Nintendo's 'Wii' Just A Marketing Gimmick?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Sunday April 30, 2006 @05:49AM from the doesn't-seem-their-style dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Tom's Hardware has an editorial up on the Nintendo Wii in which the author postulates that the new name may be a bigger PR stunt than it looks. From the article: 'Saying Wii is controversial mainly in the English-speaking world (the Japanese can't even pronounce it); in France, for instance, it's a homonym for oui. But the upcoming E3 Expo plays mostly to an English-speaking crowd, even though it's an international event. It's just over a week to E3, where Sony fans will be all giddy and running around like they have a Blu-ray chasing their tails. Amid all this, Nintendo announces a name change which is not only interesting, but controversial. You can't not notice it. Essentially, Nintendo steals more than a wee bit of Sony's thunder.'"

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Re:If the Japanese can't pronounce it... by Anonymous Coward · 2006-04-30 07:20 · Score: 0, Flamebait

Instead of saying "IDNSJ (I Do Not Speak Japanese)" why didn't you just say "I Do Not Speak Japanese"?

Moron.
Re:Bad Names? by NutscrapeSucks · 2006-04-30 08:47 · Score: 0, Flamebait

> BZZZZZZZZ!

Posting this on the Internet was never cool and/or funny.

> Nintendo's real target audience (read: not what the fucktards assume) is EVERYONE

Baloney. The vast majority of console sales go to families with children. There is no such thing as a video game system marketed to "everyone" unless you're talking about Yahoo Games or something. In fact there is no products at all marketed to "everyone" -- it's a word you will never read in a marketing plan.

And for someone so concerned about "fucktards", you sure do an awfully good impression.

--
Whenever I hear the word 'Innovation', I reach for my pistol.