ranting about the recent shameful trend of sequels reusing game titles

[dosboot]

There's been a trend recently striping all numbers and subtitles from video game sequels, effectively using an older name for the most recent sequel.  I think it's a little bit shameful and tasteless, it certainly doesn't serve any noble purpose, it creates search obstructions, and most noticeably it causes confusion as those new games themselves become old.

We've had a number of big games do this recently, from "Tomb Raider" to "Doom" to "Battlefront" to the recent "Prey".  And now there's "God of War" that might be that series' next sequel.  Here is a list of such games in the past 10 years.  Most of this list is off the top of my head, with a half dozen more using google.

God of War (TBA)
Prey (2017)
Doom (2016)
Star Wars: Battlefront (2015)
Need For Speed (2015)
Thief (2014)
Strider (2014)
Dungeon Keeper (2014)
SimCity (2013)
Tomb Raider (2013)
Killer Instinct (2013)
Rise of the Triad (2013)
Syndicate (2012)
Spy Hunter (2012)
Twisted Metal (2012)
Mortal Kombat (2011)
Medal of Honor (2010)
Splatterhouse (2010)
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010)
Bionic Commando (2009)
Punch-Out!! (2009)
Prince of Persia (2008)
Alone in the Dark (2008)
Shadowrun (2007)

entries where the original game had a subtitle/longer title, and not just the root name:
Hitman (2016)
King's Quest (2015)
Wolfenstein (2009)
Turok (2008)

borderline, still has a barely distinct name for discussions and searching:
DmC: Devil May Cry (2013)

(edited with additions, corrections)

This also seems like an especially Western thing.  I don't like it!  grumble, grumble...

[Ghaleon]

Add Master of Orion to the list, though I'm sure there's many others.

Also wasn't there a 2nd need for speed hot pursuit? and like, not hot pursuit 2, because t here was that as well, but hot pursuit 3 was just titled hot pursuit again. Where the old one was actually need for speed 3. ffs.

[CyberAngel]

This trend is by no means new, and neither is it Western-exclusive. Just look at Castlevania. It looks prominent lately just because there are a lot of reboots. Not like it excuses the practice in any way.

I have a similar peeve about games that came out around the same time on different platforms and still have the same name despite being very different games. If I say Shadowrun, do you think of SNES or Genesis one? If I say Aladdin, do you think of SNES or Genesis one? If I say Alien vs Predator... you get the idea.

[dosboot]

Looking back at history, there seems to be several distinct tendencies: 

1) In the 80s/90s, arcade -> home ports typically would reuse the arcade name, and this practice was still applied when the  "home port" was really a "contemporaneous home version".

2) During the same time period, and especially during the SNES+Genesis era, competing platforms would see two different developers release a game based on the same IP and these seemed prone to reusing names.

3) For the longest time (perhaps only ending in the early 2010's), games would receive portable versions with the same name, especially with licensed games.  Like arcade games, often these were new versions entirely.  It's actually kind of amazing how ubiquitous this was.  I think the only reason people haven't been bothered nearly as much as these other cases is that the portable versions were regarded as secondary and thus less worth discussing on their own.

Also an unusual note: the reused titles mostly weren't the root name of the game, but the proper name of the home version like "Sonic Colors" or "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time".

~

The recent trend though is decidedly about "reboots".  I really think it is worth taking apart the reboot trend in particular.  I've already complained about how it hurts search terms and causes confusion in discussion.  But this trend in particular also suggests a lack of respect to the very series they are trying to sell you.

Moreover, the marketing rationale is totally mistaken to begin with.  You can "reboot" a series without going back to the first game name.  Reset the numbering, fine, but add a subtitle or change the name a little bit!   Resident Evil 4 and 7 were loudly presented as sequels that were taking a fresh sheet of paper to the series, and they didn't even drop the number!

This goes hand in hand with another problem: rebooting a series for no apparent reason other than it has been more than a few years since the previous game.  Sometimes I almost think the decision to recycle the name comes first (out of some kind of pathological marketing anxiety), and the decision to call it a reboot comes second.

[Ghaleon]

Wait what? I don't recall castlevania doing this, you don't mean lords of shadow do you because that one clearly has a subtitle, which may be a peeve for you but I don't think it's the same bother for myself and the TC.

Not that I'm arguing it's western only, I know there are lots of examples I don't know of, many of which may be Japanese so I wont make that assumption.

Games with the same name on different platforms can be annoying yeah but again isn't as bothersome to me. Though I wouldn't try and say it's something you can't be annoyed with if it irks you.

Incidentally, I just learned that EA is making a new star wars game called 'star wars'. Not battlefront 2, there's that as well, but nope, just 'star wars' apparently. I hope I heard wrong. I mean you wont even be able to go
'oh hey have you played the star wars game'? cuz then you'll get 'which one?', 'the new one', 'oh you mean battlefront 2?' %@@%#

Oh Japanese version is sonic the hedgehog, that awful one in particular, 2012 was it? I forget.

speaking of games that get somewhat of a 'reboot' and they do NOT drop the number, that can be offputting sometimes too though. I liked the turn-based/realtime strategy game hybrid Lords of the Realm 2 back in the day, and 3 was... a thing. Evenmoreso than Zelda 2 is to many zelda fans (and they don't even number that one so it gets a pass anyway, and even if it didn't I say it still would since you'd have multi genre games and whatnot a lot back then, they experimented more I guess).

[aUsernameIsFineToo]

Oh Japanese version is sonic the hedgehog, that awful one in particular, 2012 was it? I forget.

Sonic the Hedgehog. Also known as Sonic '06. It's a long story but the end product was a game with more bugs than an abandoned shed in the woods.

[dosboot]

I think the reason I'm annoyed by the reboot phenomenon is that recycling the game name is the worst solution for a problem that only even exists in the imagination of a few marketers.

[Tashi]

Add to the list the 'reboot' of Devil May Cry. Yeah, that one of 2013. Didn't had the opportunity to play it, though. It's called 'DmC: Devil May Cry'... but it's basically the same thing.

[CyberAngel]

Wait what? I don't recall castlevania doing this, you don't mean lords of shadow do you because that one clearly has a subtitle, which may be a peeve for you but I don't think it's the same bother for myself and the TC.

Castlevania 64 is actually just Castlevania. So are european versions of Circle of the Moon and Lament of Innocence.

In addition to NES/Famicom, MSX2 and Arcade games, Akumajou Dracula is also a japanese name for the first SNES game (better known as Super Castlevania IV).

Lastly, Vampire Killer might refer either to MSX2 game or japanese version of Bloodlines (Sega Genesis).

[nav']

I'd take a few games off this list. The original King's Quest, Turok and Thief all had subtitles, plus there never was a game called simply Wolfenstein before the 2009 one, so at least it's possible to differentiate those without specifying the release date.

The trend is annoying because it turns search results into a complete mess. It also seems outright unfair to hijack names like Doom in favor of something that simply cannot match the progenitor's greatness.

[Ghaleon]

I wanna know how the new prey can have the same name as the previous one when it has so little in common yet is again a FPS. Meanwhile other games with no relation at all beyond having 'edge' in their name get the kaibosh.

[dosboot]

Conversely, I want to know why Prey needed to be labeled as a 'reboot' when nothing in it contradicts the first game and revamping the gameplay is typical after this amount of time between games.  If "scary sci-fi in space" is going to be the common element for the Prey series, that's great!  Heck, having multiple character/story threads would make anticipation of each announced sequel interesting and full of greater potential.

Oh, wait your marketing executive only understands movies and doesn't realize that video game series aren't burdened by the same presumption that they will tell a single continuous story?  *sigh* 

[the old guy]

Its a problem with movies too.

Like Final Destination 4 being just "The Final Destination". Or the Fifth Bourne Movie being just "Jason Bourne". Don't forget Fast and Furious, the fourth movie in the series that started with "THE Fast and Furious".

Its fucking stupid.

As for Prey, I think it's name is a result of trademarking bullshit. Bethesda didn't want to lose it so they put the name on a game that has nothing to do with the original. Its all because they want money.

[Raikaria]

I would argue the notion of most of these games being sequels that have the same title; as the vast majority of them are reboots not sequels. It's going back to Square 1. I'd also argue against using games from 2007 as examples of a 'recent' trend. 10 years is multiple generations in gaming.

It's like after Fantastic 4 and Fantastic 4 - Silver Surfer flopped; they went back and a few years later we had it reboot as Fantastic 4... again.. which was somehow even worse.

A reboot is a fresh start; as if you are ignoring previous entries. I can see why the title would be back to basic too. It's a time to get away from a string of failure in a previously good franchise. [Example: Sonic 4; which was basically as if Sonic Team were saying 'Ignore everything since Sonic 3'. And then Sonic 4 turned out to be 90% a rehash until Act 2.] A perfect example on the list would be Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider's PS2 era games were... really bad to say the least and basically killed the franchise before the reboot. The best thing to come out of the PS2 Tomb Raider games was memes about opening doors making you stronger.
 
What is more concerning is the culture over the last few years; in both movies and games; of 'Reboot Culture' instead of new ideas.