When Acclaim fell in 2004, the video game industry lost a giant. After the game maker declared bankruptcy and was liquidated, it seemed Acclaim was truly gone. However, last month, Acclaim made a triumphant return as a new company was launched, complete with two titles in the works.

One might say that the new Acclaim is a like a phoenix rising from the ashes of its dead predecessor. But that notion would be incorrect, because after Acclaim shut down there weren't even any ashes left. All that remained was the brand name - and a lot of disappointed and frustrated fans, who yearned for the creativity and quality for which Acclaim was known.

The brand name may not have seemed like much, but it still had power. So Howard Marks, a former Activision executive, purchased the Acclaim name last summer for a reported $100,000, and has now put a new spin on the old company. The new Acclaim will specialize in producing free massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) from Asia for Western gamers. Ken Chan, brand manager at Acclaim Games, says the opportunity to restart Acclaim with an entirely new approach was too much to pass up.

"Howard really felt that the brand had more potential than a totally new name, so he acquired the naming rights," Chan says. "We were fans of the Acclaim brand back in the day. We all felt that while it had run into bad times recently, it still had a lot of value and represented quality and creativity."

A good brand is hard to kill, but can Howard and his crew erase the recent mishaps associated with Acclaim, and return to the company's heyday? At its height, Acclaim published such titles as the Turok series, but during the last few years the company crumbled under a string of poorly produced and disappointing games that were ridiculed by gamers. "In the recent memory of a lot of gamers, Acclaim isn't remembered fondly," Chan says. "They're still not happy about what happened to Acclaim. So for us, it's a tough job to remove ourselves from the recent history and go back to Acclaim's glory days."

It will be a challenge, and Chan knows it. "Our toughest case to make is with hardcore gamers; they are always your toughest audience," Chan says. "And I don't think we have to make that case immediately. Acclaim won't be about making that one big hit title. We're going to concentrate on producing a body of consistently strong products."