While it was originally thought that the next Alan Wake adventure, the one that is definitely not Alan Wake 2, was to be subtitled Night Springs, a German classification board has outed the XBLA game as being titled Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. Now this still isn’t a guarantee from developer Remedy Entertainment, who are being relatively secretive about the content of this Alan Wake follow-up.

All we really know at this point is that, despite being an XBLA title, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare will feel like a fully-fledged retail release, and that this title is not meant to replace Alan Wake 2. Besides that it’s been a ton of speculation including a pretty convincing menu screen that had us believing Alan Wake’s Night Springs was the official title.

Not to say that this German classification board is incorrect in any way, or that the title for German markets may have been altered, but typically these types of things tend to be universal. The initial teaser screenshot/trailer for the game suggested that Wake might be on a cross-country trek and perhaps American Nightmare perfectly sums up the experience.

Personally I prefer the Night Springs subtitle to American Nightmare. American Nightmare sounds way too generic, and doesn’t feel like a reasonable justification not to simply call the game Alan Wake 2. Yes, Remedy said that the game’s not Alan Wake 2, but it is the second game in a presumed series.

Night Springs, on the other hand, fits right in with the established canon of the first game, and can lend itself perfectly to the serialized nature of this segmented, downloadable experience.

Honestly, though, as long as this Alan Wake XBLA title preserves the formula that was so compelling in its retail predecessor it won’t make much of a difference what it is subtitled. However, all shall be revealed on December 10th, when the game receives its big debut at the Spike Video Game Awards.

Which do you prefer: Alan Wake’s Night Springs or Alan Wake’s American Nightmare? Do you think that the subtitle is an important part of the game’s appeal?

Source: USK