MASF wrote on 03/17/23 at 17:21:51:
I usually call it Twisted Metal PS3 or Twisted Metal (2012). X is usually the Roman Numeral for 10, but the game came out in 2012. Is this the 10th game in the series? Does Head-On Extra Twisted Edition count was the 9th game? It was just Head-On from PSP ported to PS2 with extra content, I don't count it as a stand alone game.
This is a tough one to answer but it gets asked from time to time...
The game of course is actually called Twisted Metal, but the 1995 original game was also called Twisted Metal. That right there is the problem, with it having no sub-title (like World Tour/Black/Head-On/Small Brawl) or number (like TM2/III/4) it became necessary for Twisted Metal to have alternate names. I mean, the first game gets called TM1 rather than just "Twisted Metal". It's human nature I guess. We put a 1 in front of things sometimes. Other times we put an X.
Twisted Metal PS3, TM PS3, Twisted Metal 2012 are all appropriate names but TMX kind of caught on.
Technically it originates from the game itself. The Online mode Quick-Match option for matchmaking would by default name rooms "TMXGame" with a chain of random numbers following. However this was the least popular way of matchmaking that was rarely used outside year one of the game. Why it was TMX Game by default I don't know. The theory that TMX is TMX because it is the 10th game is not really true, but can be made true through a technicality.
TMX / Twisted Metal 2012 would be the 8th Twisted Metal entry.
TM1>2>III>4>5/Black>6/Small Brawl>7/Head-On>8/TMX
However one can see TM Black Online & TMHO Extra Twisted Edition as their own individual entities. Others would disagree and see them as being under the umbrella of their associated title. For example, nobody sees the PC versions of Twisted Metal 1 & 2 as different games even though the multiplayer allows for more players than their Playstation counterparts. But then the counter argument is that TM Black Online made enough modifications and additions to the game-play to be it's own separate entry, and that TMHO:ETE's extras like TM:Lost/Sweet Tour/etc. also give it enough of a unique identity in contrast to the original TMHO on PSP that had a whole Online mode that the PS2 port lacked.
So if you go by the thinking that TMHOETE and TMBO are their own entries, then it is 10 games, although TM: Small Brawl is technically a spin-off, so then that opens up another debate. Nobody sees a spinoff like Mortal Kombat: Special Forces as part of the Mortal Kombat series; but I guess TMSB doesn't feel enough like a spin-off for that to really matter, but if Twisted Metal Black is TM5 then is Small Brawl being a spinoff TM6 or would Head-On be TM6, and then TMX is actually TM7.
But you see how confusing it is to overthink?
TMX just kind of sounds better than TM PS3 and TM 2012. It's like how the Japanese version of Twisted Metal 2 is called Twisted Metal EX. The EX there means nothing too.