Nintendo Revolution Renamed 'Wii'

Retroneous writes "The Nintendo Revolution has had its name changed to the Nintendo Wii." Confirmation on the official Revolution site. Update: 04/27 16:32 GMT by Z : More information available from a Gamasutra article: "New details on the disc format have also been revealed: 'Instead of a tray, a single, innovative, self-loading media bay will play both 12-centimeter optical discs used for the new system as well as Nintendo GameCube discs. Owners will have the option of equipping a small, self-contained attachment to play movies and other DVD content.'"

Comments

WTF8

[iGN97]

"Because, it's really not about you or me. It's about Wii."

To quote Irwin Mahatma Fletcher: I R pissed.

Re:WTF8

[Rogue Eve]

This is Wiik.

First Pun!

[fm6]

Wii not?!

Terrible

[ender-]

Man that's just terrible. The name "Revolution" had a powerful feel behind it, which I think would have been useful in its marketing against the Xbox360 and the PS3. "Wii" sounds diminutive and powerless. I hope they reconsider. Somehow, saying 'Hey I'm going to go out and buy a Wii [we]' just doesn't have the ring of 'I'm going out to buy a Revolution!'.

Maybe it's just mii though...

Re:Terrible

[squiggleslash]

Yeah, Revolution sounds awesome. I mean, they were really taking that name to the max. We're looking at PowerGaming here, with a console that could only have been topped by the future Revolution: Xtreme.

Revolution was a cheesy name. It made sense from a code-word point of view, but as marketing goes, it was a word that brought to mind hype and pretty much nothing else. Microsoft had PowerPoint, to describe a presentation package. IBM was having difficulty with RISC in the 1980s and trying to get the message across that less is more: it finally decided to call its new architecture POWER. Apple couldn't figure out how to make a speed upgrade to the Airport 802.11 product look more interesting than... well, a speed bump. So it called it the Airport Extreme. Revolution was part of that genre. And just like all these names look ridiculous today, it'd have looked ridiculous too.

Is Wii better? Well, as people aren't generally referring to the Piss-Three or the Sex-box 360, I have to assume those who posted today thinking Wii is only going to be associated with Urine are probably wide of the mark.

It's not a bad word. It conveys fun ("Wheee!"), it also subtly highlights the new console's 802.11 features (WiFi), and the ads, using the anthromorphicized(sp) "i"s, look like they have potential. I think it's objectively better than "Revolution". Better names might exist, but this is a good one, and what it replaced was awful.

Still, I know people complaining that a certain operating system currently named after a wide view of the world should instead have been named after a cow, as it was originally. Some people are wierd...

This goes a long way...

[gEvil (beta)]

This goes a long way to putting to rest all that crap about Nintendos only being made for kids...

Gonads and strife... SHUT UP!

[tepples]

Is it pronounced Yo mutha fucka weeee! or Wheee! (nyeh nyeh nyeh)?

Weeeeee!

[spaztik]

The first thing I though of upon hearing this name was the Gonads and Strife flash animation.

also announced

[rayde]

it will be released in 3 sizes to combat the 3 colors of PS3. these sizes are:

Wii. Not so Wii. and FREAKIN HUGE.

Re:also announced

[rayde]

and to continue my own thread... this made me laugh out loud..

"Touching is good...", "Wii-wii..." Oh My

[AudioEfex]

Just like the marketing guy who coined the "Touching is good..." slogan for the NDS, the guy who came up with this and thought it was clever needs to be a bit more in-touch (pun intended) with American culture.

Just like parents thought twice about buying a product for their child that kept telling you how good it was to "touch", it's going to be hard for self-respecting gamers to ask for a "Wii". And God-help us when the 16-year-old behind the counter at Wal-Mart explains to the nervous parents how the NDS will interface with the Wii, so the product with the catch-phrase "Touching is good" can be used to interface with your..."Wii."

I love Nintendo, and I think the new console is going to rock - but naming it "Wii" is like naming your kid Richard when your last name is Head; you're just gimping them unnecessarily from the start.

AE

Super, 64, DS

[uberjoe]

So does this mean that all the games are going to be appended with Wii? Super Mario Wii, Zelda Wii, Metroid Wii? Or even worse Madden Wii? This has got to be the worst product name since the Kia Smegma.

I feel victimised

[mccalli]

This year, my Powerbook become a MacBook Pro and now my likely console upgrade has turned into wee.

Was it something I said?

Cheers,
Ian

Nintendo Wtf?

[Kenshin]

I think "Nintendo Wtf" would have much more universal recognicion than "Nintendo Wii", because "Wtf" is what I think when I see that name.

WTF?

Re:And one Xbox to rule them all....

[SScorpio]

The Playstation brand has been keeping Sony afloat for a few years now. Unless they really mess up the PS3 in some way expect it to be a success.

Nintendo while not number one has been having constent profit, and has had one quarter in company history that was not profitable. This was causing by the extra investments and the USD taking a dive in value. But over 100 years of profit looks good.

Microsoft while a rich company does not have limitless funding. Shareholders will eventually get upset with all the money being pissed away. While it remains to be seen what happens this generation, I'd be extremely suprised if Microsoft killed off both Sony and Nintendo. Hell it will be surprising if the Xbox360 turns a profit 1/2 through it's life cycle.

Yeah! The Good News!

[Shadow Wrought]

This is actually great news. See, every time Nintendo does something with a console, there is always one really stupid thing about it. With the wii (did I just really write that?) its the name that means that we can simply keep calling it the Revolution and it won't suck.

Kudos to Nintendo for getting their stupidity out of their sytem early, and in a manner which won't affect the machines performance.

Re:April 1st was 26 days ago

[88NoSoup4U88]

I actually liked their explanation of chosing for Wii : The video also shows it quite well.

Admittedly, Wii does sound strange (and alot like 'weeeeeeeeeeeeee' :) ), but it also has something that makes one wonder what this 'wee-thing you just talked about' is.

Off record: If the Wii's can connect to eachother, would it be a 'wiiwii' ? And would I be in trouble if I told people I'm off playing with my friends and our WiiWii's ?

*cough* I'm sorry.

Re:Oh Good Lord

[david.given]

Wii Nintendo, Wii? Gotta say that's a very bad name...

I can visualise the Penny Arcade strip already...

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/05/27

Re:Oh Good Lord

[venicebeach]

It's WE, not WHY. At least get the jokes correct.

Seems to me one of the problems with this name is that it's not immediately clear how to pronounce it from the way it is written.

Re:No way

[iapetus]

Perhaps the pronunciation will be regionalised. In Japan it will be pronounced 'Wee'. In most of Europe it will be pronounced 'Why'. In the US it will be pronounced 'Why? Dear Lord, Nintendo, why?' Only in Newcastle will it be pronounced 'Why-eye'.

Obligatory Monty Python Joke

[metal slime]

We are the systems that say "Wii!" Now I demand you bring me.....a mushroom!

N Wii

[Midnight Thunder]

Call it the 'N Wii' instead of the 'Nintendo Wii' and it doesn't sound so bad.

Re:N Wii

[thatguywhoiam]

Call it the 'N Wii' instead of the 'Nintendo Wii' and it doesn't sound so bad.

Ennui (ennui): Listlessness and dissatisfaction resulting from lack of interest; boredom: "The servants relieved their ennui with gambling and gossip about their masters" (John Barth).

Hmmmmmm.

Re:Oh no.

[Guppy06]

I'd buy it even if it were called "OMG PONIES!"

Seriously though, if your buy/don't buy decision revolves around the name of the console (as opposed to the games, or even just shiney specs), then you're not the target audience. You don't broaden the game-buying audience by being all 1337, you instead make it approachable by people who are currently put off by exactly that kind of attitude.

If they were trying to be badass and edgy, they'd probably call it "Xbox" or something.

Why are you looking for validation of your masculinity in your video game purchases to begin with?

Gollum

[Stormwatch]

Wii hates it, wii hates it, wii hates it for ever!

Re:What about Japanese?

[Valdrax]

The short answer is no.

The longer answer is that Japanese obsoleted the "wi" sound many years ago, and the most common way of making similar sounds in loan words and sound effects is to use the two characters "u-i" instead. As there are no suriving Japanese words that start with "wi," unless there's some ancient meaning that only a classical language scholar would recognize, this is just nothing but a sound effect word, like "Wheee!"

Oh. I just saw the bit about asking us to lie. Hmmm....

Yes, "wii" is the way that nobles in the Sendai region used to say "ii" or "good." The use of ancient Sendai dialect evokes images of both the area's Tanabata festival and the legendary samurai Date Masamune. It is the spirit of big, brightly pastel colored floats and badass, one-eyed, moon-helmetted warlords that Nintendo seeks to evoke.

Re:A rose by any other name...

[fred_sanford]

Props to Mel Brooks

Prince John: Such an unusual name, "Latrine." How did your family come by it?
Latrine: We changed it in the 9th century.
Prince John: You mean you changed it TO "Latrine"?
Latrine: Yeah. Used to be "Shithouse."
Prince John: It's a good change. That's a good change!

Re:Why wii? Confusion with Wifi?

[victim]

Apparently it doesn't have 802.11 since Wii is what you get if you have No F-in Wifi.

Yes, I know it's too late in the thread for anyone to read this, but it needed saying.