Wii Warm Up: So how is the name?

The Wii name has become nearly mainstream much faster than I ever would have expected. I never thought the name was bad, just... odd. But I've seen young kids, store clerks, teenage girls, business men, parents, and grandparents talk about the Wii without questioning the name or cracking up.

Wii looks great on paper. I really think it brings about thoughts of the iPod. But when it is verbalized it may sound funny. But this also gets people interested, and when they find out what it is they are often interested enough to buy one.

Currently, Wii sales are high, and they couldn't be any higher if the name was "Revolution". But I think that, in the long run, sales might be HIGHER with the name Wii. Revolution sounded awesome to us gamers, but Wii gets more non-gamers involved, at least it seems that way.

It's just a name, and we know from Shakespeare that the name doesn't make the item. But I've seen neighbors, parents, businessmen, and college girls play the Wii. I'm not sure if they'd be playing the Revolution.

I like the name...I like the inclusiveness. It yearns to bring people together...which in my house is exactly what it has done. My partner has played the Wii in 2 months than the last year on our 'cube.

I still like the name 'revolution', but I think that Wii is the better name.

Sorry for the double post...but a correction needed to be made:

"My partner has played the Wii in 2 months than the last year on our 'cube."

Should be "..has played the Wii MORE in 2 months..."

Revolution is a name that alienates non-gamers. It sounds too much like the name a bunch of pubescent pre-teens would have given the machine. As bad as the Nintendo "Ultra 64" (now with more x-treme!).

Wii may be a stupid, laughable name, but at least its friendly.

I spilled coffee all over my pc when I heard that Nintendo will be calling their next system "Wii". For many weeks, I thought... man, that was dumb. However, as the marketing grew and the logo look on the console was shown it started to grow on me. I also like the Appleish gray font.

A few months later and I am pronouncing Wii like I pronounce iPod. Its part of our vocabulary. Now, I see that Nintendo made a great move. Plus, you can make great accronims and new words with it... such as: "This is going to be a Wiikend"

That old thread is great. Everybody flipping out, very few seeing the virtue in the name. Maybe Nintendo knows what it is doing? :)

I have grown used to the name a while back now but I will say this. I still make a conscious effort to refer to the console as "the Wii" instead of "my Wii" in conversations so as to avoid the anatomy jokes that it would incur.

I admit, I thought the name was ridiculous at first. Every time I called a store I didn't inquire about the "Wii" I asked them if they had "the new Nintendo system" in stock so I wouldn't sound like an idiot.

But, time has passed, and really, if getting non-gamers into the fold is the idea, Wii works to that end better than Revolution would.

And while on the topic of codenames, I'm also glad the Gamecube was the Gamecube. And not the "Dolphin".

The news channel is on!!!! Wiippeeeee.....

I hated the name when it came out...
I thought the Remote Control like design was stupid...

I take it all back. The Name, The Wii-mote, the FUN!

My sister in law bought a Wii. She's never had a game system in her life. As a matter of fact, she's been somewhat against them.

If it was named Revolution, it wouldn't be attracting these people.

The Revolution is here and it's called Wii.

V99

After all of the fun our entire family has had with our Wii, I no longer think the name is stupid.

Besides, if the name Revolution had stuck, what would we call our Mii's? "Revolutionaries", "Revolters", "Revolts" or "Revs"???

" I asked them if they had "the new Nintendo system" in stock so I wouldn't sound like an idiot."

HA! Glad I wasn't the only one!

I, too, refused to call it the Wii for months after Nintendo announced the name. Then I realized, no matter how stupid I thought the name was, Nintendo had accomplished at least one thing with that name - everyone was talking about it. It only took a couple months for every possible dirty joke to be made based on the name, and then everyone got tired of that.

I still have a hard time calling them "wiimotes" for some reason though. It just sounds too cutesy.

And the news channel is making my Wii glow all pretty-blue. Yay!

The word "Wii" is not only inclusive because of "we," but it lends itself to fun use of the word, which mirrors the fun of the Wii itself. I doubt there would be a "revolutionkitty.com", but there sure is a wiikitty.com.

I think the word echos the idea behind a revolution, if you imagine "we" as a larger movement of people who have taken to the Wii like no other console.

A lot, A LOT, of thought, research and time goes into product branding. The Wii is a brand that helps build itself, mostly because it's a great product and people get to talking about it. But it's fun to talk about without feeling like a complete product shill.

The funny name? In retrospect, Nintendo seems like a genius.

Wii is more catchy. When i asks someone if they wanna play wii they go "what is that?"

But the name Revolution was way better especially if Nintendo was taking a more mature route this generation...like HAVING UBISOFT MAKE RED STEEL A MATURE GAME!

Kev: "I've got bad wii-arm after all that wii-tastic fun last wii-kend."
Dave: "Yeh I know my wii-elbow is killing me." etc....

- you could never do that with revolution, and that sort of marketing works.

I hated it at first. Looking back, and seeing the "We/Wii would like to play" advertising campaign it's genius.

I like the uniqueness of the name. I was like the rest of you when I first heard it, I thought it was a joke, and the real name would be revealed at E3. But I've gotten used to it, the only time I have to say "The New Nintendo" instead of "Wii" is around people who never heard it before, or aren't used to it. Still get some "playing with your Wii" jokes occasionally, but they're just mad they don't have Zelda and Elebits to play with!

And like the others said, you can't say Revolution-Mote or Revolution-Elbow. It was a good code name, but Wii fits so much better.

I remember when I was the the E3 press conference and Reggie thanked the two people who wrote nice things about the name, I couldn't help but feel a little special. Obviously, there were more than 2 people who wrote positive things regarding the name, but we were few and far between. I loved the name from when it was announced. That's not to say I didn't like the "Revolution" name, I just really like "Wii."

Think about how important it was for Nintendo to go into E3 with all this buzz about the name and how the system will work, etc etc. Then coming out of the show, having blown most people away, you heard a lot more about this new thing called the "Wii" than anything else.

I mean, really - I know myself and numerous others would just jump into a chorus of "Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii" while throwing our hands in the air at E3.

yeah the wii name might work for the non-gamers, but revolution is much better. I actually have a skin for my system that says revolution entertainment system and it makes it look like an NES :)

as for a new name for the controllers if they weren't wii-motes, how about revolters? heh...

I still don't like the name. And that's my opinion.

I'm a big fan of "Wii"... mostly for its uniqueness. I agree with all of the above statements that it really gives a sense of community, while expressing this idea in a creative fashion.

I'm also a BIG fan of the fact that you can do web searches for "Wii" and it shows exactly what you are looking for. Try doing that with "Revolution". You search Amazon for "Wii"... you get what you were looking for. Search eBay... again, exactly what you were looking for. Somewhat refreshing.

Wii is not A name... It's THE name.
I think Revolution sounds more 'hardcore', indeed. However, this kind of name can't produce what the new name have done.
Revolution is a way to introduce what the console will do to the all-time gamers.
Wii, is the form to call the new way of gaming, appealing all people, from babies to grannies.
Revolution is a teenage-young adult name. It has a determinated objective, and a limited spot.
Wii is a name without age, without a single spot. Wii is a name that reaches every corner of this world.
Revolution is the objective.
Wii is the way to reach that objective.

After this, I don't need to say that i LOVE this name. Wii.

Wii can be properly pronounced in more languages.
Revolution is harder.

Wii is a decent name... RevolutionSports doesn't have a nice ring to it.

But if it was named Revolution, that woman wouldn't have died after drinking too much water!



Yeah, the name did help it break through to the public consciousness. I don't dislike the name anymore.

I like the name but every1 thinks I am saying "weed" when I say it...which is funny so it's okay
:)
though I wouldn't camp-out for a dub sack if ya kno what I mean...

I always liked the name Wii.

revolution sounds way too cheesy.

She wouldn't have died if the radio dj's had been a little more responsible.

As for the name, count me in as one of the early doubters, or rather haters. I thought this for sure was the final nail in the Big N's coffin.

Months later, i formally apologise to the Wii, Nintendo, and all the Mii's out there.

I loved the name from the get-go. The last console I ever owned was the Famicom and never really followed console gaming since then. I didnt the "war" between Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

I heard about Nintendo's new console, and the other company's as well, didn't even know what the name was Revolution until the Wii was chosen.

Guess how I got interested and found out about the Wii? The day they announced the new name and I got all excited the more I read that it will have motion sensing and I am now a happy Wii owner. My first console in close to 15 years.

I like the name now....at first I Was like what are they thinking....Wii....come on, that's lame. But now I like it, and have no problem saying it, I just make sure to say Nintendo Wii to people who have no idea what I am talking about to avoid the jokes...


@ #7 I remember when they were gonna call the GameCube Dolphin, I kinda liked the name then....actually when you said I got all excited, and then was like wait.....GameCube was probably a better choice....but I still think its a cool name....

Regarding the "Wee for a Wii" contest... That woman died because of her own lack of judgment. A simple Google search shows that drinking too much water CAN kill you. Believe me... we were going to hold a similar contest here at work, but 2 minutes of research kept us from a trip to the hospital.

I've liked Wii from the get-go. It is a great name and I love the double "i"s

the logo is very smooth and simple.

I don't hate it as much as a did when it was annouced, but I still don't particularly like it. Revolution was better, but it may have had the effect of alienating non-gamers.

I still think a name better than Wii could have been chosen.