Wii conspiracy theories. (They're really, really sad.)
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Apr 28th 2006 at 11:10PM }
The disbelief runs so thick amongst some Nintendo faithful that we've been bombarded with tips suggesting all manner
of conspiracy theories that attempt to explain away Nintendo's decision to dub their new console "Wii."
We'll share with you a few of the more common theories, including reasonable responses to them, after the "continue" link.
- Wii Is a Nintendo publicity stunt! Fanboys say, "Nintendo was just doing this to draw attention to the Revolution! Haha you guys fell for it! The lack of a trademark proves that this is a fake-out!" Realists say, "This console is a very, very big deal for Nintendo and failure in this market would be devastating for the company. You just don't play around with your marquee product like this. Trademarks take time to be granted, and Nintendo has already gone on record saying that the appropriate protections have been filed."
- Any publicity is good publicity! Fanboys say, "Nintendo is dominating the conversation right now, so that just proves that this is going how they want it to go!" Realists say, "Any publicity is NOT good publicity. Counterexamples include Enron, Michael Jackson, hanging chads, the Dean Scream, Vioxx, Firestone, Iraq, Microsoft antitrust trials, Scientology, Lewinski, Cigarettes. Bad publicity can and does sink companies, products, and people."
- It's totally viral, dude! Fanboys say, "This is the best viral marketing campaign in history!" Realists say, "Nintendo never meant to spread a virus through its Wii. This name has given many of their best customers a burning, itching feeling in an uncomfortable spot. Viral metaphors are just awful for a product with these connotations."
- Revolution is the real name! Fanboys say, "The Revolution name is so awesome, of course they wouldn't want to change it. Duh!" Realists say, "Revolution is an awful name. Its polysyllabic, Latinate construction mean that it's useless as a name for a worldwide launch. Japanese can't pronounce the word, and it's probably got all sorts of unfavorable connotations in other major target markets. It's also trite and overused. Most mainstream consumers will fail to see how a game console can be so presumptive as to call itself The Revolution."
Sorry, tinfoil wearers. The name's not a trick. It's just a really controversial choice that was most likely handed down from Japan. The US marketers have to do with it what they can because decisions are made by Nintendo HQ elsewhere.
[Cute image found at Corante.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Crummy @ Apr 28th 2006 11:16PM
Way to be rational, Joystiq :/
Stephen Arnold @ Apr 28th 2006 11:17PM
Actually, I just wrote a little post on my blog about the possibility of a connection between Nintendo's Wii and Intel's Viiv. I haven't seen or heard anything about Nintendo using or not using Intel technology in the Rev/Wii, but it seems like it could be more than just a coincidence that both companies went with a short name using double-Is to form a strong E sound in an out-of-the-ordinary tech name.
had2comment @ Apr 28th 2006 11:21PM
"Nintendo never meant to spread a virus through its Wii."
I tip my hat to you, sir.
josh @ Apr 28th 2006 11:21PM
The only irrational ones are the people who actually believe those theories.
Andres @ Apr 28th 2006 11:24PM
That comment was pretty crummy(rimshot) Sorry, Crum, had to put that in.
I'm not going to lie, I don't like the name, and very few people are being positive about this.
But just as any other Nintendo Faithful will say(I will NOT say fanboy, I will buy it regardless.
They knew what was coming. They knew.
And like others have said before me, this is the best way to get your name out.
The Revolution would have stuck on forums for about an hour and that's it.
RS, GO, or even The Wi(aside from Village People jokes) would have NEVER gotten the attention that the Wii has gotten now.
DsDude @ Apr 28th 2006 11:25PM
Handed down from Japan? US marketers do with it what they can?
Didn't Nintendo themselves say that NOA came up with the name?
vc @ Apr 28th 2006 11:28PM
DsDude, got a link to the idea that NOA came up with that name? It's possible, but if true, even more embarassing.
striderhayasa @ Apr 28th 2006 11:28PM
oh please....Noooooooooo! say it's not real, Joystiq! you sadists! let me live in denial, leave me with my delusions....Wii makes me so angry....why did they pick such a dumb name....arrrrrggghhh!
Neko Tsukimi @ Apr 28th 2006 11:29PM
The only one I could believe is the viral marketing idea to get the hype up. People are swearing left and right that the name is fake even though Nintendo keeps saying "It's Wii... Suck it!" I imagine that people will eventually accept the name and get their minds out of the gutter.
striderhayasa @ Apr 28th 2006 11:31PM
LOL @ "IT's Wii!...suck it!" Neko you rock!
jadenguy @ Apr 28th 2006 11:33PM
Counterexamples include Enron, Michael Jackson, hanging chads, the Dean Scream, Vioxx, Firestone, Iraq, Microsoft antitrust trials, Scientology, Lewinski, Cigarettes. Bad publicity can and does sink companies, products, and people."
Enron didn't need publicity, it only needed a judge.
MJ has been wacko jacko for a while, but didn't his case get aquited? and thriller was good, but he's only still making royalty off stuff because he keeps his name in the air. i mean seriously, he can touch boys and get away with it!
hanging chads, well, i had a friend named chad, and i don't think hanging is a good idea for anybody, as it's cruel and unusual, but once i tackled him. that was fun and unusual.
the Deam Scream was moot because he already lost face. only people outside of virginia got to see.
Vioxx didn't need publicity, only an fda board.
Firestone, yeah, i'll give you that.
Iraq, can't talk about this because people actually care, and i'm a pacifist so i'm biased against ANY war.
Microsoft is only getting bigger. they were a trust for a reason, because i trust their products! almost.
Scientology is also only getting bigger unfortunately. i don't want to go any deeper because people actually care about this one, but i feel i deserve a voice in this matter.
Lewinski started a cloths line, wrote books, went on shows, and got mentioned in a joystiq article. what better privledge than joystiq.
and Cigs only grow despite years of bad press. and weed? twice as fast because of bad press! seriously, cigs kill, kids. weed isn't very helpful either. and somebody is going to say "alcohol poisoning," but to that i say water poisoning. look it up.
jadenguy @ Apr 28th 2006 11:34PM
6. Handed down from Japan? US marketers do with it what they can?
Didn't Nintendo themselves say that NOA came up with the name?
Posted at 11:25PM on Apr 28th 2006 by DsDude 0 stars
i bet Nintendo themselves told NOA to say that it was mutual. to save face.
jorge @ Apr 28th 2006 11:37PM
stephen arnold....
No. The two i's int he name of each is no more than a coincidence. Viiv has the long "i" sound, as in "dive". Nintendo and Intel are not in cahoots.
DsDude @ Apr 28th 2006 11:40PM
For the link about NOA creating the name:
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200604/N06.0427.1154.38678.htm
From the interview:
"GI: Whose idea was Wii?
Atwood: It was actually several people internally. But beyond that, we aren’t disclosing specifics on how the name came about. But it was several people at NOA and NCL."
But jadenguy may be right about the saving face...
Jedediah Johnson @ Apr 28th 2006 11:42PM
People will accept its name (those who have to) but it'll always remain in the gutter. Its a "dirty" word in American/European English. That fact wont change. Point is that no matter if gamers accept it or not, its a thorn in the side and always will be. Nintendo are their own worst enemy. The Rev had just about everything going for it but now they have to fight mass of confusion and slight disgust with every consumer who hears their products name. Not even Nintendo haters could come up with a acceptable official name more of a joke then this.
vc @ Apr 28th 2006 11:48PM
DsDude: That quote doesn't indicate that NOA created the name. Nintendo is very careful to make sure that the name appears to have been jointly created.
electronicat @ Apr 28th 2006 11:55PM
"Nintendo are their own worst enemy."
Ain't that the truth! I really thought they were starting to get their shizzle together with the DS and the Revolution, but this harkens back to the N64 (another horrible re-name) and the decision to stick with carts instead of CDs. Game Boy was/is a horrible name too, but at least it made SOME sense. I admit, the Wii logo is nice, but when it's just typed out or spoken, it's awkward. They should have never let the Revolution code name slip out to begin with, only to dash everyone's hopes at the last minute.
Draco @ Apr 28th 2006 11:56PM
"We" really isnt that bad, I mean it not like they called it Wiz (which means urine to me alot more the wii does) and come to think of it, did we all boycott "the Wiz Kid" because its name means "the young child who urinates"
people will get over it, if anything its a little to kiddy then it sounds to much like peepee (oh dear did I just say that?)
Fandel @ Apr 29th 2006 12:02AM
"Nintendo are their own worst enemy."
Yep, you would have thought Nintendo would have learned their lesson after releasing a game console(Game-cube) that looked like a purple Fisher Price Toy for 5 year old's. These type of arrogant "blunders" have caused Nintendo to go from a 95% market share in 1990, to an approximately 19% market share today.
SetupWeasel @ Apr 29th 2006 12:04AM
"the Dean Scream"
That, my friend, wasn't bad publicity. That was a carefully executed character assassination.
The others: "Enron, Michael Jackson, hanging chads, Vioxx, Firestone, Iraq, Microsoft antitrust trials, Scientology, Lewinski, Cigarettes. Bad publicity can and does sink companies, products, and people."
1) Every one of those examples except maybe Scientology involves crimes. Most of them involve killing innocent people. Nintendo called their system "Wii;" they didn't cover up killing hundreds or thousands of people or steal anyone's money. Is Hyperbole all you have?
2) Lewinski never hurt Clinton's approval rating. Therefore, it is irrelevant to your argument.
3) "Hanging chads" doesn't even make any sense in this argument.
StefanW @ Apr 29th 2006 12:06AM
What's with this comment about the Japanese unable to pronounce Revolution? Isn't there a band in Japan with Revolution in it's name?
heat @ Apr 29th 2006 12:10AM
nooooooooo the DS was so perfect. WHY. WHY. WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nintendo actually had a chance to be number 1, now they are taking themselves out of the race
the revolution was such a contender!!!!!!!!
StefanW @ Apr 29th 2006 12:10AM
Found it.
TMRevolution.
http://www.tm-revolution.com/jp/
StefanW @ Apr 29th 2006 12:12AM
What did this comment about Revolution being unpronounceable to the Japanese. They can already pronounce the name TMRevolution just fine.
http://www.tm-revolution.com/jp/
StefanW @ Apr 29th 2006 12:13AM
Ah Damnit, Sorry about that guys, I thought the system edited my comment in the first place, so I tried to "edit" it again. Only to my surprise, it was never edited.
Sorry again.
MetaHuman @ Apr 29th 2006 12:14AM
I hate how 'realists' are labeled by this article as smart and reasonable. There are A LOT of self-proclaimed 'realists' that go around saying it's their way or the highway and everybody that disagrees with them is a fanboy.
I hate it when gaming media like EGM and IGN do these kinds of things and makes these kinds of remarks. Then people chastise THEM and THESE 'professionals' declare their right to say whatever the hell they want.
Why you, Joystiq?
vc @ Apr 29th 2006 12:15AM
Setupweasel: these were all heavily (and negatively) publicised issues. There IS such a thing as bad publicity. That's the point of the examples.
Saying that Clinton wasn't hurt by Lewinski is disingenuous. He managed to escape relatively unscathed, but ask his wife whether she was hurt. Ask his daughter. Ask him whether he wants that blemish on his record? His standing was hurt. What would his approval rating have been WITHOUT the issue?
C'mon.
jadenguy @ Apr 29th 2006 12:28AM
vc, i gotta agree with the point about bad press involving killing is moot. there's no good press for killing unless they are political/ideological enemies.
Euglena @ Apr 29th 2006 12:34AM
Am I the only person who hasn't found ANY ONE of the "Wii puns" funny at all? I think that the most brilliant part of this whole naming scheme was separating the mature gamers from the juvenile. Nintendo has this "kiddie" image for whatever reason. Now we see who the true kiddies are. Bravo Nintendo.
For the record, I initially thought of "oui" when I heard the name. Yes indeed!
SetupWeasel @ Apr 29th 2006 12:37AM
VC, I will even add that Lewinski recieved television offers because of the scandal.
The scandal RAISED her stock.
vc @ Apr 29th 2006 12:39AM
Ugh, you're completely missing the point.
That scandal was bad. The office of the president was besmirched. Bill's relationship with his wife and daughter was undermined. Impeachment hearings were held. MILILIONS OF DOLLARS WERE WASTED. It was a bad situation that should have never happened.
This is a silly argument. Are you honestly and truly arguing that the expression "there's no such thing as bad publicity" is accurate?
rob @ Apr 29th 2006 12:40AM
Well XP is similar to the greek letters ΧΡ (chi rho). Which are the first two letters of the greek name for Christ. In medieval Christain literature Jesus is refered to as the Chi Rho. But no one jumped on Microsoft's back for naming their operating system as the son of god.
Magenta steam @ Apr 29th 2006 12:46AM
I like because simple to say and the logo looks nice also you can make jokes about the name. Like wanna play with my Wii.
Clay @ Apr 29th 2006 12:46AM
#30: That's because, like the son of God, Windows XP is perfect.
magilacudy @ Apr 29th 2006 12:48AM
There's no Wii.com. Is there anyone crazy enough to register the address and put up a golden shower site?!
vc @ Apr 29th 2006 12:50AM
Wii.com is registered. All three-letter domains are locked down tighter than a mouse's you know what.
idioteraser @ Apr 29th 2006 1:09AM
Chi Rho is greek not mediveal. It's one of the first renderings of the name besides Yeshua which is the Hebrew version. Yup he is actually named Joshua in English. It was a common name back then and even the Bible confirms that the Jesus that was crucified wasn't the Jesus at all but another guy with the name. Confused well there is a lot of stuff Church leaders don't like to talk about but has been acknowledged in the literature of Church rulings for centuries.
Hell the Catholic Church used to run brothels and bless gay marriages and be in favor of abortion.
idioteraser @ Apr 29th 2006 1:10AM
Some of the consipracy theorists are those involved in advertising and branding. The responses to the trademark issue do hint to a possible conspiracy.
Any ad exec could very well say that the Wii name being a ruse is indeed plausible.
arsamore @ Apr 29th 2006 1:12AM
Shoulda just named it Nintendo Rev (drop the olution part). The hardcore call it that anyways and the "Rev" (as in reving your engines) would have appealed to the masses. Its simple enough for a child vroom vroom rev rev etc. and it is compelling as well as inspiring enough for those who truly care. I veto Wii and hereby name Rev the new title of the Nintendo console.
John @ Apr 29th 2006 1:19AM
I promised myself I wouldn't read the comments, and yet here I am, angry as anything, because I do believe that some of you have missed the point. Let me start off by saying that this is my opinion on it, so if you disagree, you're allowed, go ahead and argue. Alright, first off all you crazy joystiq fanatics I think if you really want to see a sane perspective on this, try branching out and reading a pretty good summary over at Wired I understand you guys feel hurt by the change, but you have to realize that for the most part, You are a small percentage of the possible game buying population, and with Wii, Nintendo appears to be making a break for the non-gamer market. You see here's the thing, with the game-cube (despite my fanboyishness I'll admit defeat in that system) Nintendo lost a LOT of standing in the gamer world (and in the stock world as someone already pointed out). Now, at least as far as my theory is concerned, they're trying to reach out beyond the gamers by using a system name that, for once, doesn't make someone think of a 25 year old in their parents basement. Don't get me wrong, I love video games, but if you want the hardcore gaming look to your PC's, your 360's, and your PS 3's. Tell me I'm wrong, but read that article first, and try to look past your own buying market and understand why Nintendo may be leaving you in the proverbial dust.
SetupWeasel @ Apr 29th 2006 1:21AM
"Ugh, you're completely missing the point.
That scandal was bad. The office of the president was besmirched. Bill's relationship with his wife and daughter was undermined. Impeachment hearings were held. MILILIONS OF DOLLARS WERE WASTED. It was a bad situation that should have never happened."
Though we are supposed to be talking about how it affected Bill, let me make a second point. No one would have cared if it were almost any other president. The Republican congress was willing to spend their time and energy (and our money) on that witch hunt, because they hated Clinton. Many Presidents had "extra-marital" affairs and no one cared until Clinton.
It was all happening before the big BJ anyway. The Republicans were trying to pin anything on the Clintons. White Water, Travel-"gate," you name it. It continues if you can believe it. There was a book released just last year that presented Hillary Clinton as a lesbian. The scandal shouldn't have happened, because it didn't matter.
Oddly enough, Bill's memoirs flew off the shelf. Maybe the scandal did help him after all.
Dont even get me started about besmirching the office of the President. Clinton is still loved the world over. Bush has very few supporters an any country. Clinton's charisma and intelligence made everyone listen. He had much more influence and respect than Bush.
"This is a silly argument. Are you honestly and truly arguing that the expression "there's no such thing as bad publicity" is accurate?"
No. I'm saying that you are deliberately making inflammatory agruments that have nothing to do with the situation at hand.
There are great companies with ridiculous company or product names that went on to do quite well. "Amazon" might as well be called "lesbian." "Virgin" implies both inexperience at work and in the bedroom. Don't even get me started on "Cox Communications." I worked at MCI for a while, and one of the biggest jokes was about a customer who hated MCI so much that he couldn't wait to have "Cox coming in my home."
You use hyperbole, and ignore any example that may contridict (heh heh I said DICK) your theory.
John @ Apr 29th 2006 1:22AM
Oh
P.S. don't sound shocked at the change, we knew the Revolution was a code name for the product since the day it was first rumored
Back_Lit @ Apr 29th 2006 1:25AM
@17: Waiiiiiiit a moment! You think the rename of the N64 was a BAD change? I'm sorry but how the HELL do you sell a console with the name "Project Reality?" Seriously, the was fine for a bloody code-name but an actual product? I'm sorry I think we'd hear the exact same jokes we are hearing with Wii just change it to reality.
"Yes I'd like to a Reality."
"Price check on Reality, price check."
"Hey, wanna come over to my house and play with my Reality?"
You can't possibly believe "Project Reality" is a better console name than N64, hell N64 has to of been a good idea since we now have PS3 and XBOX360 (random letters+random#'s for the win!)
Ok, so my post is a bit nonsensical, but the point remains: Project Reality would have been an even worse console name than Wii.
Chris @ Apr 29th 2006 1:41AM
There's a difference between the various Clinton scandals and the Wii. A big one. Wii is fairly whimisical and odd, although apparently some people make a connotation to piss or genitals; I haven't thought about it that way since I was 4. We aren't saying "OMG Miyamoto killed a man!"
"There's no such thing as bad publicity" is true in some cases, but definatly not all. Bill O'Reily definatly didn't get any more viewers when he was talking about feeling up that woman with a falafel; but I'll admit watching things I wouldn't normally watch when there's some controversy. Like a damned media whore, I know, but its true.
So, yeah, Nintendo is getting alot of attention for this. Its an unexpected move in a previously hard-core, (homophobic?) male-centric market, and Nintendo wants to turn some heads, which they've obviously done.
BPMΩ @ Apr 29th 2006 1:47AM
I liked the Dean Scream. D:
dvddesign @ Apr 29th 2006 2:17AM
What kinda crap excuse is "it can't be pronounced"?
And overused? Like marketing isn't built off of beating "buzzwords" to death. Don't kid yourself.
Have you ever heard a Japanese person pronounce Playstation? It's a trainwreck. Dreamcast? Audible suicide. Re-bo-ru-shi-on. Not an issue. Why? Because the Japanese can/will do it anyway. When you learn Japanese, because they have so many "loan" words, a good instructor will insist that you learn to pronounce these kind of words the way the Japanese do, and in doing so, understand how the Japanese mind approaches a foreign culture and it's language.
Did anyone think for a second that someone had developed an "unpronounceable product" at Nintendo?
Really...
Like the Japanese would just sit there stunned at the counter...
Japanese 7-11 clerk: "Irashaimasu, how may I help you today?
Already nervous Japanese patron: "Hi, I'd like one of your... Your..."
7-11: "Our what sir? Video games?"
Patron: "Yes, but that one... The one with the thing..."
7-11: "I'm sorry sir, but unless you can specifically address and tell me which item off my shelf you want, I either have to assume you're going to rob me, rape me, or buy a manga. Here's your Shonen Jump, and I've already notified the police of your intentions."
Patron: "AHHHHHHH!"
7-11:"Doomo Arigato Gozaimashita!"
Babylonian @ Apr 29th 2006 2:45AM
From Kotaku:
____________
Crazy? Here is the first clue, “By letting the gaming community vent now about the name, they will be less distracted as launch titles for the system are announced and initial reports about what it’s like to play the games begin to come in.” Allowing your audience time to vent is not SOP in a name announcement, and also telegraphs that Nintendo knows what a stinker this name would be.
Second, it’s not possible to engineer a worse name for this product.
Third, and this is a big one, there are no trademarks registered by Nintendo nor by any dummy corp in the U.S or over there for Wii. This is unprecedented for Nintendo and it is not possible that his is an oversight. If Wii were the name, they would have registered it. In fact, no new trademarks have been registered by Nintendo at all. This leads us to conclude that Nintendo has in fact registered the real name under a dummy corp, which is SOP when trying to keep a name a secret prior to launch.
------------------
Kai Cherry @ Apr 29th 2006 2:52AM
We seem to have a problem here. Looking the posts we've made, I definately see this.
Look people, we're all adults here...I think. We understand target marking, etc.
Some of us here feel we were "betrayed" by Nintendo or something, because this name does nothing that we think it should...instead of thinking about what Nintendo has in mind.
We obviously don't know what that might be at this point, now do we?
Now...an honest question:
How many times did you think about pissing or penises in the above passage?
Don't lie.
-K
Cunbelin @ Apr 29th 2006 3:17AM
May I present an alternative argument for the "bad publicity" issue. Message boards lit up with the mere mention of a possible Halo 3 video at the MS keynote, this close to E3, Iwata could have announced that he had nothing to announce and there would have been coverage out the wazoo. It really didn't matter what they called it, there was going to be massive coverage of it, and with the possible exception of calling it the Revolution there was going to be a bunch of discussion about it.
Further if they really wanted to stir up controversy why not call it the Analrapist, or something that would even grab mainstream attention. Bottom line, the name is the name, there is no ulterior motive, I'd guess it was announced early for exactly the reason that has been implied, to give PR time in the clear to fight the fires, and spin it how they want before the rush of E3 takes all the attention away from the name.
I do have to admit I like the fact that even it's detractors will use it's name, I mean there is no lamecube equivalent for Wii, you can't even add a $ to it.
Nicolas Redfern @ Apr 29th 2006 4:47AM
Revolution is an awful name because it has more than one syllable???
For Americans it might be who can't say aluminium