Top 10 game name shockers

Tuesday5 September 2006
In light of Bully'snew, but less punchy title(all puns intended), we wondered if Canis Canem Edit really is up there with the dodgier names to grace game shelves over the years.

We rummaged deep into our collective brain sacks for some of the most baffling, long-winded, utter nonsense game names that we've ever encountered. So, for your mild amusement, here's our top 10 madcap monikers...

10. Deus Ex
Another Latin lesson - taken from 'deus ex machina', or 'god from the machine' - though producer Warren Spector cheerily noted that if PC gamers mispronounced it as 'Do Sex' it'd probably increase sales.

9. Vagrant Story
One of PSone's most beautiful, intricate and memorable action-RPGs, but from a glance at the spine card you'd think it was a tramp simulator.

8. Azurik: Rise of Perathia
It's tough enough being an original launch title for a brand new machine (in Azurik's case, Xbox) - even more so when you sound like an airport departure terminal's cut-price fantasy paperback.

7. Xenosaga Epsiode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra
Or, for that matter, Episode I: Der Wille Zur Macht and Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose. Nothing says 'accessible console RPG' like Japanese sci-fi mixed with German philosophy, right Namco?

6. Dragon Quest VIII: The Sky, The Sea, The Earth and The Cursed Princess
Scarily not the longest subtitle in Japanese RPG history, Square-Enix resisted the temptation to call the extra-content-featuring Western release The Sky, The Sea, The Earth, The Cursed Princess and The Kitchen Sink.