Favorite Game Titles?

Patrick in the most recent Worth Reading posted Samantha Allen's opinion piece about how video games often have bad names. (Link: http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/27/5841360/the-problem-with-game-names) While I think she makes a few rash generalizations and her attempts to categorize bad names sort of fail, I agree with her in general that video games often have really bad names and some of the observations she makes about why are semi-valid.

Thinking about this I've found it's really hard to articulate what makes a name good, or to come up with any rules about what makes a good name. Every time I try to come up with some sort of rule I think of an example that breaks it.

A few I like off the top of my head and my rationalizations:

Far Cry: To me the phrase really evokes a sense of foreign-ness and strangeness really well while also evoking ideas of isolation and pain (the word "cry"). I like the way that the phrase is used completely apart from any sort of sentence, allowing the literal meaning of the phrase (something a far cry from something else is very different from it) to come through as well as just the "feel" of the two words.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs: Allen mentions this one in the article. I think it's really good at evoking mystery. Pigs and machines are things that are vaguely gross or unsettling but they don't overtly have anything to do with horror leaving lots to the audience's imagination. I think it's a much better title than "The Dark Descent" which is way too overwrought.

Mirror's Edge: (Allen mentions this one as well). It captures the feel of the danger and precision involved in parkour, as well as the smooth, clean feel of the futuristic city.

What are some of your favorite game titles, Duders?

I always liked "Braid" because it tells you nothing about what you're getting into but makes you interested to find out. Not sure why it's actually called Braid tbh.

DmC Devil Macy Cry Because its so dumb and unnecessary.

Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Stupid Valve is stupid.

Wing Commander IV - The Price of Freedom always resonated with me.

Hotline Miami is a good'n. It evokes the setting and feel without coming right out and telling you what you're in for.

But I can't think of a better title than "A Machine For Pigs". Just so, so good and evocative.

Skimming through my list of steam games I'd say I definitely have a soft spot for "Something of Something"-titles: Day of Defeat, State of Decay, Wings of Prey all sound pretty good to me. But yeah, Mirrors Edge is pretty much the perfect title. That and No one lives forever - if it makes for a great title song it also makes for a great title.

My favorite title is probably: Space Invaders

The one I find the most entertaining is: Guacamelee!

Alan Wake - AWAKE fits with the game

Max Payne ~ main character's name, guy shoots everyone bringing max pain??

Grim Fandango is near top of my list.

Spec Ops: The Line. The interpretation of what you're playing is a very fine line between the fiction in the story and what it represents in the video game industry. It also evokes the psyche of the protagonist; he is always straddling the line between tough decisions as well as sanity/insanity.

Kentucky Route Zero

Gunpoint

Jazzpunk

Sleeping Dogs

VVVVVV

Cook, Serve, Delicious!

All names that I like for different reasons

Game names to me are only bad when you actually think about them, otherwise they're just names that go down in history for you and are simply titles to say. The only time game names are truly bad and noticeable at doing so are when they have super long names, and aren't joking about it. I can imagine people that don't play games find them kind of funny though. Sorry, I didn't answer your question. I don't really have one.

Actually, I just thought of another one. My favorite title of all time: Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha

Maybe I'm just saying this because I mentioned it just now in another thread, but I really think Lost Odyssey is a really great name.

I really love "The Wolf Among Us". Manages to sum up both the fairy tale and the neo noir nature of the game.

Persona 4 Arena: Ultra Suplex Hold. I was on the floor when they announced that shit.

The Binding of Issac, One Finger Death Punch, Dungeons and Dragons, Fallout, A Machine for Pigs, The Wolf Among Us, Red Dead Redemption, and Cthulu Saves the World are a few that make me feel good.

Final Fantasy VII

This thread just made me think of I how much i hate the Mass Effect-title. The most amazing games, but the name to me just sounds stupid.

Was thinking of that title just as I heard read the title of this thread.

• Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
• Metal Gear Solid
• Strider
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein
• Day of the Tentacle
• Max Payne
• Gradius
• The Wolf Among Us
• The Legend of Zelda
• Bayonetta
• Puzzle Agent
• Gone Home
• Secret of Mana
• Risk of Rain
• Devil May Cry
• The Polynomial
• Thomas Was Alone
• etc.

Some of those are beautiful, intriguing, epic (as in actual epics), bizarre, blunt, or just fuckin cool. All nice in some way or another.

Video game titles don't need to all "grow up", just like every movie title doesn't have to be "grown up". All of video games doesn't need to be one way or another, and a bad title is just a bad title--whatever the medium.

Suck My Dick or Die! What other video game title acts as a call to action?

I always appreciated "Grand Theft Auto". On one hand it feels like a product of it's time, it just sounds like a British game form the 90's. On the other hand it's kind of ballsy, it's a long and dumb title, and it took courage to go with it. It' difficult to pronounce and remember if your not a native English speaker, and it so doesn't fit the usually naming trends of video games. Besides that, it's also just really descriptive of course. Grand Theft Auto is a game about grand theft auto.

James Pond: Robocod

It evokes the perfect sense of guttural shite that that game consists of.

Infinite Undiscovery

Space Bunnies Must Die

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom

Leather Goddesses of Phobos

Streets of Rage, tells you everything you need to know.

Valkyrie Profile is nice and silly. And honestly, Need for Speed still makes me chuckle.

And oh right, Typing of the Dead. Because it's just stupid and perfect.

1: R.C. Pro-Am

2: I MAED A GAM3 W1TH ZOMBIES 1N IT!!!1

3: Rocket Knight Adventures.

I like things simple, yeah.

Deus Ex comes to mind. Coming from the latin term "Deus ex machina" which means "God out of machine" Which is a central theme as humans strive to become more and more like Gods through the applications of technology. An elegant title for a cyberpunk game focused on body enhancements.

Never understood this title. (Never played the game, mind you) Do the protagonists actually not discover anything.. forever?

@cerberus3dog: My friend and I, while working at Gamestop when this came out, had so many laughs at this title's expense. I like the hero being a punk-ass bard, though. Cool choice.

Edit: Infinite Undiscovery's the subject, btw. Not Deus Ex.

The Half-Life series. Not only are they all catchy names but they are all references to terms and phenomenon within physics, with the story being about theoretical physics gone wrong and the main protagonist being a physicist

Half-Life - The time needed for half of the radioactive atoms to decay.

Opposing Force - Physics again, plus you are playing on the enemy team aka the OPFOR to use military terms.

Blue Shift - Physics once again, something with decreation of a wavelength. Also you play as Barney the security guard. Wears blue, is on one of his worst shifts to date.

Honorable mention: Left 4 Dead in combination with the cover art:

It's the left hand. 4 fingers, representing the 4 players. Seems to be a zombie hand or at least a zombie in the making due to the bitten off thumb = dead.

TL;DR: I'm a sucker for word play.

All though the name entirely stems from the pen and paper game, "Vampire: The Masquerade" (bloodlines or redemption) is a great title and perfectly invokes what their universe is all about.

Also helps that bloodlines is one of my favorite games.

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble

DEFCON: Everybody Dies

Nobody has mentioned Sins of a Solar Empire

Grim Fandango, L.A. Noire, Psychonauts, Super Hexagon, The Swapper, and Limbo all have pretty great names.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch. I don't even like the game that much but I chuckle every time I read/say it.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It's the perfect name for something so insane and stupid. Also it's in all caps on Steam which makes it look even dumber and in your face.

@shagge said:

Two great choices, hard for me to think of ones I really like more.

Thought of one:

I love Bioshock: Infinite, explains so much (and so little) in the title alone. Was something that blew my mind when watching the ending.

Also really messed up shit keeps happening to Max so it is like he is in the max emotional (and physical) pain too.

I'm kind of fond of Binary Domain, there are robots everywhere who probably have some sort of binary code in their systems and they take over wherever they are so it is their domain. It's kind of a nice name for a silly silly game.

@thatfrood: Sins of a Solar Empire is a really good name. I wish there was more of a story / campaign in the game itself as that intro cutscene always interests me in the universe. Spent a good chunk of time reading the backgrounds on the factions.

I also love Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The first time I saw a friend play it on Steam and it popped up in all caps was great.

The Halo name has always seemed good to me, since they're integral throughout the story. Though less so after 3, with you shattering the Ark and all.

Shin megami tensei: Devil summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs king Abbaddon.

Just rolls of the tongue.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Two Rogue Spear: mission pack: The Urban Operations

and for a non joke answer Trenched

I am of the opinion that there is no such things as a bad title. There simply are titles that strive to grab the attention of the potential player with various combinations of (few) words that describes the theme, story, feel and/or mechanics of the game as efficiently and beautifully/ruggedly as possible. Some attempts may be more straight-forward while others remain somewhat ambiguous evoking the imagination of the reader more readily, but neither of these approaches would garner an outright ire of folk, certainly not from myself.

But as to the question in the thread title itself, if I had to choose just one title of all the games I've ever played, the "correct" answer would be:

Papers, please: I can't remember the exact feelings I had when upon first reading or hearing the name, but just looking at it; the politeness marker, the alliteration and, best of all, the rare use of a comma had me squirming in some kind of delight over its combined elegance. The title simply made me want to instantly find out more about the game and eventually play it.

I feel like there's an extra level to it where it's also justa really generic video gamey military shooter title, which kind of feeds into the criticisms that game makes of military shooters. It's funny how well it works for what they made, given the circumstances that brought that game around, ie publisher had military shooter IP and generic game was kind of precisely what they wanted.

Anyway, Grim Fandango is the thing that instantly comes to mind for me. It captures the essence of the game perfectly, representing both the aspects of death and hispanic culture while also conjuring up an image of the whirlwind of mystery and intrigue in the story. But it's also just a really wonderful name, an exceptionally pleasing combination of words.

The coveted Best-Game-With-The-Worst-Name trophy probably has to go to Mark Of The Ninja. Absolutely one of the most satisfying gameplay experiences I've had in the last few years, but man, that title. Maybe they were going for a B-grade ninja action movie-esque title? Like it's a Len Kabasinski movie or something? Oh well, Klei redeemed themselves with the title Don't Starve!