Top 5 Silly Names for Game BrandsRiding the extreme bleeding wave into the radical future of the pushed envelope.
What do you do when you're planning on publishing some unconventional "extreme" games that might be riding too crazy on the bleeding edge to stamp your regular old name on them? If history has taught us anything, it's that you've gotta spin off a new label -- preferably, one with a goofy name that will disappear after publishing one or two titles.
The most recent of the extreme names, Surge is "targeted at satiating the appetite of Western gamers." While the exaggeratedly hopeful press release didn't offer any real specifics, the phrase "push the envelope" was used. The name, however, implies that these games will be every bit as much fun as nasty energy drinks, having electronic devices damaged by irregular voltage, or getting shipped overseas to fight an unpopular war.
O2 was a label developed exclusively for Tony Hawk and Matt Hoffman games. I sincerely haven't even the slightest inkling of the beginnings of the faintest notion of an idea why they called it, essentially, oxygen. Granted, Hoffman and Hawk probably do gulp down tons of the stuff, but I don't think that makes anyone who isn't a houseplant particularly special. Maybe they were just hoping to get sued by Oprah. Which, to be fair, would have been hilarious.
Eidos used this for titles like Mr. Mosquito a few years back. Yeah. I know of only one possible circumstance where this wouldn't sound completely silly, and Eidos didn't publish Prince of Persia.
While AKA Acclaim sounds maybe a little bit dodgy and leaves us wondering who Acclaim really is, upon learning that AKA stood for "Athletes Kick Ass," we entered into a whole new world of stupid. Especially considering that the label was made for BMX XXX, and that by "kick ass," they must have meant "are topless crack whores." They could have just called it YMSBWMTGAHA. (Your Mother Sucks, But We Made This Game About Her Anyway.)
A short-lived label for the localization of odd-duck Japanese shooters, Spaz didn't last very long. Which is fine, considering that we really didn't need our games calling us names in the opening titles. The label and logo were mildly irritating Stateside, but I can't really imagine anyone taking it well in the U.K., where "spaz" is a stronger pejorative for disabled people. Focus groups must have liked it slightly better than "Retard Cripple Games," though they kept the logo of a guy having a seizure.
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