Wii – Nintendo takes the piss
I was sitting at work all afternoon thinking about what to write for Easy Mode, having run out of para-planning work and reading material (no Internet at work, smart move on behalf of my employer). Little did I know that while I was pondering away on my original topic that Nintendo had let slip the name for that Nintendo had announced the Revolution’s official name, Wii.
Since I have arrived at home, I’ve been thinking about what possible reason Nintendo could have for naming their latest console after bodily waste. Of course, their real intention was some touchy-feely crap about “we”, but surely someone in their team realised that this name stinks. Then again, it’s marketing, and you don’t need a brain to work in marketing – just a lust for money. The biggest problem in marketing is “groupthink”, whereby members of a team will conform to popularist opinion, which (in my experience of marketing) is usually the first idea that comes up. Obviously nobody at Nintendo felt like challenging the name.
At least it's sterile
I normally stay away from making predictions about market trends, other than for my own personal use, but I do think that this name will really hurt Nintendo – change it, change it now. In substitute for continued witty diatribe about Nintendo’s naming conventions (i.e. even more wee jokes, but I must mention Matt Cassamassina’s “Nintendo fans find Wii hard to swallow”), I’ve decided to get some celebrity and industry reactions to the name of Wii.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger felt that Wii gave him a burning sensation.
Rocky star Sylvester Stallone needed more time to think about Wii.
Bruce Willis got excited thinking about Wii.
Wii got the better of Steve Ballmer
Ken Kutaragi and Kaz Hirai were all smiles, but added “Who the **** cares, we would have won anyway”
(Easy Mode will be taking a short hiatus during E3, and will return to regular programming at the end of May. If anyone can tell me who created the Wii picture used in this article, contact me so they can receive credit where it is due.)
Thoughts and opinions expressed in Easy Mode do not represent those of PALGN or its affiliates and advertisers.
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