Breaking Windows

GAAAAHHHH!

Revolution was a perfectly good name. Why change it? They had the brand identity, and they killed it!

And there is no way in hell I would buy something called Wii with a straight face.

And now we can all commence with the Nintendo Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! jokes.

I also really like the name Revolution. But Wii makes so much sense. It will catch one. Just wait.

It's a fucking stupid idea. The title sounds way to kiddy and it kills the huge buzz storm Nintendo had built around Revolution. God saying Nintendo Wii is like eating a pile of shit.

“Wii” makes sense on so many levels. Without even reading the introductory text, I immediately was able to connect with the “ii” in the name. This is the universal appeal Nintendo is going for, and is exactly what they need as we step even closer to the next console war between Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony.

Kiss ass.

Haha, this is great. LilBlackDemon just confirmed that the name change was needed, and the the new name is perfect. Dude, if you call yourself LilBlackDemon, you simply aren't the target audience for the Wii. Go buy an Xbox or an N-Gage or whatever other hardcore gamer name the other console manufacturers come up. Let me say this again: You are not the target audience, especially if you're one of those gamers who buy a console for the name instead of for the games.

Nintendo has repeatedly stated that they want to make a console for everyone. Children, casual gamers, gamers like us, old farts. Most adults wouldn't buy a console called "Xbox" (or, for that matter, "Revolution") since it's so pseudo-mature. Xbox simply smells like "made for teenagers". Wii doesn't. It's an empty name (apart from "Wheee!", which sounds like fun and is exactly what Nintendo wants you to think if you think Wii), one which Nintendo can fill with whatever meaning they want.

Think "iPod". iPod is a really stupid name, but Apple was able to fill it with meaning. If you think iPod, you think pretty, sleek, well-made, fashionable. Nintendo can do the same with Wii. They simply couldn't have done it with "Revolution", just like Microsoft can't make Xbox mean "elegant". The Xbox 360 is quite pretty, but if you say "Xbox", you still see "huge, black, green". That's because the name is so "hardkore".

The title sounds way to kiddy and it kills the huge buzz storm Nintendo had built around Revolution.

First of all, no, it most certainly doesn't. It actually generates even more of a buzz storm.

And again, the name "Revolution" may appeal to hardcore gamers. It doesn't the other 95% of the population.

In 6 months, Wii will feel as natural as iPod.

As I posted over on DP:

The difference is that Wii has alternate meanings when you pronounce it. It doesn't just sound bad, but it means piss, penis, and tiny first. Look, we're all going to buy it because of the games. That's us though. We know it's about the games.

What of the mainstream crowd Nintendo is trying to pull in? You know, the people that DON'T play games? Say someone is working in an office and in a casual conversation, they say "Hey, wanna come over tonight and play my Wii?"

Awkward? Believe it. Maybe Ipod sounded bad. Maybe Dreamcast sounded terrible. Maybe Xbox 360 doesn't roll off the toungue. The difference here is meaning, and the first things in my mind were the three alternate meanings, long before I grasped the whole "togetherness" aspect. The masses won't give it that second chance.

You can't sell a console named Wii to a soccer mom no matter how used to it we get. From a marketing perspective, it's a mess.

It's an awful, awful name, and LKM, sorry to say, but the only ones who can't see this are fanboys. Usually are debates are lively and entertaining, and maybe I'll even come around to your side, but this cannot possibly seem like a good idea. Even I'm leery about picking one up with a name like that. There's simply no way that naming anything, game console or not, after a term for a little kids penis is a good idea.

We want this industry to mature, draw in new people. That won't happen now. You don't seem to be thinking practically here. Are you going to walk into a game store and ask "Hey, where's your Wii section?" It's flat out freakin' embarrasing.

Would buy a drink with the name Wii? A car?

I live in a country where penis size matters, and no one will buy a console that comes off as tiny.

But "Wii" doesn't automatically mean "piss". I quote from this article which I found via slashdot:

Is it a homophone for a British slang word that means "urine"? Yes. But so is the first-person plural pronoun. If I said, "What are we doing tonight," would you repeat back to me, "What are wee doing tonight? Huh? Huh? Get it?" I would wonder what the hell your problem is, quite frankly.

Obviously, english isn't my first language, and we never learned that "wee" meant "piss" in school. Maybe it really sounds very different to Americans. However, I would guess that Nintendo would have done some actual testing of the name before comitting to it.

I doubt most people will think "small penis" when they hear "Wii". And those who do probably aren't Nintendo's target audience.

Anyway, we'll see in six month's time :-)

one more quote from the slashdot thread:

Even months from now, when you hear the name you'll smile or chuckle - because you think the name is funny, because you think it's refreshing, because you think it's colossally stupid and find it amusing that a company can make a mistake this big. In the meanwhile, the names "PlayStation" or "XBox" will just elicit a shrug.

Already - in one single day - Nintendo has managed to set itself apart from its competitors, and generate a huge amount of buzz about its console - without a massive ad campaign or billions in R&D. Just by releasing three letters to the public.

"If I said, "What are we doing tonight," would you repeat back to me, "What are wee doing tonight? Huh? Huh? Get it?" I would wonder what the hell your problem is, quite frankly."

But that's not how it's going to be used. To use examples:

Play with your Wii yet?

How much did you pay for Wii?

What games can you play with your Wii?

In no instance is that going to be used as multiple persons. I never learned wee meant piss in school either, but I remember mom always asking me "Do you need to go wee before we leave?" when I was a kid. I'm not the only one. And even if you don't take it that way, then it's a stand in for tiny, which may work in the sense of the Wii, but you don't want to jump into an industry like this and give someone the impression that you're smaller.

I doubt most people will think "small penis" when they hear "Wii". And those who do probably aren't Nintendo's target audience.

Nintendo's target audience is everybody. I just asked my mom about it, and the first thing out of her mouth was "wee wee?"

I quote from Kotaku:

Traditionally, game consoles sound like, well, game consoles. The machines either invoke play (Atari 2600 or the PlayStation), technology (Intellevision or TurboGrafx-16), entertainment (Super NES or Xbox) or adventure (Magnavox Odyssey or Dreamcast). “Wii” invokes something far more mundane: us. The horror.

Once you stop poronouncing it like a foreign word, or with a long "eeeeee" at the end, and pronounce it like "we" maybe you will get it. You might also want to grow up a little. I am not a Nintendo fanboy (and I think my Fanboy Test proved that) but I believe strongly that Wii is going to be what Nintendo markets it as. You have not even heard the E3 press conference, you have not seen commercials. Lets just wait and see.

but you don't want to jump into an industry like this and give someone the impression that you're smaller.

But this is exactly the point: Nintendo isn't trying to "jump into an industry". They're jumping out of the industry, and the name will help them do that. People won't associate Wii with violent teenage gamers and killing whores in GTA. What exactly they'll end up associating it with is up to Nintendo.

Once you stop poronouncing it like a foreign word, or with a long "eeeeee" at the end, and pronounce it like "we" maybe you will get it. You might also want to grow up a little. I am not a Nintendo fanboy (and I think my Fanboy Test proved that) but I believe strongly that Wii is going to be what Nintendo markets it as. You have not even heard the E3 press conference, you have not seen commercials. Lets just wait and see.

Who's pronouncing it like a foreign word? It's we. There's no way to say it differently. The non gamers that Nintendo wants to pull in with a real chance at taking gaming in directions we never thought possible won't see the press conference. That means nothing. Image is everything. They've named their console after a bodily function. It's undeniable.

Nintendo Wii in no way indicates multiple people when you hear it. This has nothing to do with growing up. It's about stepping outside our gamer shells and realzing that this is an awful, awful name from the perspective of someone who doesn't play any video games at all, and it has nothing to do with Wii so much as what it represents when you hear it.

But this is exactly the point: Nintendo isn't trying to "jump into an industry". They're jumping out of the industry, and the name will help them do that.

Good point, aside from the name helping them.