"Wii-bashing is over" claims Nintendo UK boss

by Ross Miller on May 29th 2006 7:25PM

Speaking to Eurogamer, Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton has stated that the negative comments regarding the name Wii has "died and gone, and what people are talking about is a fantastic product."

While we admit Nintendo's E3 performance was impressive, we feel it is a little too early to declare an end to the "Wii-bashing." As the image suggests, it may be a long while before Wii becomes a common name -- the mainstream public has not yet been completely exposed to the Wii.

Source

Tags: Revolution, Wii

Reader Comments (57)

Wii bashing may be over, but I think wii all know the puns are here to stay.

Just because you say it, don't make it so....

I give it 5 posts before this somehow turns into a sony bashing fest. That should be proof that no one cares about the wii name anymore.

No "Wii-bashing" for me simply because I refuse to call it that. Whenever talking about it, I still say "Revolution" or "Rev." I'll only refer to it as "Wii" when forced.

Even "Revy" would have sounded better than "Wii"...ugh. Even my friend's wife who is interested in one makes jokes about the name. The name is all about getting free press from the controversy about how ridiculous and silly it is.

There's nothing wrong with the name. The only people who still hate it probably already had a problem with it to begin with.

The PlayStation 3 is way to expensive. I'd rather own 3 Wiis.

BTW, awesome photochop.

Sorry, blahman, no "PeeAssThree-bashing" for me, simply because I refuse to call it that.

-R.U.Sirius

Please, please, dear god, don't meld Mario into George W. Bush. One is all that is good, and one is all that is evil. :-)

Hey #4, I'm going to go play my dolphin right now.

Blahman your right number 5 has started the Sony-Bashing but just a little let me take it to the next level. Or should I let someone else yes I'll let someone else. But to stick to the article I haven't heard any wii bashing in Joystiq after E3 or any other blog I've been to that isn't a sony and xbox fanboy site. So I think it is over for the non baised people or people that aren't sony or xbox famnboys.

Hey guys... Remember when Sony unveiled the PS3 controller?

...Good times.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER!!!!

If the big N really wants to get the Wii out into the public eye, there's one show that'll definitly get the demographic it so truly needs. I speak of course, of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

He'll be wishing the name was still the focus of banter when it's stars start appearing on flyers for gay bars. ;)

That was a joke.

If Mario was president, all of our soldier's primary weapons would be to jump really high and crush people. Then eat some plants and burn them alive.

When we'd attack an enemy base, after we raise our flag, we set off celebratory fireworks before moving on.

Seriously though, I don't think a Nintendo VP is the place to look for the official "Wii name bashing is over" announcement. Now, if it came from Bill Gates, maybe I'd believe it. I actually like the name, but if I didn't, I wouldn't buy what this guy is selling.

Atleast no saying that it is stupid, people are now only making puns but atleast they wont say the name is stupid.
Wii isn't a bad name, they just need to have it pronence differently.

No, the Wii name is stupid. But who is going to buy it (or not buy it) for the name alone?

Nintendo did the right thing by announcing the name before E3 started. The Beavis and Buttheads of the world got their chance to giggle at the name and now that joke has been played to death. It is very sad that some people are still making bad puns about it (1UpYours podcast, I am looking at you) but that just shows you how immature 'gamers' are today.

Wii60 will dominate PS3 so hard.

howwed.

Imature would define post 19. I should stop, I believe I'm trolling at this point.

Holy shit, kudos on a hilarious graphic, Joystiq.

It would be a failure on both Nintendo's part and any journalism establishment if Wii-hating was the only Wii-related thing to get headlines.

Fortunately that was not the case. ;)

"Even my friend's wife who is interested in one makes jokes about the name. The name is all about getting free press from the controversy about how ridiculous and silly it is."
-GTgamer

I think it's a testament to how focused Nintendo is this gen that even their system's name makes people smile. It's all fun and games...remember?

I'm not trying to be too nitpicky so just slap and/or ignore me if you will but shouldn't it be:

"the negative comments [...] _have_ 'died and gone'"

because the "has" (sg) is being applied to the "comments" (pl)?

*runs to escape massive beating about to ensue* :)

While my friends and I have indeed accepted the name, we still kinda make fun of it. While playing together online in Maple Story (the one that's also coming soon to the DS) and we start killing monsters by the dozens, one of us is bound to say "Wii pwn". We've also thought of calling our guild the "Wii Squad", and I came up with our slogan "Wii Squad! Assemble!". It's still pretty fun making fun of it. Nothing too negative though, we're all mostly Nintendo fans after all.

Is Mario holding the Nintendo On helmet???!!!shift-one

Everytime I say that "I enjoyed playing with my friends wii" I am making an pun that suggests I am into watersports. The bashing will never be over.

"6. The PlayStation 3 is way to expensive. I'd rather own 3 Wiis."

And this comment exist ... because?

Yea Wii bashing is over everywhere else in the world except for on Joystiq.

Look at Mario in his G-suit, what a badass.

The Japanese word for good is = 'ii' perhaps this is where the name come from?

I've personally given up making puns about the name... Not because they weren't funny to begin with, but the humour has all been sucked out of it over time... The fad is over.

But with that being said, every time I have to use the name in a sentence, I have to hesitate for a moment, a) to make sure the sentence isn't going to come across to the other person as an unintended pun ("I can't wait until the Wii comes out!"), and b) if the person I'm talking to hasn't heard the name before, I'm going to have to spend the next 5 minutes explaining it - a chore I don't feel I should have to undertake, given that Nintendo's marketing team gets paid for it, and I don't.

On the rare occasions I DO say the name aloud, my face is usually contorted into a visible cringe, as though wordlessly apologizing to the other person for inflicting the sound upon their innocent ears.

I've taken to calling it "Nintendo's next console," when speaking with friends, for those reasons. Urine and penis jokes aside, you shouldn't have to be cautious of using a product name in polite conversation, for whatever reason.

Hey, can Wii take a break from the Wii bashing? It can't all be Wii jokes.

Call it the New Nintendo Game Machine like they do in the Super Swing Golf Pangya commercial.

While I still laugh inside everytime I say "Nintendo Wii" I have finally come to accept the name. I will buy it, whatever it is called. I think I will always look back on the Nintendo Wii and laugh though. It's just too funny of a name not to laugh.

"I think it's a testament to how focused Nintendo is this gen that even their system's name makes people smile. It's all fun and games...remember?"

Yes, I recall being 9...but most people I associate with aren't in that age range and should not be saying "Wii" for any reason other than mental impairment. I'll still buy a Revolution if the virtual console pricing structure is right, but I'll be damned if I say "Wii." Don't get me wrong, I love humor and the name is great joke fodder, but it's just soooo silly as a product name. Annoyingly "trendy" is one thing, but that name is just off in the land of silliness no matter how they try to spin it. It's like buying a can of "Bawls"...amusing, but no thanks. Even a diehard Nintendo-only (and insanely proud of it) fanboy friend of mine had to hang his head in shame on that fateful announcment day.

Nintendo might as well just play Gonads and Strife when the thing boots up. If you're going to joke around, take it all the way...

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/weeee.php
(some language, NSFW)

"28. Everytime I say that "I enjoyed playing with my friends wii" I am making an pun that suggests I am into watersports. The bashing will never be over."

When was the last time you said "I enjoyed playing with my friend's PS2"? Not really much fun just mucking about in the settings menu of a console. Usually one talks about the game they played.

Hmm...are Wii puns not funny anymore? Maybe not all of them, but they can still be done. How 'bout this one:

"Fart fart pee pee poop."

Hahahahaha....oooooh...that's rich....What's a pun?

I don't know about any of you, but I'm gonna keep "bashing" my "Wii" for a long time to come. Nintendo re-naming a console will never change that.

It doesnt matter if its 2 months or 2 years from now. Wii is still and always will be the most dumb ass name a company could ever come with.

Ive started losing respect for Nintendo after their last 2 crappy consoles. Now its gone completely.

"Yes, I recall being 9...but most people I associate with aren't in that age range and should not be saying "Wii" for any reason other than mental impairment. I'll still buy a Revolution if the virtual console pricing structure is right, but I'll be damned if I say "Wii.""
-GTgamer

I wasn't saying you had to make the urine and penis jokes that have been plaguing the internet to have fun with the name (I thought people stopped using baby-speak when they were 2?). "Wee" or "Wii" is an exclamation of joy, for heaven's sake. It doesn't get much more clear than that.

As I've said before, it's been a long time since I've had cause to shout out "weeee!" and I thank Nintendo for the awesome name. Be a gamer. Smile once in a while.

maybe the jokes have passed for the hardcore gamers and blog-checkers...but the avg. joe and sally still dont even know about the wii...so expect a wii joke renaissance around holiday season....

although the name is odd.
and i don't like it whatsoever.
i'm sure nintendo will make it a quality console.
and i will buy it.

"I wasn't saying you had to make the urine and penis jokes that have been plaguing the internet to have fun with the name (I thought people stopped using baby-speak when they were 2?). "Wee" or "Wii" is an exclamation of joy, for heaven's sake. It doesn't get much more clear than that."

That's what I was talking about (and I thought the link further clarified that)...when do you hear adults exclaiming "weeeeeeeeeee!"

"6. The PlayStation 3 is way to expensive. I'd rather own 3 Wiis."

Must... resist... dirty puns...

Anyhoo, the Wii bashing will jumpstart once the product goes on sale/marketing begins/more casual and nongamers hear about it. I mean, it's relatively well-known after E3, but there must still be people who haven't heard a lot about it. Just as I predict it costing $220, I also predict another parabola on the Wii-bashing charts.

how did it go from Nintendo Entertainment System to the Wii?

Seems like PlayStation is a better name for Nintendo, and the Entertainment System better describes Sony's products.

Boohoo! Gamers are immature, whaaa! Quit shitting on your own kind. Anywho... I still think certain people are holding a grudge against the name and genuinely dislike it. But as to specifics? Are they fans of the former name, 'Revolution,' or are they Nintendo haters? My guess is the former, because they seem pretty passionate about it. But these are clearly people that are gonna buy it anyways, so it hardly matters.

My thought is though that its never gonna end if Nintendo keeps acknoledging the banter, especially in the manner that they do. Its a lot like Sony's manner of insisting that the PS3 is cheap. Clearly it is a good buy because of the blue ray and the potential graphics, but they try to act like its cheap enough for a console. I for one don't think so, and think its not worth the reprecussions it will have (except perhaps for the 360 to succeed more).

I hereby decree that PS3 price bashing is over, and XBox360 overheating is over, too!

Is is just me, or is the definition of good corporate leadership simply being full of yourself? No matter how revolutionary you might think Wii is, Nintendo is still Nintendo.

"Over? Nothing is over until we say so! Was World War II over when the Germnas bombed Pearl Harbor?"

"The Germans?"

"Nevermind, he's on a roll."

So far this has only run by the sorts who actually care what happens at E3. The national ad campaign still lies ahead. Which means that mockery from Leno, Letterman, Kimmel, Mencia, etc. still lies ahead.

The good news is that Wii will likely achieve the greatest recognition for any model specific brand for a game console ever.

The bad news is that jokes that were stale on gaming sites a month ago will omnipresent in places that normally ignore video games.

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"Wii-bashing is over" claims Nintendo UK boss

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