Renaming the "working title" in video games

Every project needs a title even though creators often don't commit to an official title.

However, in the video game industry, often times the "working title" of a console or game often becomes the only title that sticks in the minds of gamers...or the largest retail chain in the world.

A Walmart advertisement in my local Sunday newspaper listed the new Microsoft "Project Natal" as an "revolutionary new way to play" this fall. I'm not sure when the advertisement was pieced together, but the world has known the new motion-controlled camera peripheral for the Xbox 360 as the Kinect for nearly a month now.

Luckily the retailer's website is aware of Microsoft's Kinect and it's $149.54 price tag.

Who could forget that the Nintendo Wii was first called the "Revolution" for several years before it receive its laughable name. Previously there was the Nintendo Ultra 64 (Nintendo 64) and the Nintendo 64DD ("DD" standing for disk drive) which never came to fruition.

Of course every "The Legend of Zelda" game always has a working title of "The Legend of Zelda."

At least Sony conveniently unnamed it's "motion controller" before dubbing it the "PlayStation Move" earlier this year.

Every game has some sort of working title during development since game producers are so eager to show off their software that they don't bother to take the time to name it. A simple google search for working titles in video games gives us "Heroes on the Move," "Silent Hill 8," "Vectorman," "The Shoot," and of course Sony's blockbuster holiday hit "Motion Fighter."

I'm waiting for game to have the "working title" of "working title," that's something that's easy to remember.

A lot of times we are caught using the "working title" of a game or console for so long we have it ingrained in our minds. Project Natal is a clear example of this which is why I still have a hard time calling it the Konact...Conict...Connect...Kinect.