiger Woods' Stick/Ball Connection 2004, Tony Hawk's Repeating Cycle of Dinge, Frank Bruno's Boxing etc.

[MK-1601]

Continental Circus. A complete balls up there.

What's wrong with it?

...

Best and worst title ever: WARGASM

[dr_lha]

What's wrong with it?

The story goes it was supposed to be "Continental Circuit" but was mispelled. That may well be apocryphal bollocks however.

[Gorf King]

Crap Names

Gorf

Cheeky young pup. Monosyllabic game names are the hallmark of quality.

See also:

Doom

Pong

Qix

Klax

Rez

Tron

and...er...Myst. Maybe.

Anyhow, I thought Final Bunny was a good one.

[zektbach]

No one has mentioned Oshare Wanko for the GBA, so I shall mention it now.

Oshare Wanko for the GBA for best game name!

[gravity0]

Not strictly a game name, but:

Bobobobo Bobobo

You know it!

[Tetchy]

Super Mario Brothers

Yes they were brothers, fair do's, but only 1 of them was called Mario. I mean c'mon. Why didn't they just call it The Super Plumber Brothers Adventures In The Mushroom Kingdom. Rolls off the tongue much more easily.

The Legend Of Zelda

Well, correct me if I'm wrong but surely it was actually the Legend Of Link, the hero rescuing fair maidens, and not some ropey tarts heritage who kept getting kidnapped by a pig. Hmm?

Mega Man or Rockman

Neither Mega nor Rock and certainly not a Man. More of an android really. Should've been called Billy The Android's Perilous Journey. Much more accurate.

Resident Evil

Although they did reside in the mansion they weren't really Evil were they? More sort of maladjusted. Maldajusted And Hungry For Brains: A Zombies Tale would've been a better name IMO.

[JPickford (retired mod)]

Peter Shilton's Handball Maradonna.

[Monkeyspill]

Peter Shilton's Handball Maradonna.

Best name ever!

I also like Ivan Ironman Stewart's Super Off Road Racer.

And Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure.

[JPickford (retired mod)]

Super Chinese Land.