^ Oops, I got the name wrong. Anyway, as far as names go, "Devil's Crush" is way kooler-sounding than "Devil Crash".
And, to clarify another point: In my earlier post, I was saying that I like the
title (name) "Bravoman" more than I like the name "Shockman". I wasn't judging the games themselves
. I can see how the confusion arose, so I just wanted to clear that up.
The biggest deal is that Japanese love to throw random English words together in their title names, and this just doesn't work out for America and Europe really 
Here's a fun one to compare: Devil's Crush or Devil's Crash? I'll leave that up to you guys.
I would say that in my experience the odd Japanese names work far better for Europeans than they do for Americans who seem to have a lot of trouble with anything that's not plainly s-p-e-l-l-e-d o-u-t for them. At least that's the stereotype, but it does seem you lot prefer what I would term as awfully cheesy and almost childish names to unique and weird sounding Japlish ones. So maybe it just is a cultural thing. (Demanicus? dear lord...)
I may well have to give this some time in a future podcast 
Well, I think you'll find that we appreciate kool names
as well as cheezy names.
Yo' Bro, as I have often said, is one of the most offensive titles ever concocted. And yet, for that very reason, I have grown to love it. "Bonk" works for North American audiences because it doesn't have any other connotations here in the States ("bonk" is like "snog" over in Britain, isn't it?). Now, "Bonk" is certainly not a sophisticated name... but it seemed to really fit the protagonist in the game (and his attitutude), so it worked. It's a lot better than "Aero the Acrobat", anyway. Call me "easilly amused".
As I noted in my initial post, slapping two words together can produce very kool results ("Blood Gear" is a great-sounding name, IMO, and I like "Radiant Silvergun" as well, even if it is a mouthful).
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I really don't think there is a big European / American cultural divide when it comes to video game titles. On both sides of the Atlantic, you'll find equivalent portions of the population who detest the bastardization of imported cultural products. I agree that there are stereotypes of the "unsophisticated American masses", but this image is fueled by the companies who insist on marketing / localizing / sanitizing products as if they were Kung-Fu films in the 70's. So, it's not so much that we "want" corny stuff, but rather that it has been marketed to us as "corny".
As a result, I'd say that there is a greater appreciation for cheezy stuff here in the states because we grew up with cheezy marketing and localization of content (Godzilla, Speed Racer, Kung Fu films, Ninja fads, etc.). The only imported cultural products we got to see were things that were seen as "marketable" (i.e. sci-fi and action films yes, historical dramas no) -- and even then the localization usually added a thick layer of cheese on top (witness the dubbing of any action film from 50's - 80's).
But, and here's the important distinction: we in the States can appreciate
both the orginal art as well as the bastardized art. I loved watching Battle of the Planets when I was a kid. I didn't know that the stupid R2D2-esque robot wasn't in the original Japanese cartoon! I loved Robotech as well -- but I had no idea that it was a melange of different series! Guess what? I still like BotP, including Bleep or Zark or whatever that R2D2 robot was called. And I like Robotech as well, even if it was hacked together.
I think most folks differentiate original art vs. bastardized art. They often find a way to appreciate the bastardized art, on some level.
It might be kitsch, but it becomes something more -- it finds a way into our hearts. It's hard to explain. We're not simply mocking something that's cheezy, we're appreciating the cheeziness. Ahhhh, it's hard to put into words
.
On a somewhat related note: I wouldn't give up the TG-CD localizations of Final Zone II, Last Alert (Red Alert) or Valis II for the world
