Name of the Game: Examining Branding in Moblie GamesMobile games have a tendency to aim for the flashiest possible branding in a seemingly desperate attempt to attract players in an over-saturated market, to the degree that the gaming sections of app stores tend to be an almost intimidating array of bright colors and rip-off characters, and names that look like they were chosen from a random mix of a few words. Terms like "Space," "Strategy," "Fight," "RPG," "King," and/or their synonyms are interspersed with colons, leading many of these games to be indistinguishable from one another for someone who hasn’t played them. What are the branding styles these different developers seem to prefer, and are they effective? More specifically, what are the patterns within mobile game naming conventions, and is originality a worthwhile sacrifice for search engine optimization? Though not limited to the discussion of naming conventions, this article would mainly discuss other forms of branding and marketing in relation to naming. |