Both Sides of Wii

Yesterday Nintendo released the official name for their next console. Formerly the Revolution, and now simply called Wii, reaction has been strong among gaming fans. A Brian Crecente article in the Rocky Mountain News looks at why Wii is bad, from a marketing perspective. Chris Kohler, over at Game|Life, looks at why Wii is good because of its iconoclastic nature. And, always happy to help with the irreverent, Games.net examines why Wii is weird. From that article: "We don't think Nintendo Wii is a truly terrible console name, but it's an uncharacteristically risky choice, even for Nintendo. We admire its simplicity and its playfulness (the two i's represent multiplayer action, you see). But on the flip side, parents will have a hard time pronouncing it ("Nintendo...why?") and hardcore gamers will slam it ..."

Comments

Nintendo's Wii akin to Chevrolet's Nova?

[eldavojohn]

I missed the first article about this name change but this reminds me of the urban legend of the Chevrolet Nova in Latin America. Nova means literally "doesn't go" in Spanish and so my teacher told me in Spanish class that it did horrible in Latin America. This isn't true, as the article points out and I wonder what exactly goes through an executive's head as they pick out a name for a product. From the article:

A logical analysis of the story would also indicate its unlikelihood: It strains credibility to believe that a company as large as General Motors, with marketing executives and other employees and contacts throughout the world, wouldn't be aware of a negative meaning of a product name. In fact, according to one marketing analyst (Cecelia Bouleau, quoted in Business Mexico magazine), GM marketers discussed the possibility of confusion with the name, but "they kept the name and it sold very well. ... I think that the word is sufficiently incorporated into the language as meaning 'new' as in 'bossa nova' that the criticism isn't valid."

You have to imagine that the execs at Nintendo saw this as a risqué move and weighed in the possible problems they would have marketing it. Is there a cultural barrier here that is plaguing a dominantly Japanese company?

Also to note about Wii is that the logo looks very ... Apple-esque in its very light gray on white background way.

All these jokes have been made about the name but on the manufacturer's site, you'll find this little blurb:

Introducing ... Wii.
As in "we."
While the code-name "Revolution" expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer.
Wii will break down that wall that separates video game players from everybody else.
Wii will put people more in touch with their games ... and each other. But you're probably asking: What does the name mean?
Wii sounds like "we," which emphasizes this console is for everyone.
Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii.
Wii has a distinctive "ii" spelling that symbolizes both the unique controllers and the image of people gathering to play.
And Wii, as a name and console, brings something revolutionary to the world of video games that sets it apart from the crowd.
So that's Wii. But now Nintendo needs you.
Because, it's really not about you or me.
It's about Wii.
And together, Wii will change everything.

So you see, even they are aware of the puns that come with a name like Wii. Personally, I'm glad they chose something other than an old name coupled with a high number (Nintendo 64, Xbox 360, Sega 32, etc.) because that makes it sound like something where bitrate and technical specs are the only things that concern a gamer. And they're not. The thing that concerns me the most is if there's going to be games that I enjoy, Tetris did that with 16 bits so I welcome anything at any bit rate that provides me with entertainment.

Re:Nintendo's Wii akin to Chevrolet's Nova?

[idonthack]

Remote: lift remote, look at it to find the right button, push it, look back at screen to see if the 12:00 or AV1 has gone away. Curse. Repeat.

Do you really see that happening with a remote that only has three buttons?

Igor international?

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

From the first blog:

It's interesting how bad it is, said Steve Manning, managing director of branding company Igor International, the company behind such names as MTV's Urge and The Signature at MGM Grand. I don't know who's going to love it.[emp mine]

Right. Someone from 'Igor international' who created 'Urge' shouldn't criticise anything

Anyway, the only really thoughtful paragraph in any of the articles was from the Gamelife blog - and it was a quote from the comments to an earlier article:

Talking to people that have worked in games retail, you find that normal people can't/don't/won't keep the names of the systems straight. People ask for PlayStation 360s and PlayCubes and Mario on Xbox even though they actually own a GameCube - to them the system names are confusing and completely interchangeable.

This is basically Nintendo trying to create a name and brand that is in no way similar to the others, in order to be distinct in the minds of consumers. They see the ad, they actually retain the correct name, and they go and ask for it at the store.

Also, while it may sound dumb to us, you know that they focus-tested the hell out of it in all three territories and, at the very least, it's not completely repellent to those focus groups.

That's as good an explanation as any I've heard (in fact all the good speculation I've read about on not just this story, but just about anything recent, has come from random members of the public rather then the pundits)

Re:Igor international?

[Anonymous Coward]

Honestly, I've been thinking that everything people like/dislike about Wii was (probably) intentional. In english the sylable we is associated with several words that can be used in a marketing campaign:

Wii as in 'we'

• Wii play together: the Nintendo Wii can have 4 people playing together

• Wii Wifi: the Nintendo Wii is Wifi enabled and connects to the Nintendo Wifi service

• Wii work together: the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS are compatible and work together (in some way)

Wii as in "Wee"

• Wii System: The Nintendo Wii is Nintendo's smallest system every produced (and one of the smallest console's ever)

• Wii Controller: The Nintendo Wii's controller is the smallest controller ever produced

• Wii price tag: The Nintendo Wii will be the cheapest systems ever

Wii as in "Whee!"

• Wii games: The Nintendo Wii was designed with a focus on producing better, more inovative and intuitive, controlls to improve the enjoyment of games

Wii as in you "pee-pee" you imature fools

• Bring a woman home to play with your Wii

The biggest problems people have with the name Wii is that it does not bring up any images of playing games and it does not have a 'Mature' or 'Masculine' name; and I think that is the whole point. Calling a system XBox is about the same as naming your system the "Xtreme-Uber-Leet Box (don't play this you foolish woman or casual gamer)" which was what Microsoft was going for, they were trying to attract the hard-core gaming market. Wii is supposed to be a contrast to the (hard-core sounding) XBox and the (Technical sounding) PS3 by being very feminine sounding and very inviting.

Wii is a terrible name

[Rik Sweeney]

Not only is it worse than Xbox 360, it will confuse the French and also everyone will keep making piss-poor jokes about it.

See what I did there?

It could have been worse..

[Anonymous Coward]

Although they'd have to name is Nintendo Shitcock for that to be true.

Re:It could have been worse..

[iainl]

Well, you say that, but their European distributer is Koch Media.

Yes, the moment they start having the same problems that the 360 saw around release, we'll be talking about whethere Koch is releasing enough Wii.

Reaction among sony has been strong too..

[saboola]

They changed the name of the Playstation 3 back to that marketing term from the PS2. The "Playstation Emotion Engine", or PEE.

Obligatory

[hotdiggitydawg]

Obligatory penny arcade reference...

attention whoring

[Odiumjunkie]

I think that the second slashdot story in two days on the name of an unreleased console is evidence enough that the marketing folks over at Nintendo have made a sensible decision.

Why oh why do people care? Hardcore /. nerds won't give a damn what it's called, they'll just want the specs and the reviews. Casual consumers won't remember what it's called, they'll just want to look at the pretty colours.

Back in the day...

[spaztik]

I seem to remember another device that had a name which everyone chastised in the begnning. Give it time people.

Re:New Nintendo Controller Name

[Megane]

I wonder if they'll start calling the new controller a Wii-Wii.

You must have missed yesterday's meeting. Wii-Wii is what you play with when you connect two of them together. The controller is going to be called the Wii-mote[tm]. Wii-li.

(Wii are not amused.)

Petition!

[Trevelyan]

• Don't like...
• Do Like...

Hold on.

[Z0mb1eman]

So, because of the name everyone's talking about Nintendo's console.

Two stories in two days on Slashdot about the name alone - first one got almost 1000 replies.

Blog articles are popping up left and right about it.

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.

So, remind me again... why is this name bad?

Those ellipsis...

[mwvdlee]

I love the way the Slashdot blurb used ellipsis in this quote:

and hardcore gamers will slam it ...

whereas the full quote from TFA reads as:

and hardcore gamers will slam it because, well, they're jerk asses.

That's quote some selective ellipsing/ellipsissing/ellipsiation going on there.

Re:French pronounciation of w : an open discussion

[MORB]

You're right about "wagon", and "wisigoth". I don't know about "awalé".

But the most commonly used words with W in french are pronounced roughly like in english: sandwich, wifi, clown, interview, watt, etc.
"wagon" and "wisigoth" are not employed very often (unless your work is related to trains, you're not going to talk about wagons very often)

When we see a W randomly put in a made-up word, we're intuitively going to pronounce it like in english, not v in any case :)