Classical Names, Unclassical Games

A number of computer games have had classical-sounding names but completely different content. There are lots of reasons for this. For example, fantasy games are often borderline classical-mythical anyway, and classical cultural references are arty and stylish and 'mature'. So Asheron's Call sounds like Acheron, one of the rivers of the Greek underworld; Dirge of Cerberus is a vaguely intellectual and Gothic-sounding title for a Final Fantasy game; and Via Domus, being Latin, is sufficiently cryptic (but not too cryptic) to be the title of a game based on the TV series Lost.

But here are three reasons for games to have nothing to do with Classics beyond the title, with a selection of the many examples of each.

1) Greek and Latin are spacey. The first five years of arcade games were predominantly spaceship shooting games, and the sci-fi nerds still enjoy a large slice of the market. Games therefore have titles designed to evoke planets, spaceships and other astronomical things named after classical mythology, especially all those eighties Space Invaders rip-offs.

Examples:
Andromeda (ARC: 1981)
Arcadia (ZXS 16K: 1982)
Arcadians (Acorn Electron, BBC Micro: 1982)
Argonaut (Amiga: 1992)
Cerberus (ARC: 1985)
Darius (ARC: 1986)
Erebus (Amstrad, C64: 1986)
Hades Nebula
Juno First (ARC: 1983)
Mars (ARC: 1981)
Pleiads (ARC: 1981)
Pollux (ARC: 1991)
Regulus (ARC: 1983)

2) Geometry and Arithmetic are Greek. The sad truth is that all of the fun of video games is based on maths (i.e. programming), and this was even more obvious in the days when games were often single-authored pet projects. A few puzzle games refer explicitly to the maths basis of both their gameplay and their design, presumably to imply that they are for intelligent players. One of my burning desires is to understand the place of Classics in Japanese culture. It's remarkable how many games with names from classical science were initially made and marketed in Japan.

Examples:
Archimedes’ Screw (ZXS 48K: 1983)
Gigas (ARC: 1986)
Palamedes (ARC: 1990)
Riddle of Pythagoras (ARC: 1987)
(Archimedes' Screw is a special case, since the coding of the game, when mapped visually, is shaped like the object after which it is named. Meta!)

3) Antiquity has the best heroes. A fighter whose present or past adventures are synonymous with Western civilisation is bound to make people want to play the game. At least, this must be what marketers are thinking when they give the names of classical heroes and warriors to entirely unclassical characters. Sometimes this is done only for the Western audience - but not always.

Examples:
Ares (ZXS 48K: 1990)
Ares No Tsubasa – The Legendary Soldiers (JP)/Legendary Wings (US)
Argos no Senshi – Legendary Warrior (JP)/Rygar – The Legendary Warrior (US) (ARC: 1986)
Legionnaire (ARC: 1992)
Odyssey: The Legend of Nemesis (MAC: 1996)
Soldier Girl Amazon (US)/Sei Senshi Atalass (JP) (ARC: 1986)
Spartan X (JP)/Kung Fu Master (US) (ARC: 1984)
Tantalus (ZXS 48K: 1986)
Trojan (US)/Tatakai no Banka [War Elegy] (JP) (ARC, PC: 1986)