What's in a Name?: Best & Worst Named Consoles

[Ascending Wordsmith]

It might not really matter, but I think a console should have a pretty good name. There's something to be said about a console that has a suave, creative title.

For me, I think the console with the best name is SNK's Neo Geo.

http://w3.one.net/~boland/games/pics/NEOGEO-Logo.jpg

The word 'neo' is indicative of new and different things. The Neo Geo was just that at the time of its release; new and different (perfect arcade ports in your home!). The logo is nicely drawn plus, and this is crucial, it rhymes!

The worst named console is the XBox. Anyone else think the whole 'X' thing has been done to death? 32X, Streetfighter EX, Megaman X, Revolution X, 19XX... give it a rest! Thanks Microsoft for showing us your ability to aptly name things! :roll:

[omnedon]

I always thought the TurboGrafx 16 had a kind of cheesy name.

The best, well, the SEGA Master System is by far the Master of the named consoles, and the rest are subservient. too bad it wasn't the Master of the games, or popularity, or availability.... :-D

[scooterb23]

Just going by name alone, I like the Adventurevision...it just sounds like you are going to get wrapped up by the games...

Worst name, there's a three way tie...XBox, GameCube, and Super Nintendo...all three are just so...blah.

[kobunheatforum]

I'd call the name 'Xbox' less a fault of marketing stupidity and more the fault of the system being the world's worst-kept secret in the years preceding its release. The name Xbox (or X-box or whatever) had been used internally and in the press for years before MS ever officially announced the console.

So the name had stuck, and apparently MS felt it was best to continue that marketing buzz they already had.

The above doesn't change the fact that it is in fact a stupid name. But then, most all console names initially sound incredibly stupid, from the Playstation to the Dreamcast to the Gamecube. It's funny how fast people get used to them after the initial period of "What the..."

Anyway, my vote for best is Game Boy. It's short, it flows, it's weathered the test of time, and most importantly the name itself was a poke at Sony for not coming up with the idea first.

[GENESISNES]

Xbox is a TERRIBLE name. it goes along with the words box, cube, etc. Whats next? The Quadrilateral System?

I also didnt like nintendo, because it came up with people always saying it wrong, like neentendo. Also, it is used all of the time. Well bob, how did you get so good at shooting? Nintendo.

I like the name Atari, but it is too commonly used now. it lost its zing.

[Chunky]

Announcer: "Krusty the Klown" is brought to you by the new Gamestation 256: It's slightly faster ... to the max!

Bart: [watching on TV] 256? [groan] And I'm stuck with this useless 252? [he drop-kicks the system into the fireplace, where it slowly melts]

252: Don't destroy me! I can still make you happy ... to the max!

[JeffD]

I'll vote for the Dreamcast. Wtf is Dreamcast supposed to mean anyway.

Xbox is pretty lame too.

[zektor]

I don't know why, but I just hate the name "Virtual Boy". I kind of thought the name "Game Boy" stunk when it was released, but I loved the machine however. But Virtual Boy? Ugh...

[christianscott27]

heh somebody got to it first but yeah virtual boy is the worst. imagine telling someone who doesnt know games that you really like playing with your "virtual boy" ewww.

dreamcast is super lame too, we've just gotten used to it, sounds like a bad queensryche album doesnt it?

playstation sounds like a gay bar, really, it does.
________
Naruto Dicussion (http://www.tv-gossip.com/naruto/)

[ROBOTRON]

Prototype name for the DC was "Katana"...that was a cool name....then "DREAMCAST" came along I was like..."Yuk!"

Although I hated it at first, it later grew on me. :/

[jaydubnb]

Best console names:

PC Engine

Mega Drive

Worst console names:

Xbox (wouldve been cool about 10 yrs ago, but X anything is soooo played out)

TurboGrafx-16 (now with more cheese!),

Playstation (sounds Fisher Price-ish)

Gamecube (see Playstation)

Honorable Mention: It isn't a console, but Bare Knuckle sounds a hell of a lot better that Streets of Rage.

[cerex]

nintendo dolphin yuck......

[Keir]

Funy, I actually like the name Dreamcast! But then, I also like Queensryche ;)

I think Sega has the best console names. Besides Dreamcast, I think Genesis and Saturn are pretty cool too.

Nintendo has the worst names of all. Even Atari came up with better names than that!

But by far, the BEST name for a console is the APF MP-1000. That means something..... I just know it does....

[Nature Boy]

I've always liked "Genesis" as a console name. Sort of along the same lines as the Neo Geo line of thinking. And Jaguar was a good name for a console.

I agree that the whole X thing is totally played out but I disagree that Xbox is the worst name ever. I think Nintendo's machines (even though I love them the best) have the worst names. They're boring. At least they gave the Gamecube a name instead of calling it the Mega NES or the Nintendo 256.

[Asylum Seeker]

My vote goes to the Amiga CD32

The marketing guys must have really sweated over that one...

"Well it plays CDs and its 32bit.....what will we call it?"

"Maybe Samurai?"

"Nah - let's call it CD32"

"Great idea"

[Tempest]

Funny you should bring up the APF MP-1000, I was going to mention that but I figured it was too obscure for people to care about.

Best: Saturn, Genesis. These systems just sound so cool.

Worst: NES, Super NES, N64, SMS - I don't like it when a company makes it's name part of the system title. I mean you could just say Saturn or Genesis you didn't have to put Sega in front of it, but you couldn't just say Master System or Entertainment System. I also disklike names that are just part numbers like APF MP-1000, Sega SG-1000. It's just so unoriginal. Of course Atari did that... :roll:

Oh and for some reason I never liked the name Channel F. It always sounded like a hick TV station to me (Hey ma! Turn that dat dar Tee-vee to Channel F. I want to see the farm report). Then again maybe its just me...

Tempest

[kobunheatforum]

I also didnt like nintendo, because it came up with people always saying it wrong, like neentendo. Also, it is used all of the time.

Well, actually...

... it IS pronounced Neen-ten-do, in Japanese.

[Raedon]

Nintendo 64.. completely unoriginal.. but I love the system :D

[scmsx]

Worst names: Xbox, GameCube, Applevision (weird Brazilian Atari 2600 clone, nothing related to Apple II computer), Top Game (other Brazilian console)... :/

Sergio

[Lady Jaye]

Am i the only one to think that Dolphin was a more poetic name than GameCube?

[ManekiNeko]

ChristianScott: Ha ha! I never thought of it that way. Guess that's yet another reason to avoid the Virtual Boy...
I think everyone missed the grand champion of all dumb video game system names... the game.com. They just had to throw in the "dot com" to make it trendy, didn't they? I guess you could argue that it deserved the name thanks to its Internet support, but why bother when you could just as easily hook your PC into that phone jack?
The NES didn't have an awful name, really... Nintendo Entertainment System always sounded pretty cool to me, like the console had higher aspirations than the ones that came before it. Speaking of those older systems, what was with everyone's need to staple "Vision" on the end of their products? ColecoVision, Intellivision, Spectravision... that got old quick. The name Nintendo Entertainment System gave you the impression that you were getting something more advanced... and you definitely were.

JR

[Keir]

There's a whole list of "vision" consoles at that pelijeikoaontponit (??? x_x ) site. They obviously thought the same thing!

[Tempest]

The name Nintendo Entertainment System gave you the impression that you were getting something more advanced...

And that name wasn't by accident. Nintendo purposly called it an "Entertainment System" to avoid bringing up the bad memories of all those "Video Game Systems" that had crashed only two years before. They also used that strange "Toaster" cartridge slot design to further distance themselves from "Video Game Systems".

Tempest

[TRM]

I thought the name Game Axe (pirated portable NES) sounded really cool. I mean we had Gameboy, Game Gear, but Game Axe just sounds different in a good way.

I thought Playstation 2, Gamecube, and Dreamcast all needed some work. They just don't sound that great. I thought X Box was ok, the color scheme is cool though.

[Kid Fenris]

I am of the opinion that the last console with a cool-sounding name was the Sega Saturn. It was alliterative, it was memorable, and it didn't sound goofy to the unaccustomed ear.

"Genesis" was also a good name for a system, and it probably played a part in letting Sega swipe market share from Nintendo. Think about it . . . you're in that desired demographic of ridiculously image-conscious 14-year-old boys. What do you want: A gray box to which your friends give the generic moniker of "the Nintendo" or a sleek black deck with a title that would fit a new model of luxury car?

As for lousy console names, it's strange that no one has mentioned the Gamate (http://consoledatabase.retrofaction.com/consoleinfo/bitcorpgamate/) yet. The name just looks stupid.

[Tetsu]

I always liked the name Turbo Duo. So simple, yet so effective. My least favorite name has to be the GP32 handheld. How original is that?! Ergh.

@Kid Fenris: I agree that the Sega Saturn has a sophisticated name (probably why they named the car company Saturn too). This is the first time I've ever heard of the Gamate. Wow. How many times can you go wrong?

Suggested Pronounciations:

"Game-ATE"

"Gamut"

And of course,

"GAY-Mate"

"Mommy mommy, I want a GAYmate for Christmas!!"

[ManekiNeko]

"This is the first time I've ever heard of the Gamate. Wow. How many times can you go wrong?"

But it goes so nicely with the Virtual Boy!

JR

[batmanlivesatmyhouse]

I like the Sega names: Master System, Genesis, Saturn, Nomad, Game Gear, and the sappy named Dreamcast. Don't really like the Nintendo names. Okay, you have the NES. Next, the SUPER NES. At the time, I thought to myself, what's next? Super DUPER NES? I thought they were going to go into the Street Fighter II naming system: Super, Turbo, Super Turbo, Super duper turbo......

[Atariguy]

I say the best are Neo Geo, Turbo Duo, and Sega Saturn.
THe worst by far is the Wonderswan. wtf were they thinking?

[Captain Wrong]

I have to agree with all of you who said Nintendo comes up with some crap names for their consoles. And I think Playstation 2 showed a lack of imagination as well.

But at least in those instances, I can kind of understand it from a marketing point. Nintendo, Game Boy, and Playstation are words synomous with "video game" for many gamers (specificaly younger ones.) By keeping the name similar, the clueless parent who goes to the store is always going to see those key words.

But I still think it shows no creativity.

I really think GameCube is dumb (of course, I think the whole look of the system is pretty bad) and Xbox just sounds soooo 1995 (plus when I see it written like this XboX, I think they're talking about some straight edge kid named bo.)

Let me throw a new one in the mix; Colecovision. There were a lot of -vision products (Discovision laser discs, RCA's Selectavision line, the Intellivision, etc.) and all they did was slap their name in front of vision. Doesn't give you a clue what you're getting into.

Other bads:

game.com (is it hardware or is it a web site? It's both!)
LeisureVision (makes me think of leisure suits)
WonderSwan (umm...what?)
R-Zone (I guess the R stood for red?)
Studio II (what ever happened to Studio I? We probably don't want to know.)
VirtualBoy (tell me this doesn't sound like some sort of Porno ware)


On the other hand, I like the name Intellivision. It implies intelligence, which fits in to Mattel's whole marketing stratedgy for the machine. And I always thought the machine itself looked kinda brainy, with all those keypad buttons staring at you. Plus it was pretty early in the things ending with -vision stage.

I think Genesis was a great choice of name, even more so if you look at the state of Sega at the time and see that it really was a "beginning" of sorts for the company.

Odyssey wasn't bad either for the first console ever. Certaintly was taking people somewhere they'd never been before.

And though it's not strictly a console, Pong is a fantasic name for that game.

[TheCrow]

I hated these names:

Fairchild, Channel F, Famicom, N64, Supergrafx, Game Axe, Arcadia 2001, CD-i, Tiger Game.com, Tiger R Zone, Virtual Boy, Vic-20, 32X, Turbografx 16, Lynx, Jaguar, Action Max, AdventureVision All these names were all lame. -_-


I liked these names: :D
Atari
Nomad
Genesis
Vectrex
Master System
Odyssey
Dreamcast
Intellivision

[Arqueologia_Digital]

I think the best name of all systems is MASTER SYSTEM, because it´s the Master of all consoles.
Also i like Vectrex, Atari & Genesis

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Oh!, i forgot!, SATURN also is a cool name

Now i go to sleep, i need it :morning:

[GENESISNES]

I never like Nintendo's Cincinatti Dildo Pusher.

[YoshiM]

I liked Genesis. It truely represented a new direction, a rebirth of gaming as we knew it (that's what the ads tell me). I don't mind the word "Atari" with a system number after it. While the name don't mean squat anymore, it's still a cool word.

I must agree about the TurboGrafx-16. Awful. They coulda left it as PC Engine or even something like NEC Engine with an ad campaign around what kind of power the system had.

[Jauntas]

I don't know...I think XBox is an awesome name. Just my two cents!

[lotrigga]

if nintendo wudda stuck wid its oriiginal name for nintendo 64, being ULTRA 64. .. shit wuddda been an ill ass name.. anybody dat dagree? fa shee man...

[scmsx]

MSX (a 8-bit computer used mainly for gaming) is a cool name too.

Sergio

[Wayne Ryder]

Just my 0.2 USD

Best: Sega Megadrive.
Worst: FM Towns Marty.

[Arrrhalomynn]

I nver liked the Jaguar. A jaguar is an animal, or a car. Not a videogame system.

I don't like any system wich name is the same as the one before it;
Game boy, game boy color, game boy advance.
Nes, Snes
Playstation, playstation 2

It doesn't have the 'new' impression the saturn had over the genesis/megadrive, or the gamecube over the snes.

[Ruudos]

I liked the name Atari Jaguar. I don't care if it's an animal or a car.
Genesis is a band and a bible chapter, and Saturn is a planet.

Lame names:
3DO
Amiga CD32

[EnemyZero]

Best Id say definitely NeoGeo, worst....come on PS2....they couldnt think of anything better than going from Psone to PS2 , im sure we all know its the second playstation....and yes xbox is horrid as well

[hydr0x]

I like the name Atari, but it is too commonly used now. it lost its zing.

i do like their first name, syzygy even more, a shame that it was already used, just imagine having a Syzygy 2600 at home :D

[Vic George 2K3]

if nintendo wudda stuck wid its oriiginal name for nintendo 64, being ULTRA 64. .. shit wuddda been an ill ass name.. anybody dat dagree? fa shee man...

Not me. After having the Super Nintendo, I think Nintendo made the wise choice at the time and decided not to give its follow-up system a title that was so pretentious, like Ultra 64. Also, it sounds like a premium type of fuel you'd find at a gas station. Even worse than Ultra 64 was the Nintendo 64's original working name...Project Reality.

[dreamcaster]

I'd have to agree that Sega has always had the best names. Master System, Genesis, Dreamcast. And Saturn has be the best named console ever. I love the way it sounds - Sega Saturn. Yum! So space-age and cool! I also like Dreamcast, because it sounds so whimsical. More than the hard-edged names of other consoles. Though I never liked the names Mega Drive (sounds like a washing machine!). And Nomad sounds like a car or something. (In Australia Nissan used to sell a van called 'Nomad').

Nintendo's names have always been functional. And functional = boring! Nintendo Entertainment System - think about it: it's made by Nintendo, it's a system, and it's entertaining. Wow! not...

And Super NES. It's like the NES, but now Super! I was actually expecting Nintendo to release the N64 as the UNES - Ultra Nintendo Entertainment System! Nintendo 64 - there's another functional name, it's a Nintendo and it's 64-bit! GameCube - again, functional! A cube that plays games. Brilliant!

Atari's names have always been reasonable. I liked the 2600, 5200 and 7800 designations. Plus Atari sounds good! Atari Jaguar was probably their best.

Xbox is just crap. 'X' has been used too much.

I'm indifferent to PlayStation - not bad, not good. It's just there.

[evildead2099]

Gamate looks/sounds like 'gay mate.' And no, I did not mention that detail to put down the system - I don't even consider the term "gay" an insult to begin with. Just so everyone's clear on the matter, I've nothing against homosexuals.

[Ed Oscuro]

Just my 0.2 USD

Best: Sega Megadrive.
Worst: FM Towns Marty.
You know, the FM Towns name was pretty lame, but it wasn't THAT bad. At least it wasn't like those old NEC machines where you had PC and then a hyphen and four numbers; I think some of the earlier computers ended up with higher model numbers than later machines o_O

x68000 isn't that creative, either - and a bit inconsistent when you think that a techie would say the x68000 line had 680x0 processors :P

Sega CD was slightly less than optimal as well, but Genesis CD (in Japan you had the Mega CD, which makes sense as it fits the computer theme - the Drive in "Mega Drive" could be thought of as referencing the cartridge) would've been even worse, and the spiffy logo/box design redeems it nicely. Same goes for 32x, but in the case of the 32x you have to think "wow it has 32 multiplied by some variable x power, that's awesome" :P

Fairchild Channel F has very little competition ... outside of Action Max, that is.

Honorable Mention - Namco's "Polygonizer" (later named System 21) hardware. Yeah, there's actually a little slot on the side like a mulcher and these little flat shaded polygons come out on the screen in sequence. It's awesome.

[Griking]

Even though I love the company I think that Atari had the most bland unimaginitive console names ever.

First they had the VCS or the 2600 - Boooring!

When they decided to come out w/ their second console they decided to be twice as creative. They called it the 5200. The name alone ment that it was twice as good as the original.

So when Atari was ready to come out w/ their third console would they have learned their lesson? Um, No. Welcome the Atari 7800. It wasn't quite twice as good as the Atari 5200 but it was one and one half times better.

By the time they came out w/ the Jaguar, their first system w/ a real name nobody really gave a shit anymore. People assumed that if the company wasn't creative enough to come out w/ a proper name for their consoles then how imaginitive could the games be?

Yeah, I'm joking a bit but I always thought the numeric names for the Atari systems was pretty dumb.

On the other hand I've always like the names Odyssey and Dreamcast

[Ed Oscuro]

On the other hand I've always like the names Odyssey and Dreamcast
mmm Odyssey, '60s tech that's still good LOL

I like the name much better than the logo on that one - the font doesn't look right with that many letters in it. "Blip." uses a similar daisy-wheel printer inspired font, but as it's only four letters and a period it has a better visual impact.

In fact, I think the Odyssey would've been better named had it been called the "Line (subtitle: And Block)" console. LOL

[Cryomancer]

Dreamcast is a great name...for awhile everything was great, pretty colors, exiting adventures. But then a dark shadow appears on the horizon and you slowly wake to the harsh reality. Thanks sony! <emote denoting sarcasm>

[Nez]

I like the commadore 64 just becouse it rymes. The Saturn has a kick ass name as well.

Bad names Sega cd, hey its made by sega and it plays cds!. The 3do what the heck does that mean?

[Cauterize]

The 3do what the heck does that mean?

I agree with you on that one!!!!

[KJN]

My vote goes to the Amiga CD32

The marketing guys must have really sweated over that one...

"Well it plays CDs and its 32bit.....what will we call it?"

"Maybe Samurai?"

"Nah - let's call it CD32"

"Great idea"

It's better than CDTV. CD + TV? No it actually stands for Commodore Dynamic Total Vision, isn't that obvious?


The 3do what the heck does that mean?
The story goes like this:

The term '3DO' is said to have come about as Trip Hawkins dreamed of the impact of the system. He stated that it would be the next step in entertainment. The progression would go: 'audio... video... three-deo...'

[vincewy]

Best: a tied between Genesis and Neo-Geo, both mean innovations and breaking new grounds.

Worst: 3DO - how about 3 dip s#%t?

[Satan Claus]

Nothing beats the Game Theory Admiral! :D

[mizarkgram]

I find the best names come out of portable systems: Atari Lynx, Nintendo Gameboy, NEC Turbo Express, Sega Game Gear, Sega Nomad... you gett eh point... the only portable that really doesnt fit (that I own) is the game.com.... what the hell was Tiger thinking when they made/named/sold/supported that monstrosity

[Tetsu]

I hearby nominate the GTA, the Game Theory Admiral, for top contender for the worst name ever.

Runner up is the GamePark32, which isn't as bad because contracted to GP32 it isn't as bad (if unimaginative).

Honorable mention goes to the Colecovision. Nothing like The Conneticut Leather Company's Vision for a name to make you want to buy a game system.

[Algol]

Best: Dreamcast, Genesis, Odyssey, Neo Geo, Nuon

Worst: PlayStation, Master System, PC Engine, Sega CD, Nintendo 64

[kelma66]

How about

Hanimex Pencil II

(evidently an Australian colecovision clone or pseudo-clone)

[Hakkenden]

I think Wonderswan is the worst!(runner up Xbox)
Best I think is Dreamcast (even better if they named it Katana like they were going to).... dont know why though.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

The worst named system i can think of would be the fm towns marty. It sounds like some robot hooker or something. LOL

[SMB]

PlayStation to me always sounded corny.

[NathanG]

Genesis was always a sort of interesting name to me. I suppose it has more of an effect on me now given that I understand why the system was a "genesis" for Sega in the US, but even when I was young, I was always sort of drawn to the name. Nevermind that fact that I didn't even have one at the time (had a SNES), but still.

On the other had, Dreamcast was just sort of...weird. I wouldn't quite say that it's terrible, but it was an unusual name for a console.

[LiquidX01]

For me, WonderSwan.

LOL LOL LOL

[Mitch_Naz]

3D0

[Avenger]

Gizmondo....

[HaggarCodyGuy123]

The Bad: What about those funky (what the hell were they thinking) Baidai names: Pippen, Playdia, and Wonder Swan(already mentioned)? Of course Coleco Adam, Mattel Aquarius, and Atari XE Game System are all equally bad.

The good: most of the Sega names except Sega CD, Pico, and 32X and SNK Neo-Geo.

[TheRedEye]

You guys ALL missed the greatest name of all time:

Mega Duck

[Pedro Lambrini]

Best names for me would be:

Dreamcast (Just so typically Japanese!)
Wonder Swan (It's so ridiculous it's cool! and, again, typically Japanese)
GameCube (Succintly sums up what it is and what it's for)

Worst names:

Xbox (It says nothing and it invokes less!)
SNES or Super Nintendo (the acronym sounds a bit like a sneer and the full title dated quickly and is rether pretentious)

and finally the Game.com (it's pseudo trendy shite! 'What's the zeitgeist this week guys?!'

[error.ini]

Revolution is hands down the worst name ever. Guess they never saw Matrix 2...

[slip81]

my favorite names

Sega Master System
Game Boy
Spectrum Z (I think that's what it was called)
Super Nintendo
Odysse
Atari 2600

Most hated

Nintendo 64
Nintendo Entertainment System
Commodore 64
Amiga
Colecovision

[SkiDragon]

The best name I think has to be the genesis.

The worst name is either XBox, because it sound extremely generic, or Playstation 2, because sony could think of nothing better than adding a "2" to the end of the name.

[Ed Oscuro]

Bad names Sega cd, hey its made by sega and it plays cds!. The 3do what the heck does that mean?
Hmm THREE D I'll just pass on the last one (Objects) but it's pretty obvious. You want a bad version of the name? Try M2 3DO - needed to be called "Hardvaporate" :(
[well, it did show up, but the system sucked...]

[whoisKeel]

Worst:
Playstation 2...like the Playstation, only the sequel! Originality at its finest. x_x
Super Nintendo...not so bad itself, but half the titles are Super this, Super that. Everythings super...seinfeld would've had a field day.


Best:
I always liked all the sega names. I always liked Dreamcast, it's like casting your dreams come true or something. i dunno, it's catchy.

[Wavelflack]

Gamate looks/sounds like 'gay mate.' And no, I did not mention that detail to put down the system - I don't even consider the term "gay" an insult to begin with. Just so everyone's clear on the matter, I've nothing against homosexuals.

Good grief. Fully 5/6 of that post was dedicated to establishing your open mindedness (or ambivalence) about homos.
Look at what these kids of the 90's have had done to them! It's the "disclaimer generation"! Hoo ha!




Anyway, "Dreamcast" is a foreshortening or abbreviation of "Dream Broadcast", which is a pretty good shot at being an artistic descriptive of a new videogame system. "Katana" and "Black Belt" would appeal to the 10-14 year old segment of the population that tends to drool over Ninjas and Swords and Things from Japan, as well as the "adults" saddled with stunted and retarded mental growth who feel the same way. However, naming a system after a bland weapon or a measure of achievement doesn't make my balls tingle with excitement. How about "Sega Blunderbuss" for a weapon designation? Perhaps "Sega PROFESSOR" for an indication of mastery of a discipline?

"Dreamcast" is just fine, thank you.