Developers React To 'Wii'

Gamasutra has reactions from game developers to the announcement of the Revolution's new commercial name, 'Wii'. From the article: "It doesn't change my personal opinions of the console in the slightest. It changes my opinion of the Nintendo marketing department considerably. Did they even bother to research this? Why do they do these things? What was wrong with 'Revolution'? It's bad enough that the Japanese have a drink called "Sweat," but at least they don't try to export it to the English-speaking world with that name. Am I supposed to be happy about having to go down to the game store to purchase the 'Nintendo Wee'? For God's sake, where was Miyamoto? I can't believe he would have let this get by. - Ernest Adams"

Comments

Re:What a Constructive Mentality!

[WaywardScythe]

The men that don't snicker at fart noises or think pull-my-finger gags are funny will still buy one. Those that can't get over the fact that the console is called Wii have bigger issues of maturity to address first.

Re:What a Constructive Mentality!

[GospelHead821]

I disagree. Everybody is so hung up on how "wee" is a synonym for "urine." I haven't yet seen somebody mention that "wee" is also a synonym for "small." In that regard, it's one of my favourite words. Sure they could be saying that the machine is underpowered, but they could also be saying that it is compact. Leprechauns are wee and I think they're kind of swell. Heck, you could also say that the name sounds like "Whee!" -- something you might shout when you're having fun. I don't know. I had been planning on getting a Revolution before, but the name announcement has rekindled my excitement, because the name sounds like so much fun.

Re:What a Constructive Mentality!

[MidnightBrewer]

It's a stupid name that deserves to be made fun of, just like the MacBook, for that matter. If the developers don't like it and the potential customers don't like it, you have a bomb on your hands. Rather than wasting time attempting to justify the mistake, find something that people like instead.

And by the way, people make fun of the name, "Gimp," too. It's another stupid name but everybody pretends not to notice. Of course, it's great if you want to give your detractors an easy label for when you have to explain why you don't have basic things like CMYK support, for example.