UPDATED: I forgot about “Dig Dug: Digging Strike” How could I do that?

I have some unusual interests. One of them involves the naming of games for the DS.

And I am happy to report, as 2007, draws to a close, that one of the worst trends of DS game-naming was nearly stopped this past year.

But I am also sad to also report that a 2008 return of this trend looks likely.

I speak of the tendency to give DS games a subtitle that can be acronym-ed as the letters “D.S.” You know, like “Advance Wars: Dual Strike” (that was clever in 2005 only).

Please consider these following results of my investigation and weigh in on this trend.

(And, no, someone else can do a cross-comparison between this phenomenon and the thankfully-short-lived trend of putting a “64″ at the end of Nintendo 64 games.)

2005
In the first full year of the DS’ launch, three games were released that exhibited the DS-subtitle gimmick:

• “Advance Wars: Dual Strike“
• “Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow“
• “SeaWorld: Shamu’s Deep Sea Adventures” (this one, I admit, is a questionable entry)

2006
In the DS’ second year, the allegedly clever naming increased. My research (aka searching Mobygames and Metacritic) identifies six offenders:

• “Dig Dug: Digging Strike“
• “Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy“
• “Guilty Gear Dust Strikers“
• “Mage Knight: Destiny’s Soldier“
• “Resident Evil: Deadly Silence“
• “Tao’s Adventure: Curse of the Demon Seal“

2007
But look at the wonderful improvement in imagination that was this past year. Only two games used the trend, one of them possibly by accident. Is this the victory against game-titling cliche we were all waiting for?

• “Nancy Drew: The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park“
• “Godzilla: Unleashed Double Smash“

2008
Terrible news: here is why I remain concerned and call for vigilance. There are already three games set to bring this issue back to the forefront.

• “Bubble Bobble Double Shot“
• “Betty Boop Double Shift“
• “Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword“

Can we not stamp this out? Or, uh, is this not really a problem?