A week later: Joystiq reacts to Wii naming
by Blake Snow 
{ May 8th 2006 at 3:00AM }
One week after Nintendo changed the Revolution code-name to Wii, the Joystiq staff sounds off:- James Ransom-Wiley: "Not sure if anyone else has made the connection ... but the name brings to mind the disposal of urine from the body - an action that's often referred to as 'Number 1.' Is this Nintendo's clever way of joining the next-gen pissing contest?"
- Ross Miller: "Speaking of Apple, my theory is that Nintendo marketing executives were suffering from some form of dyslexia (oraphasia) and were trying to copy Apple's style. One person said "why not?," to which another replied "I'll tell you why... iWhy," which was later changed to "iWi" since palindromes are catchy. Then the dyslexia kicked in and someone wrote down "Wii," which was sent to the Nintendo executives who had been enjoying a party honoring the DS sales with some high-grade cannabis and Hennessey. A drunk Miyamoto, looking at the word, laughed and shouting "wiiiiii!" as he danced off. Everyone in the room thought this was an approval, and so they ran with it that very morning. Miyamoto is still recovering from his hangover, which should last until E3."
- Christopher Grant: "One would have to assume that a small army of marketing and branding experts sat on this egg for months, giving it all the love and warmth it needed, taking all this extra time to focus-test the name to death. Undoubtedly, it's already been kid-tested, mother-approved. I'd like to think we'll all get used to it, like the iPod, or that dog whose name you thought would never stick; however, my fear is that despite replacing the lunchbox design with something iSexy, Nintendo may have just sat itself at the kid's table again."
- Vladimir Cole: "This name will be in marketing textbooks for years to come as a case study on what not to do. Never has there been so much negative publicity surrounding a name. Nintendo's DS did hasten Gizmondo's departure from this world, but Nintendo shouldn't have looted the Gizmondo corpse of the Most Awful CE Product Name of All Time" championship belt."
- Blake Snow: "Really taken back at first, but since being announced last Thursday, it's grown on me. Too crazy not to take it seriously."
- Jennie Lees: "I'm still giggling. I think that's a good thing."
- Conrad Quilty-Harper: "First thing worth saying is that I'm over Wii, as a tool for making funny sentences that is (e.g. I'm bursting for a Wii!). However, I'm still not entirely sure about how effective the brand name will be for Nintendo. They've certainly generated a lot of -- some say negative -- press, but that's only because the people reporting on Wii are tech/games journalists. I think the fact that the name annoys these type of people is a good thing, even if it does mean that Nintendo has to sacrifice hardcore sales (isn't this what they wanted to do all along?). In summary: a good way to target the casual/non-gaming audience but goddamn alienating for the hardcore gaming demographic."
- Dan Choi: "Actually, the first thing I thought of when I heard the name was a certain promising young female golfer by the name of Michelle Wie. So I guess Nintendo's riding on the coattails of the next golfing phenom?"
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Paul Gale @ May 8th 2006 3:07AM
From my own research, I'd approximate that around 85% of the initial videogame community was against the name "Wii" when Nintendo first revealed it. However, I believe that within the next three days, that percentage decreased by a good margin. Now that we've had a week and a half to think about it, more people are settling in. Personally, I was a fan of the name from the start. I admit that I love the name "Nintendo Revolution", but Wii is awesome too; it makes a lot of sense. It's also fun to say, catchy, and becomes a great term to use at work. You can also have a lot of fun with the name without making fun of it. It was definitely a smart move on Nintendo's part to announce it 2 weeks before E3...let people become use to it. Wii is great.
Paul Gale
1up.com
Jeremy @ May 8th 2006 3:12AM
Here's another theory
http://www.xgaming.com/newsletter/Nintendo-Wii-Conclusion.shtml
Vladimir @ May 8th 2006 3:12AM
I still cringe every time I say it. I was talking about it on my radio show here at college, and it was tough to say over the air and not think of people listening going, "wtf did he say?"...but my final thought on it is, what is, is. I'm already starting to get used to it (read as: cringing slightly less), and bottom line, despite the name, it's still going to play all those awesome games and revolutionize the industry. pun fully intended.
Probot @ May 8th 2006 3:14AM
I remember how much I laughed when I first heard the name Playstation. I don't think Wii is a good name, but neither is Xbox or Gameboy but we still got used to it.
There's no such thing as bad publicity. The enthusist press and its loyal readers are becoming an increasingly smaller part of the video game market.
kine @ May 8th 2006 3:22AM
At first I thought the name was odd, and I still do. I quickly came to understand and even like it.
After hearing about the tennis game from the Time article and how the tentative name for the title was "Wii Tennis", I came to like it even more. Usually when people refer to a title for the Wii they would think Mario Wii, or Madden Wii. Maybe it's just me but having the name Wii come before the title sounds pretty catchy. Wii Tennis, Wii Mario, Wii Madden, Wii Baseball or whatevers. A slogan could be "Wii play." or "Wii game" (I admit it sounds kind of like ebonics). A friend also suggested a while ago that when Nintendo makes a sports game for example, that they just call it by the sports name like "Baseball" or "Golf". Like the old NES sports game titles. It's definitely simple, which seems to be Nintendo's strategy. Now instead of "Baseball" for the Wii, it's "Wii Baseball" much simpler. I can't speak for everyone, it doesn't sound completely normal, but I can dig something like that.
Alkaiser @ May 8th 2006 3:27AM
"There's no such thing as bad publicity."
Patently false.
You don't see James Frey doing any more book tours do you? The Smoking Gun does a little bad publicity for him, and it costs him a seven figure book deal.
Vanilla Ice isn't doing much these days, either.
There most certainly IS such a thing as bad publicity.
non bias @ May 8th 2006 3:29AM
Man I cant Wait Untill M$ Buys Nintendo
Zero_ @ May 8th 2006 3:36AM
There is such a thing as negative publicity as Alkaiser pointed out. Michael Jackson is a good example, however, I don't believe this is the exact example. The name change revitalised people on the system, and that system's news and previews were almost non-existant, until Red Steel and the name change, it was probably a good move by Nintendo in order to obtain the curiosity of everyone.
I never have disliked the name, nor do I like it. It's an odd choice that I think Nintendo seemed to have gone slightly overboard with their newly adopted philosophy. Whilst it has a good meaning behind it, if it takes about 150 words to explain the significance of it, that's when you've gone a little too deep.
As long as the machine is as innovative as it says it is, I'm all for it.
kine @ May 8th 2006 3:38AM
I think people are taking the whole name a thing a bit too seriously. Wii may be the official name, but I definitely doesn't seem like Nintendo intended it to be serious. I think they purposefully gave called it Wii knowing it will be made fun of, hell, they mostly made the same jokes in their offices. Maybe that's the point. It's seems like it's too ridiculous of a name to just throw out there without giving much thought to it. They may even come out with commercials with people saying "Wii!?" with confused looks on their face at first. Then they'll play the games and at the end it'll be like, I get it, Wii! or something to that effect. I can see them doing advertisements that coincide with how they advertised the DS. Touching is good. Touch down there. Kind of poking fun at it themselves. Definitely leaning towards the concept that games should just be plain fun and not serious.
BPM? @ May 8th 2006 3:44AM
non bias:
"Man I cant Wait Untill M$ Buys Nintendo"
Just because Microsoft likes to buy out developers left and right doesn't mean they'd buy Nintendo...
And Nintendo is definitely not interested in selling. Heck, they don't even have stock in America, so they can't be bought that way.
Or are you just assuming that Wii will bomb so horribly (think Virtual Boy level of bombing) that Nintendo would sell out? That's a pretty extreme assumption to make...
kine @ May 8th 2006 3:49AM
*correction
most "likely" made the same jokes in their offices.
Fandel @ May 8th 2006 3:53AM
"There's no such thing as bad publicity."
Hmmm, what has Milli Vanilli been up to lately?
Wideruled @ May 8th 2006 3:58AM
Actually bmp, there was a time in history when Microsoft approached Nintendo as a buy out. They were actually in discussions for some time, but after a fateful meeting between MS execs, and Nintendo execs the talks fell through.
Doesnt mean Microsoft will try again, but that also doesnt mean they wont (eventhough the chances of that are next to nil).
As for the name, I love it. It makes me happy when i think about playing with my wii! Also when I want to invite friends over to play with my wii! did i mention that my wii is motion sensitive? AND four people can play with my Wii at once!
I dont think ill ever get tired of those.
Outrider @ May 8th 2006 4:10AM
#12
Actually, one of them committed suicide. Probably not what you were going for when you referred to them.
#13
Actually, I'm pretty sure that's an exaggeration of an off-hand statement Bill Gates made about how he would gladly talk to Nintendo about a buy-out.
You mind offering a source for your insider knowledge?
Chris @ May 8th 2006 4:30AM
Am I the only one embracing the name just out of spite towards all the lame jokes and whining? A lot of bands have terrible names, but that doesn't change the music.
vrf @ May 8th 2006 4:30AM
Wideruled just pulled that M$-buyout thing out of his ass, because it's simply not true. As Outrider says, there was only that offhand comment from Bill Gates about loving to buy Nintendo.
Magenta steam @ May 8th 2006 4:45AM
Now I finally understand the name of Wii.
It's like crack or speed or ecstacy which also share a few more things in common with wii than we expected.
Being an analyst I analyse that Nintendo brand Wii will be 480x more addictive than crystal meth. I'm getting the idea of this from the review from time magazine where the reviewer states "At the end, I don't so much put the controller down as
have it pried from my hands".
Just thinking of a profesional reviewer having a controller pried from his hands seems very funny to me.
Aaron @ May 8th 2006 5:07AM
I think one reason it doesn't feel like a Nintendo style name is because up until now, every Nintendo console and system has had a name that says something about the product itself/
Nintend Entertainment System - Self explanitory
Super Nintendo - A superfied version of the previous console
N64 - 64 bits
Gamecube - Self explanitory
GameBoy - Also self explanitory
GameBoy Advance - An upgrade of the previous GameBoy
Nintendo DS - Dual screen, Developers System.
"G-Beam" was on a site I read as a registered Nintendo name set for the 'Revolution', which I think would've been an awesome name. 1 because it sounds wicked, and 2 because it refers to a key part of the consoles uniqueness.
Magenta steam @ May 8th 2006 5:08AM
Sorry for double posting but the reason why nintendo was never brought out by Micr$oft is because The former president was insulted by the way the americans acted towards his company and yelled out in english "suck my tiny yellow balls".at least thats what he said in his interview.
Havok @ May 8th 2006 5:15AM
I remember I used to love Joystiq, it's unrivaled passion for games. But now, you guys are no more then jokes of your former self. Good job at fucking up everything you've worked hard on becoming. I guess "greatness" does make you mad.
And who fucking cares what it's called Wii? Seriously, if you guys care so much, then don't buy it. Stop fucking crying about it "WHA WHA IT'S NAMED AFTER PISS!". I was sick of all the urine jokes the day the name was revealed. And only americans can make jokes like that, because most of you are childish little kids. Grow the fuck up!
Aaron @ May 8th 2006 5:34AM
I partly agree with Havok. It's not my place to say how to run your site, but I also notice sometimes how posts are a little bit too negative on one subject. The topic of the 'Wii' wasn't even realy comical at all to me in the first place, the only reason 'Wee' ever entered my head is because I saw it posted on here.
fraxyl @ May 8th 2006 5:36AM
Actually, Gameboy isn't very self explainitory at all, the device is hardly a boy who plays games, but Nintendo Handheld Game Device is a mouthful to say, just like Sony Computer Entertainment Playstation 2.
Deth @ May 8th 2006 5:37AM
havok- ok, mr. maturity. I love when people come online and talk about how much better they are than everyone. And believe me- it is more than americans that are making the very obvious urine reference. Let me pose this question for you- where is there a forum where there AREN'T peurile jokes made?
how about you just ignore all of the things that annoy you and be happy with your own life and purchases. if someone wants to make a joke, who cares? how does it hurt you?
BTW- the name is horrible, but I buy game systems for games, not what they are called.
Cheers!
MegaWatts @ May 8th 2006 5:38AM
Havok ^
Suck my tiny yellow balls. Arsehole.
Xboxistence @ May 8th 2006 5:56AM
Still babbling about some console's name? FFS Joystiq, E3 is almost here with lots of rumours flying around all over the internet and you guys talk about a console's name. Very nice indeed.
I really hope you guys make this a tradition. I mean let's all hope we see news/articles like:
A month later: Joystiq reacts to Wii naming
Six months later: Joystiq reacts to Wii naming
A year later: Joystiq reacts to Wii naming
A decade later: Joystiq reacts to Wii naming
Get over it already.
Havok @ May 8th 2006 6:00AM
MegaWatts just proved my point. Thank you and good night.
Aaron @ May 8th 2006 6:03AM
Sorry, I may have used the wrong word for GameBoy. The point is, that it refers to gameing, and the overall point once again is that all the names can be refered to commonly as gaming devices.
Deth @ May 8th 2006 6:14AM
havok- instead of talking crap about an obvious joke post, how about a response to my post? Or do you live the life you profess to hate?
Cheers!
GuyManDude @ May 8th 2006 6:47AM
My theory:
Wii = WiFi Internet Infrastructure
MegaWatts @ May 8th 2006 7:08AM
Your welcome. :)
Now on your knees...
Deth @ May 8th 2006 7:42AM
Ross Miller comment: lame, not funny..
shaka @ May 8th 2006 7:50AM
the wii name is really bad and it sounds worst ,i wouldnt dare to say that in public, but i guess i can live with that if it had some hot unlimited gamez like my ps2.
wii and the ipad is trash without good new interesting games and series ,so im totally zero interested in the thing right now.
shaka.
Havok @ May 8th 2006 8:27AM
"wii and the ipad is trash without good new interesting games and series,so im totally zero interested in the thing right now."
I think you should play less games and pay more attention when they teach you English at school.
And what is this about Wii not having anything "interesting"? The controller is interesting. The download service is interesting. The entire concept is pretty darn interesting.
P.S. Using a "Z" instead of the "S" in "Games" does not a cool guy make.
Dan @ May 8th 2006 8:32AM
Every time I read 'Wii' it's like someone jabbed a stick in my eye. Or maybe just raked their fingernails across the chalkboard of my soul.
Dan @ May 8th 2006 8:36AM
I mean, you know? Biological humor aside, it's just a horrid-sounding, ungrammatical little afterbirth of a word.
shivr @ May 8th 2006 8:36AM
Slowly recovering. I've been able to use the name in conversation with several people without they nor I laughing, though at first we always said it 'wiiii!' in order to not sound completly awkward, kinda like what they do on some of the IGN podcasts. Some friends still ardently insist on calling it the 'revolution', and I think they're entitled to that, but they'll probably get over it too. The more casual, xbox-and-psp owning gamer friend I talked too was able to say the name without cracking a giggle the first day no problem, so maybe its mostly harcores that are having the issue really?
Eventually this name thing should become a non-issue
Marty @ May 8th 2006 8:54AM
I just can't beleive people are still talking about it like it's something to be suprised at. I know there's really nothing else to talk about, but I heard there was a little thing called E3.
ejflex @ May 8th 2006 9:16AM
First off #2... Who exactly DO you work for? Ok that was a bad joke... but I figured it was acceptable with all the Wii references. Anyway the only thing that I got from your posted like was a bunch of BS... and THIS: http://www.xgaming.com/newsletter/2006/Wii%20HPIM0502.jpg is nothing but the SplitFish Controller... which has nothing to do with Nintendo.
And to #7. Microsoft will never "buy Nintendo." Trust me. Now go play Call of Duty on your 360 or something.
darryl @ May 8th 2006 9:24AM
still blows... why would it be any better? some however, have already brainwashed themselves into thinking otherwise. nintendo could wrap up some crap in some tin foil and these same people would buy it like it's solid gold... because it's nintendo. same a ipod and apple shit.
Prof-KOS @ May 8th 2006 9:30AM
Man, every time someone mentions that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" some pseud- intellectual brings up Michael Jackson, or Enron, or Milli Vanilli, etc..
The difference being criminal publicity or at the very least bad publicity due to a breaking of common trust of the public. This is a name change people, and in this case there is no such thing as bad publicity. However if Iwata lost it at E3 and beat someone to death with a Wiimote, that would bad publicity. Do you see the difference now?
Something is bound to get more press if the writer's don't like it. For every article written, someone else will find out about it and maybe they will like it, or at least be indifferent to the name and be interested in the system. In this case the bad press will help get the word out. Might hurt them with the cool kids, but that's not who they're trying to attract.
A strong brand is a direct result of trust in the product amongst other factors. It's important to relaize that a lot of people who despise the name have gone on to say that they still TRUST that the games will be great and the interface phenominal. That's due to their history with Nintendo. As a result I will by a Wii at launch. As a result of my history with the PS2 I will wait for the initial bugs to be worked out of the PS3 before I buy one of those. Having to buy two PS2's taught me to wait, but I never had a problem with a Nintendo product. It all comes down to trust. That's why this negative publicity is not all that negative.
Ethan Thomas @ May 8th 2006 9:33AM
When I first heard that Wii would be the official name, I thought it was a horrible name. That said, I STILL say it's a horrible name. However, they'll get their target audience with it. Kids will go crazy over the whole wii-mote control, and parents will buy the system with confidence that something named "Wii" is not going to have any of the next-generation gore titles or other inappropriate material.
I just want to say that, in my personal opinion, I'm not so sure hitting that target audience is a good thing if it costs you the entire hardcore gaming community to do so. What I mean by that is, look at the Gamecube. I don't feel that it was targeted to hardcore gamers at all...and look where it stands today. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to have a system kids can play. I'm no kid anymore, but now and again I don't mind playing a good Zelda or Mario title, if for nothing else than old time's sake. And I also am well aware that Nintendo isn't competing with PS3 and X360. But they really weren't competing with Xbox and PS2 if you look at the broad scope. And in the end, IN MY OPINION ONLY, it didn't pay off for them. The Xbox 360 had a very high attach rate at launch, as the PS3 will undoubtedly have as well. However, I don't see that happening for Nintendo. Parents will buy the system mainly for the virtual console. And while Nintendo stands to make some good money off of downloads no doubt, it's going to cost them sales on Wii titles IN MY OPINION. When "Revolution" was the name, I was intent on getting the new Nintendo because I thought they would "revolutionize" things from the way they were with the Gamecube and offer something for the everyday gamer to enjoy, like new all-original titles (Yes, I know. Red Steel looks really good. But how many of those kinds of titles will we ACTUALLY see? Not how many are we told there will be, but how many originals will actually appear in stores?) and good ports of PS3/X360 games using the new controller. But with "Wii" as the name, I have to wonder, did Nintendo only ditch the name Revolution, or are they ditching the whole idea BEHIND what once was the Revolution? Now instead of buying a console at launch, I'm going to wait a few months and see what they can offer up. If they're going to target solely the younger audience one more time, then I'm not going to purchase their product, no matter how much I may enjoy Nintendo's high-quality hardware. My Gamecube wound up collecting dust because of that very reason: now and again, a game would come out that interested me. But for the most part, I played my Xbox.
I'm hoping Nintendo will have success with the Wii, even under it's somewhat unconventional name. And I'm sure they will. The only question is, will it be enough success for them? Only time will tell us that. But one thing's for sure. Despite the flashy appearance of the Wii, Nintendo has once again indeed placed themselves in league with the kids. And until they show me that the Wii is going to be more than a Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario baseball, Mario machine, I'm forced to hold off on a purchase, even with the virtual console capabilities. Just my two cents and my OPINION.
Tobor @ May 8th 2006 9:36AM
I went into EB the other day and casually asked the clerk when I could preorder a Wii. He nonchalantly replied that after the announcement at E3 they might know.
And you know what, noone giggled. Noone pointed a finger at me and yelled "HE SAID URINE". You know why? Because this is the real world, and real people don't care.
Sassagelink @ May 8th 2006 9:46AM
Why doesn't everyone her just stand up take a deep breath and go drain yourself of all you Wii hating remarks in the bathroom. And while your there make sure to shake the Wii from your SASSAGE. Remeber if you shake it more than twice your really just playing with it.....
Prof-KOS @ May 8th 2006 10:01AM
Ethan,
I know you don't feel that the Gamecube did well for Nintendo. I'd like to disagree to a degree. I don't think it did as well as they would have likes and it particularly didn't do well for third-party developers but overall it only came in third by a small margin. While that margin is much higher in North America and the system is almost dead now in terms of support and development, it was still very profitable for Nintendo. Much of that was due not because they didn't target the hardcore gamers, but because they didn't clearly target anyone. If they had specifically targetted non-gamers or the hardcore or the kids or whoever, there would have been a clear focus for themselves and developers. I think the remote shows that they figured that out. It's going to be more difficult for a developer to just port a game over to the console now so they can try and focus it towards the types of games they'd like to see on it. This would normally lead to a hug drop-off in games, but they dropped the cost of development to near-ridiculous levels for next-gen games by keeping the system Standard Definition, keeping Gamecube architecture and selling dev kits for such a low cost. This is important because it now would probably cost more to port than to redevelop for the console. If they can keep games fun and challenging while making the control itself easy, they can bring in disaffected gamers and non-gamers (a larger market than hardcore gamers) while still pleasing longtime fans. They wil, of course, lose some people like yourself but I am willing to bet that they can bring in more than they lose.
Add to that the number of people that will pick up the Wii as a second console because it offers a totally different experience. Current-gen consoles really all offer the same thing in terms of gameplay, but the games are difference. Next-gen the difference will be the in how we play the games not which games we play.
Steven @ May 8th 2006 10:34AM
A Week Later: I still don't care what other people think about the "Wii" name and am tired of seeing these posts.
Ethan Thomas @ May 8th 2006 10:39AM
-Prof KOS
I wish I got more responses like yours that I can actually read and not feel like it's a personal attack. Well said.
As far as me not purchasing the Wii: I already have an Xbox 360, so it's probable that I will purchase the Wii as a secondary unit, like many others no doubt, just as you said. But before I do, I'd just like to see a few original ideas implemented. If Nintendo can launch the Wii with three to four good titles that make good use of the Wii-mote, don't make it feel like a gimmick, and don't make me feel like a total idiot for playing, then I just might be there at launch or soon after to pick one up.
As far as the Gamecube goes, yes, it was third by a small margin. I found it surprising, however, that an established company such as Nintendo would finish third to a company diving into games for the first time (Microsoft). Now, I'm not trying to say "Oh look, MS did so much better.", I'm simply saying that I found it surprising. But there's no doubt, and it's nearly beyond contestation, that Nintendo is brand choice for parents and kids alike, so they did enjoy their share of success with the 'Cube.
All said, time will tell how successfully Nintendo integrates the Wii-mote into games. If the DS is any indication, I think we will see some very innovative things happening. I just hope that we see some titles on the Wii for the older crowd. I'm basically looking for something I can play in between rounds of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat on 360 that's fun, easy to play but challenging, and is targeted at least somewhat at people my age (mid-twenties). I guess we'll see, but for now, the Wii is still very much a probable purchase at some point for myself as a secondary unit. I don't think, however, I would make it my only console, as I do enjoy the 360. Guess that's the real perk here: If the Wii costs less than 360/PS3, which it almost definitly will, then it does become affordable as a secondary system. Heck, I think it'd be pretty cool to be able to play a game of interactive baseball on the Wii, and then turn around and play Condemned or Battfield 2 on 360. Guess we'll see what shakes out.
zero2dash @ May 8th 2006 10:51AM
A week later: the name is still retarded.
Good one guys...really thought about marketing on this one, didntcha.
/sarcasm
calthaer @ May 8th 2006 10:52AM
There is a prevailing assumption that if the technophiliac nerds and geeks are annoyed by this name, the general populace by default must be the opposite and think it is wonderful. This is false logic at its best.
If anything, the plebes "out there" are probably going to laugh even harder at this name than the hardcore gamers will.
Benny @ May 8th 2006 10:59AM
The name is and always will be a horrible name. However, people will of course get used to it, it's impossible for
everyone to stay worked up about a name.
As for the Wii, I heard an interesting theory. Look at your hand; what do your fingers spell?
boots @ May 8th 2006 10:59AM
I love it when people explicitly say "IN MY OPINION" when it's obvious that, just because you are typing it, it is your opinion, regardless of anything.
Anyway, the name Wii will scare not the hardcore gamer, but the kids that want to feel like adults, insecure adults, or people that are offended or disgusted by "Wii".
They should have named it the "n!".