Forum Game: Guess the Abbreviation

[Jim Preston]

I’m at work on a Sunday, behind on my designs as usual, trying to best my personal high score on Time Pilot in the company arcade, thinking about next year’s feature set. I start thinking in abbreviations rather than full names. I jot them down.

Here’s the game. Guess what the abbreviations stand for. That is, H-L would be Half-Life.

Here are some rules:
The game’s based on the honor system. You could always lie about your score, I guess
Titles will be either PC or consoles. I picked fairly major games, nothing too obscure. Classic and contemporary. No handheld games, no arcade-only games
The first group is worth 2 points each, the second group is worth 3, and the last group is worth 5
You've got to get the whole title, including the sub-title to earn the points
If you think of a different game with the exact same initials, that counts too
You lose one point if you use the hint. (Drag the mouse past the word "hint" to see the text)
Standard title capitalization, i.e. articles, prepositions, pronouns, etc. are lower case

Post your score. I'm not going to post the answers just yet. I'm guessing most people on this board will find this game rather easy. If people need help, I'll post answers in a follow-up. Here we go.

EASY: 2 Points Each:
FFVII
Hint: The only thing final about this was Aries' story arc
GTAIII: VC
Hint: At least this one is only rated M
AoE2: tAoK
Hint:A great Ensemble piece
tLoZ: OoT
Hint:Better than Wind Waker
RE4
Hint: More fun than staying in Racoon City
MGS2: SoL
Hint: Snaaaaaaaake!
THPS3
Hint:People remember #2 and THUG, but not this one
PoP: SoT
Hint: This one does not burn with generic rage
BGII: SoA
Hint: You can’t get this? Baldurdash!
C&C: YR
Hint: Are yuri trying?
NfS U
Hint: An overground hit.
KotoR:
Hint: The only interesting young Republicans

MEDIUM: 3 Points Each:
WitWiCsD?
Hint: How many game have questions for a title?
LLitLotLL
Hint: A Laffer
RtCW
Hint: Achtung! Mein Leben!
DN3D
Hint: Hail to the king, baby
VF4: E
Hint: An evolution for fighting games
PM: tT-YD
Hint: Its depth is not paper thin
SW: JK2: JO
Hint: Do you need me to hum the John Williams’ score?
HoMMIII: tRoE
Hint: A restoration of turn-based fantasy games?
MoO
Hint: Microprose Masterpiece
KQV: AMtHGY
Hint: That’s a “5”, not a V
UIX: A
Hint: The Ultimate in buggy product
AitD: tNN
Hint: At least Uwe Boll didn’t direct the game

HARD: 5 Points Each:
SdA!
Hint: This game features a salsa remix of Take on Me by A-Ha!
tAAoWaS
Hint: Broderbund. Classic. Late ‘80s, matey.
X: E1: DWzM
Hint: It’s all about the Will to Power, baby
W: PGotMO
Hint: You know you’re cool if you made it Werdna
HZ
Hint: Who knew that THE first RTS was on the Genesis?!

Maximum Score is 85.
Edit: It's HoMMIII, not IV, no colon in NFS U, and I learned me how to count.

[Shadari]

I got 29. Coulda been a lot higher but I can't remember sub-titles worth a damn.

[BooTx]

45

[Matthew Gallant]

Final Fantasy VII
Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City (I don't think III is technically part of the title, but I've seen it referred to as such)
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Resident Evil 4
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge
Need For Speed Underground (No colon in the title, -1 point for you)
Knights of the Old Republic

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
Leisuresuit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Duke Nukem 3D
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Star Wars: Jedi Kinght 2: Jedi Outcast
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia (It was III, -1 again for you)
Masters of Orion
King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder
Ultima IX: Ascension
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

Samba de Amigo
The Ancient Art of War at Sea
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille Zur Macht
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Herzog Zwei (needed hint)

[BooTx]

Did I say 45? I meant 75.

[XPav]

50

[DeanRaker]

TGIF

[slantz]

62 -- all of the easy/mediums, none of the hards. A couple of the mediums I only got after the hints.

[edited when I found out max was 85, not 75]

[Wholly Schmidt]

45, killed by subtitles as well. And for the record, I think THPS3 was the best and THPS4 was the one people forget about.

[Dave Long]

Max is 85 isn't it?

I got 74. That's sad too. We use acronyms for titles way too much in this industry.

--Dave

[Wholly Schmidt]

Hey, Dave's right, the max is 85. So I actually got 55, because I just figured my score on the assumed total of 75 and subtracted the wrong ones.

[Jim Preston]

D'oh. Matthew Galant, the Kitsune of the West, got everything right and corrected my more egregious errors. Oh, and Dave Long taught me how to count.

[Jack Black]

75

Missed two out of the five hards. I must have missed out never playing much Genesis (as I was po') as a kid. Also I had no idea on the Hard 1) and still don't.

[steve]

I got 80. Missed the "X" one in the hard category, though I had to use the hint for the first one in that category (thank God Jason Cross owned the damn game and used to rave about it).

Back when I started at "Strategy Plus," we were acronymn crazy. One of my all-time faves was: WCS: T! There was also OAOW, WVII: CDS (though we may have used W7: CDS).

Once they made the huge mistake of putting me in charge, one of my first editorial decisions was to kill all of the bloody things. I hate the things. To this day we almost never use them, which I think makes the magazine actually readable. Well, sorta readable at least.

[Kevin Grey]

85 using two hints.

Without the hints I missed:

SdA!
WitWiCS

[Matthew Gallant]

Back when I started at "Strategy Plus," we were acronymn crazy. One of my all-time faves was: WCS: T! There was also OAOW, WVII: CDS (though we may have used W7: CDS).
Operational Art of War, Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant, and...

Wargame Construction Set II: Tanks!

[XPav]

I always abbreviated it TOAW. I think that was the preferred abbreviation on csipcgw-h.

[Jack Black]

You got SERVED!

He will get acronynimical on your ass. I think the new game should be see if there isn't something you can't get.

[Dave Long]

I always abbreviated it TOAW. I think that was the preferred abbreviation on csipcgw-h.

Was csipgw-h even around when that game came out? That might have been before the schism in sissypigs that created that w-h monster?

--Dave

[Shadari]

Good lord, I should have never posted my score.

/me holds head down in utter shame

[Kool Moe Dee]

79. Had to use a couple of hints and wiped out on PM: tT-YD.

[Chris Nahr]

Only 36, mostly because I can't remember subtitles. :cry:

[Talisker]

51. Subtitles got me too (for the most part). Nice quiz, though :)

[Kareem]

27 here. Subtitles killed me.

BTW, GTA III isn't Vice City. :)

[Chris Nahr]

By the way, Jim, it's totally awesome that you can play Time Pilot in the company arcade! Is there a Robotron machine, too?

[quatoria]

75, here. Missed a couple in the hard category. It helps that I've played pretty much all the games you listed. Thanks to Matt G. for the names of the titles I missed.

[Jim Preston]

By the way, Jim, it's totally awesome that you can play Time Pilot in the company arcade! Is there a Robotron machine, too?
Yes there is! Currently I'm the top score with 1M and change, although I'm not sure how much longer that may stand. I've always been a Robotron 2084 snob; I regard it as the very pinnacle of twitch-based video games. There are no patterns to memorize, no 1-ups to gather, no buttons to mash. It's just pure, instinctive reaction. I've always preferred the random games (Robotron, Time Pilot, Battlezone, etc.) over the patterned games (Pac-Man, Popeye, Commando, etc.).

[quatoria]

By the way, Jim, it's totally awesome that you can play Time Pilot in the company arcade! Is there a Robotron machine, too?

I'm just delighted that anybody else remembers Time Pilot. It was my favorite game, as a kid.

[Justin Fletcher]

58, or 61 depending on whether MoO is "Masters" or "Master." Google seems divided on the issue.

I only got HZ in the hard section (and that was with a hint), and I missed the subtitle for KQV.

PS Time Pilot is second only to Gyruss in my personal pantheon.

[JPR]

It's "Master"

I got somewhere in the mid-high 50's. I got all the easies, only HZ in the hards. Mediums were a mixed bag, largely because of the subtitles, like everybody else.

[Justin Fletcher]

It's "Master"
61 it is!

[krayzkrok]

60 - none of the 5 hard ones, basically.

[Mike Hussey]

I always abbreviated it TOAW. I think that was the preferred abbreviation on csipcgw-h.

Was csipgw-h even around when that game came out? That might have been before the schism in sissypigs that created that w-h monster?

--Dave

Yeah it was the first wargames to come out after the group started. We even had a guest post from Mark, telling us to be thankful to Norm for giving us something to talk about :) .