Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Red Barrels]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/31/whats-in-a-name-red-barrels/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/31/whats-in-a-name-red-barrels/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/31/whats-in-a-name-red-barrels/#comments David Chateauneuf and Philippe Morin are both ex-Ubisoft guys who always wanted to make a horror game but couldn't while employed by the French publisher. Now the two have struck out on their own to form Red Barrels, an independent studio currently working on the Unreal-powered Outlast. We asked them how they could possibly come up with such an original name as Red Barrels.

"Actually, coming up with the name was one of the hardest things. Doing the trailer was pretty easy and straightforward, but agreeing upon the name was harder than we expected. We had to do lists and votes and stuff like that. Eventually it just came down to what everybody was cool with. And also I guess we thought that it would give us an opportunity to do something cool visually. So it was basically going through a list, voting and what everyone felt comfortable with, we went with that."

In response to that, I asked if Red Barrels was a democratic studio - a decision by committee kind of outfit.

"We have a pretty flat structure - I wouldn't say it's democratic, but pretty close to it."

Outlast is launching sometime in 2013 on PC (Steam) through an agreement with Valve.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Red Barrels originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>david-chateauneufoutlastpcphilippe-morinred-barrelsred-barrels-gameswhats-in-a-nameWed, 31 Oct 2012 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Bungie Aerospace]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/19/whats-in-a-name-bungie-aerospace/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/19/whats-in-a-name-bungie-aerospace/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/19/whats-in-a-name-bungie-aerospace/#comments Bernard Yee is the Aerospace Portfolio Manager for Bungie, tasked with helping the newly independent studio expand into digitally distributed frontiers. He's previously worked on everything from EverQuest at Sony Online Entertainment to Rock Band at Harmonix.

The name came about a couple ways: There are a bunch of real space industry fans at Bungie; like when the shuttle launch happened, a bunch of people from the studio went down to Florida to watch it. So there's a bunch of aerospace engineering fans at the studio and I think the name came about partially from that.

There's an expression in Latin, and I forget what it is in Latin, but it's "to boldly go into the stars" [Ed: "per audacia ad astra"] and I think that saying sort of personified Bungie's feeling of being independent again. We could be cross-platform, we weren't tied to any specific console device anymore, we're getting to do something new with a big IP. And as specifically applied to Bungie Aerospace, the idea that there were a whole host of platforms like iOS and Android and PC/Steam and to a similar degree XBLA and PSN; that there were different game experiences being developed there.

It's almost like the mammals underfoot the dinosaurs, something interesting was happening. Bungie is a very technically capable studio and we clearly see the trajectory of these hardware devices. We understand the things that make Bungie a great game studio on console were going to be increasingly relevant in this space, with iOS devices. But it wasn't 100% transferable, right? The lessons we learned on console will be useful on the mobile platform but they're going to be different game experiences. Maybe the game sessions are 20 minutes instead of two hours. I think I remember reading that Torchlight's average game session was about 20 or 30 minutes. I would guess that Halo or Call of Duty's average is much longer.

The idea is that we want to understand this platform because it's relevant to us as game creators and there's a lot to learn. We wanted to do this as a way to grow Bungie's expertise and reach into other areas. That's where the Aerospace name came from.

Bungie Aerospace recently released its first title, Crimson: Steam Pirates, from developer Harebrained Schemes. It's available for iPad from the iOS App Store.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Bungie Aerospace originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>androidbernie-yeebungiebungie-aerospacecrimson-steam-piratesiosipadiphonemobilewhats-in-a-nameWed, 19 Oct 2011 15:45:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Gaikai]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/16/whats-in-a-name-gaikai/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/16/whats-in-a-name-gaikai/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/16/whats-in-a-name-gaikai/#comments David Perry, Co-Founder and CEO of Gaikai, sat down with us during last week's Game Developers Conference: Online in Austin, TX. Over the howl of the expo floor's contemporary rock soundtrack, David let us in on Gaikai's mysterious branding:

"Basically one of our founders, his name is Rui Pereira, he came up with this name 'Gaikai,' and I said, 'Oh my God, no one will ever be able to pronounce that, no one will ever be able to spell that, this is a bad idea.' And of course, there's all the following conversations, what about all the other strange words that are out there: The Googles, and the Kodaks, and the, you know, the Xeroxes?

"There's all these strange things that are out there, so what's wrong with having a strange name? I then took a marketing class in Texas, and they explained the idea of 'mystique marketing;' it's actually cool to have a hard-to-say name, because it means if you know how to pronounce it, then you're in the club.

"So any time you hear Gaikai pronounced wrong, you can go 'Hrm, this guy doesn't know what it means, or how to say it even.' That's mystique marketing, so I thought, 'Huh, maybe we give this a try.'

"It turns that the actual word is a Japanese word, and it means 'a large open space,' like out on the open ocean, and if you look around on the open ocean, you can go in any direction. And that's what we believe cloud gaming enables."

Gaikai is a technology company that provides streaming game middleware to third-party corporations such as Walmart.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Gaikai originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dave-perrydavid-perrygaikaigame-developers-conference-onlineGDCGDC-Online-2011GDCORui-Pereirawhats-in-a-nameSun, 16 Oct 2011 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[What's In A Name: Dancing Dots Studio]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/30/whats-in-a-name-dancing-dots-studio/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/30/whats-in-a-name-dancing-dots-studio/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/30/whats-in-a-name-dancing-dots-studio/#comments Martial Hesse-Dréville, Dancing Dots Studio's managing director, explains how his studio came up with its energetic name. No, they're not fans of Dancing with the Stars -- turns out, the explanation is much more straightforward than that!

"I named Dancing Dots just for the fact that what we do, at the core, is making pixels move. Moving pixels then lead me to think of dancing dots. It's a catchy title and playing a game is about having fun, something that dancing is too. Dancing expresses that something is fun."

Dancing Dots Studio is currently working on Rotastic, due out on Xbox Live Arcade on September 21. The PSN launch is currently slated for January.

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JoystiqWhat's In A Name: Dancing Dots Studio originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dancing-dots-studiomicrosoftplaystationps3psnrotasticwhats-in-a-namexblaxboxTue, 30 Aug 2011 18:30:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Thekla, Inc.]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/09/whats-in-a-name-thekla-inc/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/09/whats-in-a-name-thekla-inc/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/09/whats-in-a-name-thekla-inc/#comments Thekla, Inc.'s Jonathan Blow, creative lead of Braid and upcoming game The Witness, revealed the following Italo Calvino quote, from the book "Invisible Cities," as the origin behind his new dev studio's name.

"Those who arrive at Thekla can see little of the city, beyond the plank fences, the sackcloth screens, the scaffoldings, the metal armatures, the wooden catwalks hanging from ropes or supported by sawhorses, the ladders, the trestles. If you ask 'Why is Thekla's construction taking such a long time?' the inhabitants continue hoisting sacks, lowering leaded strings, moving long brushes up and down, as they answer 'So that it's destruction cannot begin.' And if asked whether they fear that, once the scaffoldings are removed, the city may begin to crumble and fall to pieces, they add hastily, in a whisper, 'Not only the city.'

If, dissatisfied with the answers, someone puts his eye to a crack in a fence, he sees cranes pulling up other cranes, scaffoldings that embrace other scaffoldings, beams that prop up other beams. 'What meaning does your construction have?' he asks. 'What is the aim of a city under construction unless it is a city? Where is the plan you are following, the blueprint?'

'We will show it to you as soon as the working day is over; we cannot interrupt our work now,' they answer.

Work stops at sunset. Darkness falls over the building site. The sky is filled with stars. 'There is the blueprint,' they say."

- Italo Calvino, "Invisible Cities"

JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Thekla, Inc. originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>italo-calvinojonathan-blowthe-witnesstheklathekla-incwhats-in-a-nameTue, 09 Aug 2011 06:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Toys for Bob]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/06/whats-in-a-name-toys-for-bob/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/06/whats-in-a-name-toys-for-bob/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/06/whats-in-a-name-toys-for-bob/#comments Toys for Bob's Paul Reiche III, co-creator of the Star Control series and Pandemonium, lets us in on the thinking behind his studio's name.

Whenever you're putting together a studio, right, it's like name, t-shirt, and then let's do the contract. So Fred [Ford] and I had formed a partnership to do Star Control 1. And we had all of these different names laid out, including this Bosco the Bee mascot that didn't work out. And finally my wife -- she's a poet, very interested in psychology -- she said create a name that generates interest, that doesn't distance yourself from people, and that you can reinvent.

I love toys, I always have, and she knows that and Fred knows that. And so it was just a perfect fit. Bob is also a universal name -- everyone knows a Bob, I used to listen to the Bill Cosby and he was always talking about Bob the mechanic. And part of my brain is just permanently Bob.

We have an official rule, which is that everyone gets their own Bob, whoever you want. "Toys for Bob Kotick" is a fairly good analogy for us, since he's paid for everything we've done. But I'm a sort of a Church of the SubGenius guy myself.

Toys for Bob is currently working on Activision's Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, due out later on this year.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Toys for Bob originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>activisionnamenintendopaul-reichepaul-reiche-iiiskylanders-spyros-adventuretoys-for-bobwhats-in-a-namewiiMon, 06 Jun 2011 05:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: LightBox Interactive]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/13/whats-in-a-name-lightbox-interactive/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/13/whats-in-a-name-lightbox-interactive/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/13/whats-in-a-name-lightbox-interactive/#comments While a raucous Starhawk multiplayer session went on in the front two rows of Austin's Alamo Drafthouse theater, LightBox Interactive creative director Lars DeVore spoke to Joystiq about the high concept behind the name of the studio formed by Incognito expats.

We sat around and we did the whole list of names. What it comes down to is that the "lightbox" itself is the idea of restrained energy.

We felt like we were at a point as a studio where we were boxed in, and we wanted to be able to explode that box, and to express this energy, these ideas, and this creativity openly. We wanted to be able to bust out. Get that feeling out there.

LightBox Interactive is working on Starhawk, a PS3 exclusive coming out in early 2012.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: LightBox Interactive originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 13 May 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>lightbox-interactiveplaystationps3starhawkwhats-in-a-nameFri, 13 May 2011 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[What's In A Name: Beenox]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/26/whats-in-a-name-beenox/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/26/whats-in-a-name-beenox/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/26/whats-in-a-name-beenox/#comments Dee Brown, Studio Head at Spider-Man: Edge of Time developer Beenox, gave us the origin story of the Quebec-based studio's name. Were any radioactive spills or gamma rays involved?

"When I was in high school, I was already thinking about creating my own games and starting my own development studio and I was already writing programs that I would publish on the internet. I was always using my real name at the time and everyone else was using a label or a comic hero name or something else.

"I was in a chemistry course one day and I was really bored, so I started thinking about my future game company. I was writing stuff in my book and I thought of a bunch of names but, for some reason, I really wanted an 'X' in my name. So I was writing a whole bunch of names with an X in them and eventually I wrote 'Beenox.'

"I thought to myself, 'That kinda sounds cool' so I kept it and started using it. I then incorporated the name and started googling and found it was free; it was available."

Beenox is currently working on Spider-Man: Edge of Time, which is slated to launch on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS and 3DS.

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JoystiqWhat's In A Name: Beenox originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>3dsactivisionbeenoxdsmicrosoftnintendoplaystationps3spiderman-edge-of-timewhats-in-a-namewiixboxTue, 26 Apr 2011 23:15:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Arrowhead Game Studios]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/01/whats-in-a-name-arrowhead-game-studios/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/01/whats-in-a-name-arrowhead-game-studios/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/01/whats-in-a-name-arrowhead-game-studios/#comments Arrowhead Game Studios Johan Pilestedt is CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios, the Swedish developer responsible for Magicka. He recently revealed to us the origin of the studio's name and the meaning behind its seemingly dim-witted mascot.

Originally, when the studio was just a "student project," the group called themselves Team Arrowhead. "Arrowhead" was a play on Pilestedt's name, which, in English, means "arrow stead." "But wait, there's more to this story!" says Pilestedt.

Continue reading What's in a Name: Arrowhead Game Studios

JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Arrowhead Game Studios originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Arrowhead-Game-StudiosJohan-PilestedtMagickapcwhats-in-a-nameFri, 01 Apr 2011 19:10:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: EA2D]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/16/whats-in-a-name-ea2d/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/16/whats-in-a-name-ea2d/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/16/whats-in-a-name-ea2d/#comments Mark Spenner is the vice president and general manager of Electronic Arts' EA2D studio, which makes smaller games with smaller teams. It's just launched Dragon Age Legends on Facebook and is working on an XBLA/PSN version of the Flash hit The Fancy Pants Adventures. Spenner elucidated the meaning of the studio's name in a conversation with Joystiq at South by Southwest Interactive:

"A lot of people think 'EA2D' is about graphics, because obviously the '2D,' but the inspiration was: We wanted to get back to small teams, core gameplay. We had this manifesto at EA when it was founded, all about that -- and about making people cry through video games. So very player-focused; 'back to our roots' gameplay; and then not worry so much about the number of pixels we're pushing onto the screen.

"So that was the genesis of the name, and then some fabulous people at EA did this logo for us, which captured the spirit perfectly."

Dragon Age Legends is playable on Facebook. Fancy Pants Adventures is due on XBLA and PSN this spring.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: EA2D originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ea2dmark-spennermicrosoftpcplaystationps3whats-in-a-namexboxWed, 16 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Demiurge Studios]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/10/whats-in-a-name-demiurge-studios/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/10/whats-in-a-name-demiurge-studios/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/10/whats-in-a-name-demiurge-studios/#comments Demiurge Albert Reed is the studio director and co-founder of Demiurge Studios, the Boston-based team responsible for the forthcoming Shoot Many Robots and a mess of contract work with Harmonix' Rock Band franchise, Gearbox Studios' Brothers in Arms and Borderlands franchises, and many more. Reed discussed the origin of his studio's name during an interview with us at GDC:

"Late night with a thesaurus searching for words that mean 'creativity' and 'innovation.' So the demiurge was -- there's a bunch of different interpretations of it, some of which are sort of ... mean to religions. I don't know. But the one that we originated from was the Greek philosopher Plato needed -- there was no one in the Greek pantheon of Gods who sort of created the Earth, there wasn't much of a creation myth there. So the demiurge was sort of responsible for forming the material world. So the Earth and trees and all that stuff, right? And so since we make worlds inside of video games, that seemed appropriate."

Shoot Many Robots is being planned for digital launch later this year on consoles, and currently has no publisher.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Demiurge Studios originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 02:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>albert-reeddemiurgedemiurge-studiosgdcgdc-2011shoot-many-robotswhats-in-a-nameThu, 10 Mar 2011 02:18:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Chair Entertainment]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/02/whats-in-a-name-chair-entertainment/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/02/whats-in-a-name-chair-entertainment/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/02/whats-in-a-name-chair-entertainment/#comments Chair Entertainment Donald Mustard is the creative director and co-founder of Chair Entertainment, the Salt Lake City-based team responsible for 2009's Xbox Live Arcade hit Shadow Complex and last year's iOS hit Infinity Blade. He discussed the origin of his studio's during a panel at GDC:

"The idea of 'Chair' comes from Plato's theory of forms. You guys all remember your Philosophy 101 class from university? Plato theorizes that everything exists in a perfect state, in some metaphysical state, and everything else is just an emulation of that metaphysical perfection. And he uses the example of a chair.

"All of you are now sitting on a chair but if you look around through GDC, you'll see lots of different chairs that look different but all follow the same function. [Plato] postulates that all those chairs are all trying to become the perfect chair that is kind of out there, somewhere.

"And we thought that was actually an applicable concept to game design. Because when we sit around and talk about games, or think about them in our head first, we think, 'Oh man it would be so awesome if this game was like this, or like this, or like that.' And then in our head, it's this perfect thing. And then we have to go through the process of actually making that game and it's never -- at least in my experience -- it's never as perfect as what we first envisioned in our heads.

"So 'Chair' to us means the pursuit of perfection. It's trying to actually get to that ideal image that was first in our head when we thought about it."

Infinity Blade is available -- and still being updated -- on the iTunes App Store as a universal app, compatible with both iPhone and iPad, for $5.99.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Chair Entertainment originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Chair-EntertainmentDonald-MustardiPadiPhonemicrosoftmobilewhats-in-a-namexblaxboxWed, 02 Mar 2011 18:40:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Uber Entertainment]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/01/whats-in-a-name-uber-entertainment/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/01/whats-in-a-name-uber-entertainment/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/01/whats-in-a-name-uber-entertainment/#comments Uber Entertainment Bob Berry is the CEO of Uber Entertainment, which launched its debut title, Monday Night Combat, on Xbox Live Arcade last August. Here's his story on the origin of his studio's name:

"At least since the late 90s the term 'uber' has been thrown around in online gaming communities. It's always meant 'powerful,' 'over-powered,' or just 'awesome.' It so happens that I was playing a good deal of Team Fortress 2 in the fall of 2007 when Uber Entertainment was conceived. 'Uber' was the perfect word to reflect many aspects of our business. It spoke to the kinds of games we would make, the fans we would connect with, and it would embody our general philosophy of hiring great people. The goal was to create a company that was indeed 'Uber.'

"The company was born of a desire to make games differently. A fundamental part of this philosophy is our 'whiteboxing' process (there are many terms for it), whereby we create our core gameplay and do the majority of our iteration with placeholder art assets. The core team that was assembled shared the same philosophy and vision for making games. One such person was our art director Chandana 'Eka' Ekanayake, who took it upon himself to embody this philosophy in our company logo. The abstract man holding up the giant white box in an Atlas-like pose represents both our development philosophy and the Uber nature of the people that are the company."

Uber's Monday Night Combat is currently available from the Xbox Live Marketplace for $15.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Uber Entertainment originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Bob-Berrymicrosoftmonday-night-combatUber-EntertainmentWhats-in-a-NameXBLAxboxTue, 01 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: PopCap Games]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/28/whats-in-a-name-popcap-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/28/whats-in-a-name-popcap-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/28/whats-in-a-name-popcap-games/#comments During another long night of shakes and sweats, suffering from what was surely some PopCap Games withdrawal, we pondered the origin story of the electronic pharmaceutical giant's name. We spoke with PopCap Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Jason Kapalka for the answer:

"First thing is that [PopCap Games] wasn't our name originally. The original name was 'Sexy Action Cool,'" Kapalka told us. "Back at university in Edmonton, there was an inside joke because some people had a basement suite with this big movie poster of Antonio Banderas in Desperado. It had this movie quote at the top that said: Sexy. Action. Cool."

"It became an inside joke on how nobody could imagine using Sexy Action Cool in a real sentence. We'd walk around saying, 'You see that movie?' 'Yeah, it was sexy, action, cool.' Or 'That couch? That couch is really sexy, action, cool.'"

The company founders snagged the related URL (which now directs to PopCap proper) and continued to not think much of the name, at first. As the site grew, however, it became clear that "Sexy Action Cool" was an awkward destination for mass-market family games.

Continue reading What's in a Name: PopCap Games

JoystiqWhat's in a Name: PopCap Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dsmicrosoftmobilenintendopcPlants-vs-ZombiesplaystationPopCapPopCap-Gamesps3pspsonywhats-in-a-namewiixboxMon, 28 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Obsidian Entertainment]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/25/whats-in-a-name-obisidian-entertainment/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/25/whats-in-a-name-obisidian-entertainment/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/25/whats-in-a-name-obisidian-entertainment/#comments Feargus Urquhart co-founded Obsidian Entertainment (Knights of the Old Republic 2, Fallout: New Vegas) after Interplay's Black Isle Studios closed in 2003.

After we left Black Isle, we were going to start a company and we needed a new name. We wanted it to be a good name, a strong name, and we wanted it to be something that people would remember. And so we threw all of these names around -- we had Scorched Earth, we had Three Clown Software, and lots of other stuff. And eventually Obsidian got on that list, because we were Black Isle, and what's something like that?

And someone said there's that Obsidian thing, that glassy, magma stuff, and we put it on there. So we came down literally with a short list, and we showed it to our significant others. And they were like, "All these names are dumb, except that one." So really it was the significant others that actually said that's what they would name a company, because it sounds cool, it has some relevance ... and it's not Three Clown Software.

Obsidian Entertainment is currently working on Dungeon Siege 3, available this May and published by Square Enix.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Obsidian Entertainment originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>black-isle-studiosdungeon-siege-3feargus-urquhartobsidian-entertainmentwhats-in-a-nameFri, 25 Feb 2011 18:10:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Black Isle Studios]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/23/whats-in-a-name-black-isle-studios/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/23/whats-in-a-name-black-isle-studios/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/23/whats-in-a-name-black-isle-studios/#comments
Feargus Urquhart is now known as the co-founder of Obsidian Entertainment, but before that he helped found Black Isle Studios, a division of Interplay that created some PC RPG classics like the original Fallout series, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment.

I took over the RPG division of Interplay in 1996, and we were trying to come up with a name, because "RPG Division" didn't work. Or people wanted to call it Dragon Play, and I'm a big nerd, but Dragon Play was too much, too nerdy. And we came up with all of these different things, we came up with 12 Gauge, but that didn't really fit us, and we came up with this and that. And I was always holding back a name, because it was me, it was from my history.

So where Black Isle came from was that there is, more of a peninsula really, but there's an isle in Scotland, and it's called the Black Isle, and that's actually where the Urquharts came from. So I was always going to hold that back for when I got to start a studio, but Brian Fargo, who ran Interplay, was getting mad at me, and was like, "You just need a name!" And he walked in and was going to come in at me, and I was like alright, I got a name, and it's Black Isle. He was like, "That's perfect!" And that's how Black Isle Studios got named.

Black Isle Studios was laid off from Interplay in 2003, when most of its team went on to create Obsidian Entertainment, currently working on Dungeon Siege 3 with Square Enix. Stay tuned for the story behind Obsidian's name from Urquhart himself.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Black Isle Studios originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>black-isle-studiosdragon-playfeargus-urquhartinterplayrpgwhats-in-a-nameWed, 23 Feb 2011 21:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: TimeGate Studios]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/23/whats-in-a-name-timegate-studios/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/23/whats-in-a-name-timegate-studios/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/23/whats-in-a-name-timegate-studios/#comments Timegate Studios Most of the time, company names are obscure enough that we have no clue what their origin is. In the case of TimeGate Studios we always thought we had a fairly good idea, but, as it happens, we were just letting our Richard Dean Anderson obsession cloud our judgment.

Joystiq: So, TimeGate. You were just watching a lot of Stargate, right?

TimeGate Studios head Adel Chaveleh: "The concept was that we had a lot of different ideas for game types -- there was fantasy-themed, WWII-themed, sci-fi. Basically, as a company, we want to kind of be a portal to our fans and to ourselves to different worlds and universes. So TimeGate was the name that we came up with that seemed to kind of communicate that. Ironically, it played out exactly that way. It's like, fantasy with Kohan, and Axis & Allies is WWII, and here we are with our own sci-fi franchise [Section 8]. I'm trying to think of what other time periods we can go to, but we'll see I guess." [laughs]

TimeGate Studios' next title, Section 8: Prejudice, will be available for download on PC, 360 and PS3 this year.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: TimeGate Studios originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>microsoftpcplaystationps3section-8-prejudicetimegate-studioswhats-in-a-namexboxWed, 23 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: InXile Entertainment]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/16/whats-in-a-name-inxile-entertainment/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/16/whats-in-a-name-inxile-entertainment/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/16/whats-in-a-name-inxile-entertainment/#comments It's time for another titular origin story! Today, Matthew Findley, president of inXile Entertainment, explains the creation of a studio name haunting English teachers everywhere:

I worked with Brian Fargo at Interplay for a number of years and we both left Interplay at the same time. We knew we wanted to stay in video games, so starting a company seemed like a good idea -- he spent 20 years at Interplay and I was there for 13. When we were first out there, trying to figure out what to do next, we kinda felt like we were in exile, and we made fake cards with a fake company name just to have a card to go to E3 with.

And before we ever thought of the name "inXile," Brian put as his job description on the cards: "Leader in exile." People got such a kick out of that card, we kept saying "in exile, in exile, in exile" so much that we just thought, "Why not make up a new word?" And so we did.

InXile is currently working on Hunted: The Demon's Forge, which will launch on the Xbox 360 and PS3 on June 1.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: InXile Entertainment originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>HuntedHunted-The-Demons-ForgeinXileinXile-entertainmentMatthew-Findleymicrosoftplaystationps3whats-in-a-namexboxWed, 16 Feb 2011 10:25:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Insomniac Games]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/15/whats-in-a-name-insomniac-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/15/whats-in-a-name-insomniac-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/15/whats-in-a-name-insomniac-games/#comments
 We were unable to sleep while wondering about the origin story of Insomniac Games' name, but now we've got the answer from CEO and President Ted Price. Time to make that warm glass of milk and go to bed:

It was the spring of 1996 and we were getting ready to announce our first game (Disruptor) at E3. At the time, we were doing business as Xtreme Software. But, right before we began working on the press release for the game, we found out that an Arizona database company was also called Xtreme. I don't know how they found us, but I remember getting a letter from a lawyer explaining that we couldn't use their name. Suddenly we had a few days to find a new moniker.

We put up a white board and started writing down every name we could think of. We had about 100 that seemed viable. Some of the more popular ones were Ragnarok, Black Sun, Monument, Planet X and Firestorm. My personal favorite was one that [Chief Creative Officer] Brian Hastings had suggested - Ice-9. We liked it so much that we got permission from Kurt Vonnegut to use it. Ironically, it turned out that someone who HADN'T gotten permission from Kurt was already using it. And similarly all of our other favorites were in use.

With about 24 hours to go Insomniac Games popped up. It made sense given we weren't sleeping much anyway. And incredibly, no one else was using it. Since then our logo has changed a couple of times. But fortunately the name has stuck.

Insomniac Games' next two titles, Resistance 3 and Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, are scheduled for later this year on PlayStation 3.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Insomniac Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>playstationps3Ratchet-and-Clank-All-4-OneResistance-3ted-pricewhats-in-a-nameTue, 15 Feb 2011 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: BioWare]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/13/whats-in-a-name-bioware/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/13/whats-in-a-name-bioware/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/13/whats-in-a-name-bioware/#comments

It's time for the BioWare: Origins name story. At DICE 2011, we had the opportunity to ask Drs. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk how their studio got its name:

Dr. Ray Muzyka: "The three founders, Greg, myself and [Augustine Yip] our third partner, we were all medical doctors by training, so it was a tongue-in-cheek reference to us being medical doctors. It was also a reference to software for humans. The original logo had the BioWare name and then a robot hand and human hand, the idea of a machine and human interface. ... We thought it was a memorable name and it was free [for use], as well. The idea of the medical reference was quite popular, it's continually come back up over the past couple decades, so in that sense it was a pretty good name, I guess."

Dr. Greg Zeschuk: "I think it was that and the software for humans concept. We're making software for people: Bio. Ware. ... We wanted something interesting, cool, memorable. I think the medical piece was the big thing, but also the interface concept."

Muzyka: "We dropped the two hands as part of the logo. Our early business cards had it ..."

Zeschuk: "... and T-shirts. Collector's T-shirts."

BioWare will launch Dragon Age 2 in March and The Old Republic sometime in 2011.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: BioWare originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>BioWaregreg-zeschukmass-effect-3microsoftpcplaystationps3ray-muzykawhats-in-a-namexboxSun, 13 Feb 2011 20:30:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: 2D Boy]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/03/whats-in-a-name-2d-boy/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/03/whats-in-a-name-2d-boy/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/03/whats-in-a-name-2d-boy/#comments It's time for another origin story of an industry presence. Today, Kyle Gabler explains how he and partner Ron Carmel came up with their studio name, 2D Boy, using the process of elimination:

Ron and I bummed around for a few weeks throwing names back and forth. They were all either awful, a sexual euphemism or their domain was being squatted on. Some examples for you:
  • "Funk Button": We thought that sounded pretty great! And in every game, we could have a "Funk button," where when you press it, all the characters drop everything and dance! But then we looked it up on Urban Dictionary. I recommend everyone search Urban Dictionary before naming their game/studio/baby/etc.
  • "Power of 2": because we are two guys with powerful muscles. Unfortunately this was also the name of a Christian rock band. And a year or so later, another game related business named itself the same thing.
  • "Big Kitty," "Milky Dolphin" and "Sassy Weasel": Basically, every possible combination of words in the form of "adjective plus animal" was already taken as a game studio in Australia or somewhere. There's even a group actually called Adjective Animal.
  • "Huge," "Massive" and "Enormous": Every possible synonym of the word "big" is already a game studio. We're an industry of confidence.
"2D Boy!" We liked that it was short, it immediately conjured up an awkward little 2D kid lost in a 3D world as a mascot, and it was not big or powerful or assuming in any way. And the 5-character domain was actually available. For a while, people (like our bank in San Francisco and my dad) thought this was some sort of gay porn business. But after we made World of Goo, that showed them!

2D Boy's World of Goo is currently available on WiiWare, PC, Mac and iPad.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: 2D Boy originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>2d-boyipadkyle-gablermacmobilenintendopcwhats-in-a-namewiiThu, 03 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Double Fine]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/31/whats-in-a-name-double-fine/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/31/whats-in-a-name-double-fine/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/31/whats-in-a-name-double-fine/#comments It's time for another origin story of an industry presence. Today, we've got Double Fine's Tim Schafer, who can thank Uncle Sam for the inspiration of his studio's name:

It came from this sign that used to be on the Golden Gate Bridge. I used to drive down from Sonoma when I was a teenager to see rock shows in the city, and I'd see that sign that said, "Slow to 45 mph, Double Fine Zone" and I thought, man, if I had a band I would name it "Double Fine" so that people would think I bought a really expensive billboard on the GG bridge. All of San Francisco is now declared a Double Fine Zone. Since I never got around to starting that band, or even learning how to play an instrument, I had to use the name somewhere!

Double Fine is currently working on a title for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network called Stacking. Like this feature? Be sure to check out the What's In A Name Archives.

JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Double Fine originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>double-finemicrosoftplaystationps3stackingtim-schaferwhats-in-a-namexboxMon, 31 Jan 2011 18:30:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Shadegrown Games]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/28/whats-in-a-name-shadegrown-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/28/whats-in-a-name-shadegrown-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/28/whats-in-a-name-shadegrown-games/#comments
 It's time for another origin story of an industry presence. Today, it's Matthew Burns who isn't quite sure if choosing Shadegrown Games makes him a hippie or a yuppie:

I worked on big-budget titles in the game industry for about 10 years. I was a producer on the Halo series at Bungie, and before that I worked at Activision on Call of Duty. When you work on that games that big, the business really comes down to economies of scale: you have to sell millions of copies to recoup the millions of dollars you spent on making the thing. So people get pretty risk-adverse... there's hundreds of employees and millions on the line, so everyone retreats to tried-and-true themes, proven gameplay mechanics, and so on.

When I left to start my own company, I wanted to be weird and make games that people hadn't seen before- explore some of the ideas I had about game design, interactive music and other aspects of development. I had a few dozen words and phrases I wrote down to express these kinds of concepts, but none of them were really sticking.

Continue reading What's in a Name: Shadegrown Games

JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Shadegrown Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>matthew-burnsplanckshadegrown-gameswhats-in-a-nameFri, 28 Jan 2011 19:10:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a name: Irrational Games]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/20/whats-in-a-name-irrational-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/20/whats-in-a-name-irrational-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/20/whats-in-a-name-irrational-games/#comments It's time for another origin story of an industry presence. During a recent Gamescom interview with Ken Levine of Irrational Games we asked how the developer received its senseless, illogical name:

"Naming things is my least favorite thing to do. In terms of BioShock Infinite, the name doesn't make a lot of sense to people. Even naming BioShock, I was never like, 'Oh my god! That's exactly it!' 'Irrational, that's exactly it!' Names are difficult because you're trying to do so much work in such a little space. So we're never happy with it.

"Irrational was almost called 'Underwater Horse.' The reason that was, you know hex-based war games? My business partner John and I played this very complex World War II game where not only was there a horse-vs-horse combat table, it was so complex, but there was an underwater horse-vs.-underwater horse combat table. So we almost called the company that. We just couldn't come up with a name.

"[Irrational] was the name we all hated least. But now after fifteen years or whatever it's been -- thirteen years. I think the identity has sort of subsumed itself into the name and the word means something to us beyond what "irrational" means in the dictionary because it's a culture, it's a kind of game."

And what about the company's Prince-like name change from Irrational to 2K Boston, back to Irrational?

With a very dry and clipped delivery, Levine said, "It wasn't my idea to call it 2K Boston."

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JoystiqWhat's in a name: Irrational Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bioshock-infiniteirrational-gamesken-levinemicrosoftpcplaystationps3whats-in-a-namexboxFri, 20 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Ruffian Games]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/25/whats-in-a-name-ruffian-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/25/whats-in-a-name-ruffian-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/25/whats-in-a-name-ruffian-games/#comments It's been months since we've brought you the origin story of an industry presence, so during our recent preview of Crackdown 2 we asked Ruffian Games creative director Billy Tomson how the new Scottish dev got its hooligan-inspired moniker:

"When I was younger some people thought I was a bit of a troublemaker. There was a parent's evening at our school and everybody had their work laid out -- it's an odd school -- everybody had their schoolwork laid out on the tables and the parents were basically being carted around.

"My mom and dad were there and one of my mates, his mom and dad thought I was a bad influence on him and they were just up ahead [of my parents] being carted around to look at all the work. My mom and dad ended up behind them and my mate's dad was looking at my work and he said to his wife, 'That's really good work, that.' It was just some artwork. And his wife said, "Oh that's Billy Tomson's stuff." And he kind of turned around and went, 'Oh, he's a ruffian, that boy!'

"I told this story to Gaz [Liddon], who's the studio head at Ruffian and we're all laughing about it. And it was like two weeks later, this was before the company was formed, he basically phoned me up and said, 'I think I've got a great idea for a name for the company.' He said, 'It was about something you told me. How about we call it Ruffian Games.'

"I thought he was joking. I just laughed and I thought, you can't call it 'Ruffian Games,' and after a while I thought, 'That's actually quite good. That could stick.' It was Gaz's idea. I would have never called it Ruffian Games myself, in the end I actually quite like it. I think it's a good fit for how we all are."
- Billy Tomson, Creative Director at Ruffian Games

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Ruffian Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 25 May 2010 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>crackdown-2ruffian-gameswhats-in-a-nameTue, 25 May 2010 09:35:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Sledgehammer Games]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/08/whats-in-a-name-sledgehammer-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/08/whats-in-a-name-sledgehammer-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/08/whats-in-a-name-sledgehammer-games/#comments It's been awhile since we've brought you the origin story of an industry presence, so here's what Glen Schofield had to say about coining his new studio, "Sledgehammer Games," during our recent chat:

"We wanted to establish, with more than just a name, our passion and dedication to the studio goals -- from building a world class culture and team, to delivering top quality games -- so we needed a brand for the studio. We started with a list of adjectives that reflect our personality, style and games we like to play and make. Some were hilarious, and some didn't have a chance of getting through legal approval. In the end, Sledgehammer Games always stuck out.

"We mocked up slogans for the studio in the same spirit. Slogans like 'hard hitting entertainment' and 'high impact games' seemed to capture the idea, and Sledgehammer nailed both really well. For us, the name Sledgehammer and logo felt right -- it's something that leaves its mark, and that's what we intend to do. We work hard and play hard, and in the end we plan to leave our mark within the gaming community.

"It worked out well for us as we can also have a lot of fun with the logo, website and other branding opportunities. In fact, I am getting it tattooed on my forehead tomorrow."

-Glen A. Schofield, GM and V.P. of Sledgehammer Games

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Sledgehammer Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>activisionglen-schofieldSledgeHammersledgehammer-gameswhats-in-a-nameFri, 08 Jan 2010 10:02:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Blizzard Entertainment]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/07/whats-in-a-name-blizzard-entertainment/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/07/whats-in-a-name-blizzard-entertainment/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/07/whats-in-a-name-blizzard-entertainment/#comments
It's been about a month since we've done one of these, but we thought it would be worth bringing WIAN out of retirement for one of the biggest developers on the planet. Here's the (astoundingly dry) story behind Blizzard's name:

Blizzard co-founder Frank Pearce: You know, it is a complicated process. You look through the dictionary and make a list of big long words, and you start narrowing it down. [Laughs.] You get feedback from the people working at the organization, and then you get feedback from the legal department after they have done some trademark searches. And after that big
extensive process, "Blizzard" is where we landed. Blizzard Entertainment.

We specifically selected to append "Entertainment" as compared to anything else, because we always felt like we wanted to have the option to do more than games. I mean games are our foundation, but we always felt like, you know, if we were creating our own franchises, we would want to someday seem them on the big screen or see them in novelizations or comic books, or whatever. And so, we were conscious of the name when we selected it to call it Blizzard Entertainment, because we knew we wanted to have the option to do more than games in the future.

Joystiq: So you don't have a secret meaning of your own behind "Blizzard?"

Pearce: No. One of the first things that [fellow co-founder] Allen Adhem does as part of the process is literally start perusing the dictionary.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Blizzard Entertainment originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blizzardwhats-in-a-nameMon, 07 Dec 2009 14:35:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Pelfast and 2BeeGames]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/05/whats-in-a-name-pelfast-and-2beegames/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/05/whats-in-a-name-pelfast-and-2beegames/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/05/whats-in-a-name-pelfast-and-2beegames/#comments
 We don't want the big guys to have all the fun, so this week we're finding out the origins of a couple of indie names. First is Comet Crash developer Pelfast, and then we've got a bonus submission from indie gaming hub 2BeeGames.

"Back in college (early 2000), I needed a company name that represented graphics/animation -- where I thought I would end up. Pixel was a little overused, so I went with the lesser known abbreviation, pel, and ended up with Pelfast after a little brainstorming. A quick internet search turned up only one hit for pelfast: some kind of WWII military ammunition, so I felt it would work."
-John Bates, Pelfast founder

"2BeeGames has several meanings. Originally the 'two bees' referred to myself and my partner who came up with the idea for an indie game destination/community. As the concept of the site evolved into a place where we would hold competitions and publish the best games on the site, the name took on another meaning, as in a place where indie games go 'to be' published onto consoles. Now as our community grows, we're running with the bee theme and our community is called 'the hive'."

-Tony Tran, site manager
Like this feature? Be sure to check out the What's In A Name archives.

JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Pelfast and 2BeeGames originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>2beegamesComet-CrashpelfastPSNRTSStrategywhats-in-a-nameThu, 05 Nov 2009 23:30:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Robomodo]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/05/whats-in-a-name-robomodo/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/05/whats-in-a-name-robomodo/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/05/whats-in-a-name-robomodo/#comments If you want to watch friends and loved ones pretend to skateboard/fall repeatedly this fall, Robomodo's Tony Hawk Ride is the only product catering to those admittedly unhealthy urges. Here's how those monsters came up with the name.

When Josh & I first talked about creating this company, I offered up the name because I felt it fit the criteria we were trying to fill:
  1. Sounds "fun" (i.e. anybody hearing it would expect to be entertained by our product)
  2. Rolls off the tongue & unique
  3. Available (i.e. its .com isn't already spoken for)
  4. "Just fits" (i.e. is applicable to what we're all about)
So in translation, it means "Robot Style". The way it struck a cord with us at the time is that it was made up of two words that apart represented the team's components, and together its development philosophy. "Robo" would represent the Software Engineers and gameplay code, while "Modo" would represent the Artists and their stylish vision for it. At Robomodo, we adhere to a philosophy loop of "art supports gameplay supports art...". It's all about harmony, with the end goal of developing fun & exciting games for a mass audience. Besides, who doesn't love robots?

David Lee Michicich
CEO / Creative Director
Robomodo Inc.

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Robomodo originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>activisionrobomodotony-hawk-ridewhats-in-a-nameMon, 05 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Epicenter Studios]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/29/whats-in-a-name-epicenter-studios/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/29/whats-in-a-name-epicenter-studios/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/29/whats-in-a-name-epicenter-studios/#comments
 Epicenter is the studio that currently holds the title for "2009 Game That By All External Signs Should Have Been Awful, But Is Actually Pretty Fun" for its Real Heroes: Firefighter. To reward the company prematurely, we've decided to tell you exactly how it got it's name.

A few years ago, Epicenter co-founder Nathaniel McClure and I were at a friend's house in the San Fernando Valley, just north of Los Angeles, brainstorming a name for the game studio we were just starting up. Now, naming things is actually a pretty difficult process filled with ups (coming up with an absolutely killer name that will destroy the industry as we know it) and downs (finding out it's already been taken by someone who likes to create flash games based on Creed videos). After coming to the bitter realization that just about any good name we agreed on was already taken, we sulked in our chairs in silence. That's when the walls started to rattle.

Even after living in California for nearly 10 years, you still don't get used to a solid earthquake. As the adrenaline starts to flow, you tend to make internal guesses whether you should continue sitting there stoically or jump under the nearest table. Our good friend Kekoa, under the nearest table, wondered where we thought the epicenter of the quake was since it felt so close. Nathaniel and I looked at each other, realizing it was as good a name as any, especially considering we were just a few miles from the epicenter of Los Angeles' last big quake in Northridge. Epicenter Studios finally had a name.

Brian Jury
Epicenter studios co-founder
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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Epicenter Studios originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>epicenterepicenter-studioswhats-in-a-nameTue, 29 Sep 2009 18:30:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: WayForward Technologies]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/21/whats-in-a-name-wayforward-technologies/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/21/whats-in-a-name-wayforward-technologies/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/21/whats-in-a-name-wayforward-technologies/#comments
 With its gorgeous A Boy and His Blob remake in the pipeline, WayForward has been on our minds quite a lot recently. Unfortunately, we didn't have the answer to the real question: How did the company come up with its name? Our curiosity is now sated.

"Back when we started in 1990, I happened to be reading a Douglas Adams book called Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. One of the lead characters in it is Gordon Way, who not only shares my surname, but also developed MIDI software for Windows, which happened to be a hobby of mine at the time. I decided to name my company after his partly as a tribute to my favorite author and partly because it was too weird a coincidence to pass up.

"Five years later, the parallels continued when we were acquired by a company that subsequently spun us off. We effectively started over from scratch. Gordon Way's company was actually called WayForward Technologies II for similar reasons.

"Honestly, I'm hoping the similarities end there, because Gordon Way ends up getting murdered."

-Voldi Way, founder of WayForward
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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: WayForward Technologies originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>a-boy-and-his-blobwayforwardwhats-in-a-nameMon, 21 Sep 2009 12:19:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Infinity Ward]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/16/whats-in-a-name-infinity-ward/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/16/whats-in-a-name-infinity-ward/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/16/whats-in-a-name-infinity-ward/#comments Have you heard about this game Modern Warfare 2? It's supposed to be pretty good. And we heard that it's expected to sell at least hundreds of copies this holiday season. How did these young upstarts at Infinity Ward get the name?We've got the story.

Where did Infinity Ward come from?

This is a great story. Nowhere. It means f***ing nothing. [Laughs.]

Wow, that is truly a great story. So how did you come up with it?

We were pitching a bunch of names. Everybody just kind of threw out random ones like, "How 'bout this? How 'bout that?" And it was like, "Ooh, that is terrible. That is terrible. Wait, hmm, I like that one." Infinity Ward floated to the top and stuck.

What didn't make the cut? Do you remember anything that was below the bar?

Oh, geez. I'm going to say "no" to that one.

Because the suggestions were terrible?

Right. Exactly.
-Vince Zampella, studio head of Infinity Ward
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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Infinity Ward originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>infinity-wardmodern-warfare-2whats-in-a-nameWed, 16 Sep 2009 17:40:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Sucker Punch]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/08/whats-in-a-name-sucker-punch/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/08/whats-in-a-name-sucker-punch/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/08/whats-in-a-name-sucker-punch/#comments
 We loved inFamous despite its unfortunate capitalization decisions, but since it's considered rude to ask about that sort of thing, we instead grilled the folks at Sucker Punch on how they came up with their studio's name:

"The other company founders and I had worked at Microsoft for a decade or so before starting our new company. Having chafed under corporate policies about what constituted an acceptable project code name, we were looking forward to giving the company a name we'd never ever get away with at Microsoft.

"We came up with a list of ten or so names, and eventually my lovely and talented wife saw the list. She said (and I quote), 'I don't care what you call the company -- as long as it isn't Sucker Punch.' We figured that the best way to choose a name a 14-year-old boy would think was cool was to choose a name that a lovely and talented 38-year-old woman thought was unacceptable ... so 'Sucker Punch' it was!

"After twelve years, I believe I've been forgiven."
- Chris Zimmerman, Sucker Punch co-founder and development director
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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Sucker Punch originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>infamousSandboxSCESony-Computer-Entertainmentsucker-punchSucker-Punch-ProductionsThird-Person-Actionwhats-in-a-nameTue, 08 Sep 2009 10:30:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Riot Games]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/31/whats-in-a-name-riot-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/31/whats-in-a-name-riot-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/31/whats-in-a-name-riot-games/#comments We've had a good time with the League of Legends beta, so we asked the guys at Riot Games how they came up with their name, as well as the title for their spiritual DotA successor.

On Riot Games: "We chose the name Riot Games because we thought it sounded a lot cooler than the other names that we came up with and it pretty accurately reflects the image we want to portray - we're a bunch of young guys who work hard, play hard and love to have fun. And yeah, the domain was available for a reasonable price ..."
On League of Legends: "We came up with League of Legends because we believe it accurately characterizes the diversity of characters in the game and sounds 'epic.' Everyone wants to know if we picked the acronym on purpose ... we're always surprised people need to even ask that question - of course we did!

-- Marc C. Merrill, President of Riot Games

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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Riot Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>league-of-legendsriot-gameswhats-in-a-nameMon, 31 Aug 2009 14:27:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: XSEED JKS]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/25/whats-in-a-name-xseed-jks/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/25/whats-in-a-name-xseed-jks/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/25/whats-in-a-name-xseed-jks/#comments While they may not be the most recognizable brand to you just yet, XSEED has been bringing some really interesting titles stateside. Here's the story behind the company's name:

"Our president had seen a Japanese show about entrepreneurs where they talked about planting the seed, the foundation for a new business. So the original idea was to go with the name 'Seed,' but there were a lot of businesses that already had that name.

"We then started looking for variations to this name when someone came up with adding 'ex' before it to give it the additional meaning of "to exceed." We messed around with the letters for a while until we got to 'XSEED,' but were told by our lawyer that it was too general a name to trademark and that we had to make it more specific somehow. After a lot of thought, we finally decided to add our initials to the end, 'JKS' (luckily 4 of the initial 6 founders had a name that started with 'K') to become XSEED JKS, Inc., similar to how Dreamworks SKG stood for Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen."

- Ken Berry, XSEED JKS spokesman


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JoystiqWhat's in a Name: XSEED JKS originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>whats-in-a-namexseedTue, 25 Aug 2009 11:30:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Gearbox Software [update]]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/17/whats-in-a-name-gearbox-software/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/17/whats-in-a-name-gearbox-software/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/17/whats-in-a-name-gearbox-software/#commentsIf you looked at the Joystiq calendar, you would have seen a bright red circle drawn around today with something like 17 little smiley faces around it. Sure, that was in part because it's taco salad day in the cafeteria, but also because we couldn't wait to share this new What's in a Name with you.

So, straight from boss Randy Pitchford, check out the totally epic story of how [Randy says] Gearbox Software got its name.

Update: Valve has informed us that Randy and Gabe didn't meet until after Valve had shipped Half-Life, making Randy's story seem ... well, unlikely. We're trying to find out what happened right now.

Update 2: Well, we just heard from PR and they confirmed that the story is a fabrication. Pitchford is apparently going to get in contact to explain what happened. We can't wait to find out his excuse for taking advantage of our Pollyanna-esque faith in the inherent goodness of people, and, by extension, telling tall tales to you, the people who are buying his games.
"This is interesting because I've never been asked about how we got the name 'Gearbox' before, but there is a bit of a story to it. Given everything that's happened over the past 10 years or so, the story seems a little hard to believe now that I'm telling it!

Continue reading What's in a Name: Gearbox Software [update]

JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Gearbox Software [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gabe-newellgearboxGearbox-Softwarepokerrandy-pitchfordvalvewhats-in-a-nameMon, 17 Aug 2009 12:14:00 EST<![CDATA[What's in a Name: Stardock]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/11/whats-in-a-name-stardock/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/11/whats-in-a-name-stardock/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/11/whats-in-a-name-stardock/#commentsStardock In our ongoing feature What's in a Name, we ask developers, publishers and other game industry businesses the stories behind their names. Today our answer comes from Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock:

"I was in college and started the company to help pay for school until I could get a real job. I needed to get a computer and got a hold of a wholesale distributor to get the parts to build it. When I called, they asked me what the name of the company was and in panic, I looked around and was reading a book by Raymond E. Feist and the chapter was called 'Stardock' so that's what I said the company's name was. It stuck and has been since."

That's it for this edition, maybe next time, we'll tell you the mysterious story behind "Joystiq." It's ... mysterious.

JoystiqWhat's in a Name: Stardock originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>brad-wardellstardockwhats-in-a-nameTue, 11 Aug 2009 16:15:00 EST