A few days ago we ran a Red Dead Redemption contest that presented you fine and discerning gamers the task of inventing a suitably excellent name for our official Game Rant posse (other than the obvious choice of 'Official Game Rant Posse') that the Game Rant staffers will use in Red Dead Redemption. Sure, it seems a little self-serving, but as a reward, the winner was set to receive 3 Red Dead Redemption Posters and a whole fistful of Red Dead Redemption and Rockstar Games stickers. Not bad swag in this economy.
Well, after several days of contest entries, and after much - and I really do mean much - deliberation, culminating in a somewhat epic internal rant of our own on the subject, we have arrived at a winner.
The winning suggestion came from Game Rant reader Quami, and the winning name - the name we will use as a hammer to strike down our foes on the western plains - is The Longbranch Pennywhistlers.
Our own Amanda Shuckman condensed our group feelings on the name into two paragraphs:
"I vote Longbranch Pennywhistlers. It's so bizarrely Western, it's just... it
works. Has a nice ring. You can always go with the Dusky Desperadoes or
whatever, but there's something charmingly unusual yet authentic about the
Longbranch Pennywhistlers.
Also, it's sort of innocuous and whimsical, so when we're smearing our
horses with the blood of our foes, people will be like "wow, that is way
more hardcore then I would have given those guys credit for."
I couldn't have said it better myself. So there you have it. This Thursday, The Longbranch Pennywhistlers will ride out into that dusty and barren wasteland for the very first time (we know the game comes out tomorrow but Thursday is Game Rant gaming night.) With cold steel at their hips and sand-worn hats to keep the beating sun at bay, they'll begin their campaign of outlaw-justice and team deathmatch... and one other thing: There's a certain cowboy that goes by the name of Quami in these parts. He's invited to come along on the Pennywhistlers' first ride.
You guys certainly didn't make it easy for us. The amount of truly awesome posse names had us constantly altering our top 5, but ultimately we could only choose one. Here are some of the honorable and dishonorable mentions that almost made our number one spot, and a couple that weren't even close:
Smiley Face:
- Los Bandidos Guapos
- The Corset Pounders
- Black-Eyed Steeds
- High Noon Ranters
- Cactus Cavalry
- The Hippidy Hop Bearskinners
- Rawhide Ranters
Frowny Face:
- HE-MAN WOMAN HATERS CLUB
- The Booger Eating Snot Faces
Our thanks go out to all who joined in the fun. You all had a lot of fun with it, and gave us some serious chuckles along the way. So again, thank you. As for Quami, congratulations! We will contact you via email shortly.