Graduate Games Blog

If you’ve been following the blog at all, you know that we have been very indecisive on our game name and have struggled with a title (see part 1 and part 2).  Some people have shared in our plight and frustration with naming our game, while a ton of others have offered suggestions (or jokes) that helped us brainstorm and come up with our list of potential game names (vote in the right sidebar of our blog). 

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There have been a few people on gaming forums out there, who have mentioned that all the potential names are too bland or generic.  After going through all this trouble to name our game, I was initially frustrated about these comments, but the more I’ve thought about it the more I’ve taken it as a complement.  There are a few sci-fi games out there that came up with an iconic/original title and been successful.  Metroid and Halo come to mind specifically.  People should remember a few things about these popular sci-fi franchises though that make coming up with such a unique game title challenging for an indie developer:

• Metroid was originally released for the NES in the 1980s and has had decades and numerous games to build their ‘brand’ name.  The game also had the benefit of being a early Nintendo property.
• Halo 1 was subtitled: Combat Evolved – because its title didn’t tell consumers what type of game it was.  After the first game’s blockbuster success, Bungie dropped the subtitle.
• Both of these games were backed by substantial publishers (Nintendo & Microsoft) who could market and advertise the game

I’m sure that there are other unique game titles that I haven’t thought of, but there are a ton of generically titled games that have been hugely successful.  I don’t find Modern Warfare a particularly original title, but what’s great about it is that it describes exactly what the game/gameplay is about: Modern Warfare i.e. shooting and killing people.  Another good example of this comes from another indie developer.  Cliffski’s newest game Gratuitous Space Battles has a very generic title, but it tells the consumer exactly what the game is about.  There are a ton of generic sci-fi game names out there: Mass Effect, Killzone, Starscape, Star Control, Starcraft, Lost Planet, Homeworld, etc.  Another added benefit to a generic title is that its title will be SEO friendly and people who don’t know the game’s title will be more likely to stumble upon it.

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Regardless, I think our voting process will result in a good title for our game.  Then we can move past this nonsense.