Uncharted Almost Wasn't Allowed To Be Called Uncharted

Cognimancer

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Jun 13, 2012
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Uncharted Almost Wasn't Allowed To Be Called Uncharted



Naughty Dog's Uncharted series almost went by a different name, thanks to a corporate veto.

Remember E3 2006? That was the one with the big PlayStation 3 reveal, the infamous $600 price point, and a snazzy trailer for a new game from Naughty Dog. That game (which we now know as the debut of Uncharted) was left conspicuously untitled, leading many gamers to jokingly name it Dude Raider. As it turns out, Naughty Dog had already decided to name the game Uncharted by E3, but the title was rejected by executive order.

Naughty Dog's Evan Wells explained that Uncharted was one of several possible names for the game, but the team couldn't pick one. At the last minute, they chose Uncharted and put the name in the trailer - but their decision got vetoed. "We were all ready to go out with [Uncharted]," Wells says. "And then [former PlayStation Executive Vice President and current Microsoft Corporate Vice President] Phil Harrison caught wind of it, and he's like, 'no, we can't name it Uncharted.' In the UK, if you have a game that's 'uncharted,' that means it didn't do well, it didn't crack the Top 10. So he said, 'no, we can't do that.'"

So Naughty Dog cut the title from the trailer, leaving the door open for the Dude Raider nickname that would stick around for the rest of the series. Three months after E3, Harrison changed his mind and decided to allow Naughty Dog to use the original name - and thus Uncharted was born.

Source: IGN [http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/12/30/naughty-dogs-uncharted-was-nearly-called-something-else]

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captainsavvy

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Jan 5, 2009
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Uncharted = didn't make the charts? o_O
What part of the UK has he been to? Because I've lived my whole life here and can safely say that not once have I ever heard something that didn't make the charts called "uncharted". I mean, I know that's basically what 'uncharted' means but...
Unless it's a thing outside the South-West?
 

mechalynx

Führer of the Sausage People
Mar 23, 2008
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Only goes to show that anyone more than 3 levels up from the core dev team should keep their noses out of business they clearly do not understand.
 

Crazy Zaul

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Oct 5, 2010
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Nobody calls games uncharted if they aren't in the charts, nobody even pays attention to the charts anyway. The only places that sold only the top 10 charts were non game shops like WH Smiths and Woolies that don't sell games any more anyway.
Supermarkets still do but anyway.

Dude Raider... the internet being funny.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Jul 18, 2009
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*ugh* I remember Phil Harrison...

Where's your LoD (Lots of Ducks) now, huh!?
 

UniversalRonin

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Nov 14, 2012
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Crazy Zaul said:
Nobody calls games uncharted if they aren't in the charts, nobody even pays attention to the charts anyway. The only places that sold only the top 10 charts were non game shops like WH Smiths and Woolies that don't sell games any more anyway.
Supermarkets still do but anyway.

Dude Raider... the internet being funny.
Last time I remember any kind of charts being 'important' was top of the pops in the mid 90's. How long ago was that cut off the air anyway?

captainsavvy said:
Uncharted = didn't make the charts? o_O
What part of the UK has he been to? Because I've lived my whole life here and can safely say that not once have I ever heard something that didn't make the charts called "uncharted". I mean, I know that's basically what 'uncharted' means but...
Unless it's a thing outside the South-West?
It's not a thing in the SE either mate.

OT.
Although I do think the guy was trying to be clever, he clearly wasn't. But amusingly so. In 'a look at me, I'm a culturally aware executive on six figures who knows more about the world than you, so I must be right.' kinda way.
 

MrBaskerville

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Mar 15, 2011
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He could be thinking about investors, they are the kind of people who would care about the charts and therefore they might know the word. Kinda like calling your company Bankruptcy entertainment, it's just a name, but it might be a bit harder to get money out of investors because the word has bad connotations to it.
 

Strazdas

Robots will replace your job
May 28, 2011
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Uncharted means that somoen either intentionally or not left it of the charts. Charts are basically maps in old tongue. Basically what the title means is you wont find this place on a map.

Now, while on one side i really always fight for allowing the developer name the game however the hell they want, on the other hand i really think its a bad name.
LordJedi86 said:
captainsavvy said:
chart (chärt) [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/chart]
n.
1. A map showing coastlines, water depths, or other information of use to navigators.
2. An outline map on which specific information, such as scientific data, can be plotted.

Charts existed as maps long before charts existed as data delivery method.
 

mindfaQ

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Dec 6, 2013
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mechalynx said:
Only goes to show that anyone more than 3 levels up from the core dev team should keep their noses out of business they clearly do not understand.
Not that it matters how it was named, as long as it is not a totally ridiculous name - or does it change anything about the game in your opinion?
 

UniversalRonin

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Nov 14, 2012
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Strazdas said:
Uncharted means that somoen either intentionally or not left it of the charts. Charts are basically maps in old tongue. Basically what the title means is you wont find this place on a map.

Now, while on one side i really always fight for allowing the developer name the game however the hell they want, on the other hand i really think its a bad name.
LordJedi86 said:
captainsavvy said:
chart (chärt) [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/chart]
n.
1. A map showing coastlines, water depths, or other information of use to navigators.
2. An outline map on which specific information, such as scientific data, can be plotted.

Charts existed as maps long before charts existed as data delivery method.
Thank you for the wonderful, yet slightly obvious history lesson. I was quipping with a couple of other people who seem to share a locality with me about the last time a chart was a meaningful measurement of a things popularity, which I recall being a TV show back in the mid 90's about pop music.

Personally I like the name. It's very Indiana Jones. I love the thought of exploring somewhere unmapped. I also enjoy the thought of an executive using his considerable education and salary amusingly.

But again, thank you for your history lesson.
 

metagaia

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Jul 23, 2008
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captainsavvy said:
Uncharted = didn't make the charts? o_O
What part of the UK has he been to? Because I've lived my whole life here and can safely say that not once have I ever heard something that didn't make the charts called "uncharted". I mean, I know that's basically what 'uncharted' means but...
Unless it's a thing outside the South-West?
Nothing for the northwest either, I am beginning to wonder whether this slang was confined to Mr Harrison's family...
 

Something Amyss

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Dec 3, 2008
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Strazdas said:
Charts existed as maps long before charts existed as data delivery method.
They're clearly talking within the context of the article, which makes that pointless. Unless you think "not making the top ten," part of the claim, is an old cartography deal, too.
 

BrotherRool

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Oct 31, 2008
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For all the people who say that executives should remove themselves from these decisions, remember that someone tried to release a Transformer in the UK once called 'Spastic'

This is definitely something people should do, and then the exec thought about the name and decided that it wasn't used widely enough to be a problem and let it go ahead. Presumably if it had been a bad name he wouldn't have let it go ahead. This is a sensible normal happening.


captainsavvy said:
Uncharted = didn't make the charts? o_O
What part of the UK has he been to? Because I've lived my whole life here and can safely say that not once have I ever heard something that didn't make the charts called "uncharted". I mean, I know that's basically what 'uncharted' means but...
Unless it's a thing outside the South-West?
I've never used it (Wales) but I feel like it's something people use in more technical scenarios instead of ordinary conversation. So for example if you doing a history of a band and in brackets had their chart position it would look like

... with their new song Shallow Magenta (9) but there first big hit was with Smog under Bose-Einstein Condensate (1). Later in life they experimented with new-wave jazz in singles like Red Mars (uncharted)...

and after some searching of the internet I did find people using the word.
http://www.englandfootballonline.com/teaminteractive/songs/_SongsIndex.html
Here We Are/Here We Are (Instrumental) - The Squad & The Magnum Brass (Inline) uncharted in 1975
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1807746
a string of flop/ uncharted singles
http://www.kinemagigz.com/%27z%27.htm
has become quite sought after- particularly the later, uncharted singles
etc...

So it exists, the dude isn't completely mad, but it took some digging. It's definitely not a super common word, which is why I guess he decided it was okay
 

mechalynx

Führer of the Sausage People
Mar 23, 2008
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mindfaQ said:
mechalynx said:
Only goes to show that anyone more than 3 levels up from the core dev team should keep their noses out of business they clearly do not understand.
Not that it matters how it was named, as long as it is not a totally ridiculous name - or does it change anything about the game in your opinion?
I must say, I have no idea what you mean.
 

kailus13

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Mar 3, 2013
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mechalynx said:
mindfaQ said:
mechalynx said:
Only goes to show that anyone more than 3 levels up from the core dev team should keep their noses out of business they clearly do not understand.
Not that it matters how it was named, as long as it is not a totally ridiculous name - or does it change anything about the game in your opinion?
I must say, I have no idea what you mean.
"Does the name matter if it's the same game?" is what I think he means.

To answer that question, I'd say it depends on what the other name would end up as. I'd never play a Game called Dude Raider, it just sounds like a bad parody.

Another person form the south west of England here, saying that I also have never heard of the term uncharted as used in this context.
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
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Actually, this happens with alot of games. Wouldn't surprise me a name-change happened two or three times over the course of its creation.
 

Proverbial Jon

Not evil, just mildly malevolent
Nov 10, 2009
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captainsavvy said:
Uncharted = didn't make the charts? o_O
What part of the UK has he been to? Because I've lived my whole life here and can safely say that not once have I ever heard something that didn't make the charts called "uncharted". I mean, I know that's basically what 'uncharted' means but...
Unless it's a thing outside the South-West?
Same. I live in the UK's South East and I can honestly say that my brain has never made the connection between Uncharted and any sort of league table. What a ridiculous sentiment from the executives!

I guess it's just another product of cultural barriers. I've always loved the name Uncharted. Although I must say this is also the first time I've heard the "Dude Raider" moniker. I must have been living under a rock.