Jeremy, Contributor:
From a personal stand point, the name change is irrelevant to me. All I need to know is that it is a console from Nintendo and I know that it will satisfy my gaming needs. However, it's the others that I'm worried about. Sure, most Nintendo fans will buy it and be very happy. This may even be more so if it lives up to its innovative promises. The thing that worries me is that this name change will kill a lot of the appeal that the Revolution/Wii had in the first place. Just like the cartridges did it for the N64, and the purple colour did it for the GameCube.
Nintendo keep saying that they've learned from their mistakes but they are still shooting themselves in the foot on a regular basis. It is also another sign from Nintendo that they don't give a rats' about anything other than their own backyard. Despite being a global brand, Nintendo continue to go about their own business and rely on the world to feed off their scraps.
Simply, I think that it is a bad name because it will most likely become synonymous with another generation of damaging yet totally avoidable errors. It's not just the name but the implications and actions that follow. It may be a good move in Japan (and inadvertedly, France), where Wii is obviously much easier to roll off that Revolution. It may be a decent move for Nintendo to get a simple recognisable phrase not unlike DS ("Dee Es"). There is (arguably) a logical reason behind it, but it cannot be destined for long term success.
Perception is an important thing. With this name, now comes a new preception - and you can look in any forum to see what kind of perception has been generated in a matter of hours. Unless the last few secrets of the machine are really revelational (they may be), I cannot see how this is ment to appeal to the people who aren't already guaranteed to buy it. Yeah, the video is nice and the new icon looks good, but they feel arbitrary in the comparison to the "real" implications. I can already see myself looking three to four years down the track and finding myself in another struggle to finding games and units on shop shelves. Man, I really hope it's region free...
The N64 and GCN had some of the best games of their time. And as we can see, that's counted for little in the face of perception. We can say that iPod, Yahoo and Google are now insititutional, despite the initial apprehensions - but Wii? For every person that says grow-up, another five toilet jokes pop-up. Unfortunately, it looks like it's the true minority that will be suffering in the face of human irrationality... Again. And all because of one three letter word.
Luke, PR Director:
It's a difficult one, that's for sure. My initial reaction was of disgust and anger towards Nintendo - it really did seem like they wanted to lose the next generation console race. Nintendo have enough time now to look at the reaction and adjust the name of the console if they want. It appears that Sony has done this with the PlayStation 3 controller and Nintendo need to be smart enough to do it with the Wii.
Nintendo have commented that it will eventually roll off the tongue and the inevitable jokes will stop. But this is very unlikely, as I don't seem to recall any other company naming their product after bodily waste.
Yahoo, Google and iPod were all different, yes. However, they weren't stupid. If Nintendo had called their product something different then the name would probably have worked, but as it is it gives the perception that the company is losing touch with gamers. Nintendo needs to be seen as cool, and they aren't going to be seen as "cool" by non-gamers by calling their product a Wii...
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Chris, Reviewer:
Wii. Is that ‘We’? ‘Why?’ ‘Why-eye’? That’s the thing I feel will confuse most. People like things they can say and you would like think that a simple three letter word would be an easy thing to pronounce. Then there’s the whole urine-related association with the name, something Nintendo will have to work very hard to avoid when marketing the thing later in the year.
On the plus side it does have a few things going for it. Firstly, it’s far away from what you would expect from a typical console name. There’s no use of the words box, cube, system or any kinds of numbers or abbreviations in there either and by doing that you are somewhat removing the geeky stigma attached to gaming in the minds of a lot of people. The name is in no way attached to the GameCube or the N64 either but retains the word Nintendo that people know, especially from the recent Nintendo DS success. Also, the name is pretty much unforgettable, especially when you see it written meaning ideas for advertising can only benefit.
I don’t actually hate the name, it’s mainly the toilet-linked jokes I’m most worried about. If you look at thing rationally, console names in general do tend to sound odd when you first hear them anyway - Dreamcast? Xbox 360? Even by something as soon as E3 I’m sure many of us will already be used to referring to the Nintendo Wii without it sounding stupid. Revolution may have sounded good to us gamers, but it’s essentially meaningless to your average Joe on the street. I don't think Nintendo will lose gamers over a console name, as the games will always be what most people make their decision on - but they could gain new customers with such a unique name.
They’re already taking a risk with the system as a whole anyway and I feel that with this console it’s all or nothing this time in terms of gaining a foothold back into the home console market. But we must remember the vast skepticism many had nearly two years ago when a little unknown handheld called the Nintendo DS was shown. With its seemingly ridiculous use of two screens and lower touch screen many were predicting the end of Nintendo. They proved us wrong with that with nearly 10 million units shifted in Japan alone. Nintendo aren’t the foolish company they were a few years ago. Their TV/magazine advertising is no longer the embarrassing mess it used to be and you only have to look at recent console designs of the Wii, the Game Boy Micro and the DS Lite and it is obvious the days of purple boxes are long behind them.
Nick, Contributor:
Calling the console ‘Wii’ is possibly one of the smartest moves Nintendo has made.
The first reason that choosing Wii as the name is such a great idea is that it’s so phonetically lame in the English language that people won’t be able to stop talking about it’s stupidity. As soon as people hear this name, nobody is going to be forgetting it anytime soon and upon first hearing it, may have to do a double take and won’t be able to resist asking a follow up question such as “Why? Are you serious? Or what was Iwata smoking when he approved that – I want some of it”.
Secondly, the subliminal – or not so subliminal, now that Nintendo outlined exactly why they chose that name – messaging that the name incorporates. Apart from the aforementioned messages it represents as a visual, there is of course, the ‘Wii’ plus an ‘F’ equals ‘WiFi’ – another component of Nintendo’s current handheld system and upcoming home console. Another hidden meaning one could derive from this title is ‘Wii” plus an extra ‘W’ and capitalising each ‘i’ to produce “WWII”, signifying that Nintendo are putting up a fight in the console race this time [I think you're reaching a bit here, Nick. - Ed]. Regardless if you go along with my two additional hidden messages that I derived from the name, many people have and will skim over the meanings that Nintendo have provided, yet the hidden meanings will lay dormant in their subconscious… Or so Nintendo will hope.
I am yet to see one Nintendo ‘fan’ disown the company based on the name, just that they will continue to refer to it as the “Revolution”. At least that’s better than the tedious grade-school puns that are likely to follow this system around forever. Personally I don’t care that the name now has a place in toilet-humour jokes of the future, I think Nintendo know what they are doing.
Chris Leigh, Contributor:
Speaking as somebody who never particularly liked the rather banal moniker of "GameCube" ("It's a cube, which plays...GAMES. Geddit?!"), I think it's a smarter move than people are giving Nintendo credit for. Not only is "Wii" a name that's provoked a predictable initial outcry and buzz (all publicity is good publicity, etc etc.), but like some of the strongest brand names - iPod, Google, eBay - it's distinctive, compact, quirky and memorable and (as Nintendo has been desperate to point out over the fanboy wailing) carries a deeper meaning.
Admittedly, "Revolution" also had a deeper meaning, but as a name, was it distinctive? Compact? Quirky? Memorable? For me, "Wii" beats it on all four counts. As for the giggling over the name, it's just another indication that, at its heart, the games industry is still a tad childish. Luckily, innuendo is a type of humour that wears thin pretty quickly.
Choose your wiipon.
Matt, Deputy Editor:
I've had my fun with the toilet humour and gotten over the general shock of it all, but I still don't see how Nintendo feels this name is going to add anything to their cause. I do think that a lot of people are focusing solely on the gamer community's reaction to the name - have you all forgotten that this console is Nintendo's attempt to expand the market? How does the wider market actually feel about the name? I guess I'll probably have to wait til Monday to see the Nikkei's reaction to the name. Wonder if they'll actually use the relatively obscure "wi" character in Japan (it's actually usually pronounced "i" anyway).
There's a vague possibility that it's all a big marketing stunt, just to get people's focus on them right before E3, when they'll reveal a name that's much more appropriate for the wider market that they're targeting, but I think that's not going to happen.
To be honest, I don't really have a lot to say on the matter. The gamer side of my mind says you could call the system the Nintendo Slimey Hunk of Guano and I'd still buy it. I guess the best thing that has come out of the day is the fact that several Nintendo representatives have stated that they got the name out into the world a few days earlier in order to get people over the shock so that they can use their press conference to focus on the software, which is still arguably the most important part of the puzzle. There's still many things we don't know about the machine, and I don't think the vast majority of consumers are going to be able to make an opinion until they get their grubby mits on it.
Mark, Contributor:
Nintendo has done it, another first - they’ve managed to come up with the lamest console name in history.
Of course, though, many people will look pass the silly name and focus on the games, and only make a few jokes at the name because it’s so ‘out there’. It certainly does fit with what Nintendo were aiming to achieve with this console, and the Wii seems like it will stay true to Nintendo’s statement that they want to target a much more trendier demographic than they have over the past ten plus years. You could argue what’s so trendy about Wii, but it’s the image that is going to go along with the name and how it’ll be used with the console.
And that’s why I’m not too worried about the name choice. If Nintendo can implement a good marketing campaign that expresses the use of the word Wii and reflects what they’re wanting to achieve with their console.
Realistically though, it’s a stupid risk from a business perspective. You can argue that it is a name that’ll remain in people’s minds, because it’s so silly, but the matter of the fact is that Wii isn’t a casual word, and a word that no one is going to be intrigued by. It doesn’t have any impact, it has no strength behind it, and it shows off the typical Nintendo image – lighthearted and aiming for a much more younger and carefree market, which is the only area they aren’t losing in. Honestly, it just lacks any sort of impact for casual gamers to ponder what’s so hot about Wii.
Wii is very Nintendo though – it’s out there and it’s just as big as a risk as the console itself. People might argue that a name doesn’t sell a product, but in all honestly it’s just as important as the quality of the product. It’s the image that this name will create for the console, and unless Nintendo can show through their marketing what Wii means to the console, then it’s doubtful it’ll spark any interest from the casual gamer.
I’m torn between two sides at the moment. On one side it ‘could’ work, but relies heavily on Nintendo’s ability to incorporate Wii and it’s image, whilst on the other side it’s another risk that’ll more than likely won’t fare too well with the average consumer.
Have you pre-ordered your Wii yet?
David, Contributor:
My first reaction? Oh dear.
I'm about as big a Nintendo defender as they come, but even I admit that sometimes (not often, but sometimes) they do the indefensible. I can see the logic behind featuring the purple GameCube in marketing material, they wanted to imply 'fun' (keep in mind that the first iMacs came in fruity colours and were praised for being less boring then a grey, boring PC). But with the GameCube, someone should have just said 'hey, that design in that colour doesn't look cool'. It's the same with 'Wii' - I can see the logic behind it, and it even makes sense to go with this type of name, but I thought that someone should just have said 'hey - people have a tendency to be immature, and there are plenty of other random names that can imply the same thing, so lets go with something else'. Why did this not happen? Even leaving it as it is, and just changing the pronunciation to 'why' rather then 'we' removes the only real problem with it.
But moving on, it was certainly clear that the Revolution name had to go, despite both fitting the console and sounding quite cool. Why? Well, first of all, you want a worldwide name, and Revolution wouldn't work in Japan - the pronunciation would be very confusing, and the 'rebellion' connotation is missing, it just sounds like what the wheel of a bus does. Secondly, that 'coolness' we all love about the name could be a problem to Nintendo's 'Blue Ocean' of new consumers. Soccer Mums, Gramps and cousin Louie don't want 'rebellion', they don't want to sound 'hardcore'. They just want to play with that fun gadget everyone is talking about. This type of name is exactly what the doctor ordered for that crowd. But once again, why this particular name?
So where does that leave us? Chris, Nick and Chris Leigh have posted a variety of defences of the name (as has this guy), and they may be right. The Dreamcast was an excellent console despite sounding like a fishing rod, that the name 'PlayStation' is terrible engrish has been forgotten over time, and we've moved on from the utter meaninglessness of 'Xbox 360'. As Nick said, the visual is good, and I think the actual logo of 'Wii' looks great. It's just the damn pronunciation - but then again, we allready have the 'Pee S Pee'.
Finally, the name doesn't change what the product is, and the product is still looking awesome in my opinion. The name can still change - remember that the Nintendo 64 was officially the 'Ultra 64' for over a year, the GameCube was semi-officially the 'Star-cube' for a few days, and the DS was about to be re-named the 'Nitro' at some point. If the jokes are still going in a couple of months they can still change it. It worked for the PS3's batarang...
John, Art Director:
"Why?" "Wiise?" "Wai!" "Wee"
I'm not really shocked or surprised by it, my reaction was "OK? How do you pronounce it?". A lot of people seem to be either really happy about it or really angry, but I'm on the fence.
Names like Google, Yahoo! (remember to include the exclaimation mark) or even iPod don't have any real meaning. A Google is supposed to be 1 million million which will take Google just as long to index, Yahoo! is something mad scientists exclaim when finding a new way to take over the world and iPod is a Pod that plays music and video but not Is. The argument has been made that these names are ok and Wii isn't but I remember alot of people scoffing at Google back in 2000-2001 - and these people now worship it.
However, the pronunciation of the name presents some awkward social situations to conquer. Say I walk into a shop, go to the sales counter and ask “Excuse me, do you have the new Mario Kart game for the Wee in yet?”. Children will ask their parents “Mummy and Daddy, can I have a Wee for Christmas please?”. There will be all of times when you will just bite your tongue and just say “Nintendo console” instead. I’ve spent most of the day thinking about all of the different ways in which this will manifest itself.
Revolution was a good name and could have worked great as a name if Nintendo were only targeting “serious” gamers that are tech-savvy (I really hate that phrase). The Revolution probably wouldn’t have brought in new customers though and shortening it to Rev wouldn’t have worked because there are existing products with that name. Maybe they should have had a few focus groups before deciding the name or perhaps realised that E3 was soon and scrapped something together.
People will get used to it though and a year after launch it’ll be just another name like Google or iPod.
I’d also like to draw everyone’s attention to the fact that PS3 also rhymes and be careful when saying it fast.
"No, I wasn't kidding when I said Wii, damnit!"
Lahiru, Contributor:
I think ‘rollercoaster ride’ would be an adequate way of describing my reactions to this somewhat rude awakening. Even a full 24 hours after the revelation, I still have yet to finally decide on what to make of Nintendo’s latest disruption. At first, I was in disbelief. I simply put it down as another one of those rumours that we all just love hearing about. Then after making my way to the official site and seeing those i’s do their thing and finally nestle up next to that w, the realization hit and I was dumbstruck.
Cue Nintendo’s reasoning, and those millions of brain cells that had just died a cruel and unusual death in my head are suddenly resurrected in an aura of holy light as I think to myself, ‘Yeah, I think I get it!’
And then I say ‘Nintendo Wii’ out loud. More dead brain cells and an irresistible urge to wash my mouth out with soap.
I love the look of the name but (and this may be simply a case of new name blues), I just can’t seem to get my head around the sound of 'Nintendo Wii'. Maybe it’s not even that. Maybe it’s the fact that they dropped possibly one of the most fitting and powerful consoles names in the history of gaming and replaced it with something so totally off the wall and seemingly random that it would confuse and embarrass the very people they were trying to reach in the first place. You know the ones I’m talking about.
To me the title ‘Wii’ will take more time to sink in because of how perfect ‘Revolution’ was suited to what Nintendo were trying to do with the machine. That said, if ‘Revolution’ was out of the equation, oh who am I kidding, ‘Wii’ is just bizarre.
I’m sure once we start hearing it used more often in news articles, press releases, developer interviews and the like, the once cringe worthy ‘Wii’ will find a place in our vocabulary. You can count on that. We’ve just got to give it some time, and I’m willing to wait it out.
Brendan, Editor:
I agree with David in that I like the basic idea behind it. Nintendo wanted a slightly different name, high-tech and artsy name - one that was basic, and hinted at the fact that people of all ages can pick up a remote and have a go. But... "Wii"? The biggest problem I have with this is the pronunciation - there are a heap of possibilities there, as has been said above. Why not something like "US"? You can say it's one syllable, and works when lined up next to the DS. Or "Y" - for generation Y, or something or rather. There are many options here - trust Nintendo to pick one of the worst.
Personally, I can't see your average punter seeing this thing at stores and giving it a go, purely because of the questionable name. To be, this just seems like Nintendo firing another bullet right into their long-suffering foot. Not that I really care, though - after all, it is only a name.
Jeremy H, Contributor
I don't pretend to understand the inner-workings of the Nintendo decision makers in this particular instance. I don't think the name will make or break the console, but I am concerned all the same.
What is most concerning is the decision making process that managed to approve the name in the first place. If Wii was the name that captured the minds and hearts of Nintendo's most powerful, then exactly how bad were the other choices?
As long as the decision makers in this instance aren't the same people responsible for developing the console and the software then there still may be hope. In the long run, it is the strenght of the console and software that will determine if the Wii has a future. That in turn will determine the long- term acceptance of the name.
The word iPod has become ubiquitous, not because its such a great name, but because Apple created a well designed product with a first class interface that captured the imagination of the public throughout the world.
If Nintendo can do the same with the Wii, then it's future will be assured.
So that's our opinion on Wii. What do you think? Be sure to add your comments to this article just below these words.
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