Good Names for a new publisher

very helpful... while I personally like Grape Ape games, I don't think it will work out well.

I came up with some other ideas however:

GameForge - Like that Darke?
MLMGames - mlm are my initials
I also like the follwoing names, but they convey biblical games

sword of truth and light of truth.

or maybe combine some:

Light Forge Games

Michael,

I've actually had a good deal of experience naming companies and brand products being a designer in a brand agency. Here are tips and tricks that I have found that would work well for a gaming company.

- Firstly, have fun. Coming up with a name is a fun project that can be overanalyzed to death. I've seen this happen countless times. After going back and forth and back and forth they finally land on the "right" name that they don't really like. Note: there is no "right names". Only very bad (sounds, looks or feels like someone or something that it shouldn't), middle of the road, and great names that happen to resonate with many people.

- When you've picked something, don't ask to many people what they think. It's like asking someone what they think about what you are thinking for a baby name. The answers you'll get will generally be somewhat random and will only serve to confuse.

- Type it up in a browser. Hopefully, it's not taken. If it's a porn site, I'd steer clear – even if you use a qualifying word or symbol to separate the two: xyzgames.com instead of xyz.com. These to are too similar and people could confuse the two. Always nice if you have a clean transition from name to url.

- Avoid names that seem like something else. Grape Ape is a property owned by someone. I'd stay away. Try something evokative of what you are trying to do here.

- Allow chance and randomness to happen. I can't emphasize this enough as almost always people tend to go with things that are very logical and consequently expected and boring. Sometimes it's fun to have a name that people ask "interesting, I wonder what it means?" This also can create buzz value.

- Such randomness can be favorite things that you or your wife like: favorite color, favorite animal, etc. How about Blue Zebra. It's fun, makes no sense, it's memorable. I can imagine what people might have said if they were told: "I'm starting a company named Google or Blau Punkt (Blue Dot) or a product named iPod, or ..."

- Avoid names that seemed to stale. NP Games is boring. GWX Fun is boring. Fun Games is boring. I'm not a fan of these contractions as this is where the world went in the '90s and has been in industrial companies for years. KFC, etc, etc.

- If you are clearly a game company, you don't need that as your name. It takes up valuable space to say what you clearly are to a consumer buying or looking for your games. You can always use a qualifier under the name with the same effect.

- In the end a name is just a name. The brand and the products and services that stand behind it make a name good or bad. For better or worse, McDonalds is a good name because it is tied up with a heritage that we all relate to. Nike is a good name partially bc it is (reference to the Greek God of safe speedy travel), but also mostly because of the fantastic brand that stands behind it.

- When trying to determine if a name is bad, look at it's overall connagtation. Grape Ape is pretty abstract in itself, so for what it was it is fine (though not for you as it is taken). On the other hand, Cute Chicken is weird – it connogtates something that is confusing as to the company's intention.

Good luck and have fun with this!

Sometimes it works out well, Live Oak Games shortens to LOG!

If you like the idea of a purple ape for a logo, why not use a more generic name like "Big Monkey Games" and have a purple ape as a logo image. Just be sure you use an image that looks nothing like the trademark Grape Ape. Just having a purple ape isn't enough to cause branding confusion (NOTE: I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, seek out a qualified lawyer who is competent in these areas of law before making any final decisions).

The "forge" part of the name suggestions sounded familiar, so I did a quick search on google. There is a company called "Games Forge" that produces java games. There are a few companies called "Light Forge," though they look more like lighting designers or something like that.

weird post, was just a big quote.... whoops

I imagine Let the Wookie Win won't work.... but of course that would be great for me.

I.C.E. = "Iron Crown Enterprises", so that's a no-go.

Bright Ice isn't the best; I'm not a big fan of assonance, though.

Illuminated Ice is ok; how about "Incandescent Ice"? Instead of focusing on "light" synonyms, you could use "heat" synonyms, focusing on the fire-ice dichotomy. Also, another good "ice" synonym might be glacier/glacial.

But as Chip says, this might be overanalyzing things a bit. Just go with something that sounds good!

-J

Incandescent me be a little too big of a word for some people to understand.

Burning Ice
Ice Melt
for some reason I am on a kick to have ice in the name.

Ice Light
Ice bulb
ice flower
ice-t
ice cube
ice cream (this would be a good name for a white rapper)
Ice Cubed
Ice to the third power
Icecicle
Ice Lense
Ice Forge
Ice Hammer
Ice Sky
Charred Ice

if you didn't catch it yet, I am trying to be random and let something just happen

Ice Mouse
Ice Keyboard
ice board
icetastic
ice ice baby
ice pick
ice proof
ice man
ice monster
ice cubed (I like this, but problems will prolly arise)
ice play
ice in luck
ice flight
ice crystal
ice bound
ice prison
live ice
ice pan

ok sorry for all of that.... got carried away

I can imagine the following for a logo for the publisher

Tasty Minstrel Games
"and there was much rejoicing."