Red Steel? Wii? Which is it man!?!

[Sicron]

How about this as a marketing stunt to make Wii more popular?

 

[Adaptus]

That makes me go WHEEEE~!

I still think they might've changed it because the name Go was leaked. Their explanation for choosing the name Wii is lame - and it sounds like they didn't spend a lot of time to come up with it, or they tried too hard - depending on how you look at it.

Mh.. I can't help thinking that Nintendo's 'final secret' has something to do with the name change..

 

[SaiyanPrideXIX]

I prefer my game companies to just plain kick ass instead of having to use all this guerilla marketing secret feature bullcrap to generate an interest, personally.

I just cannot believe that people are even thinking about accepting this name as 'good.'

 

[Promiscuous Girl]

I just cannot believe that people are even thinking about accepting this name as 'good.'

Well no offense to anyone-- but accepting sure beats complaining and making lame jokes, espically when we know there isn't anything we can do about it exactly. And because nothing has changed about the system itself, it's really not that big of a deal as people are making it out to be, unless everyone wants to continue pointing out the obvious that Nintendo doesn't really care about what we think of the name, or about other things sometimes.

And i don't think alot of people will actually accept the name as being a good one-- but accept the fact that they have to deal with it, and if they don't like it, then there are other options available if a gaming console's name holds that much ground in their respective decisions.

Mh.. I can't help thinking that Nintendo's 'final secret' has something to do with the name change..

Don't jinx it. ^^

 

[Optimus Prime]

Well no offense to anyone-- but accepting sure beats complaining and making lame jokes, espically when we know there isn't anything we can do about it exactly.

May as well as just bend over and take the Wii.

then there are other options available if a gaming console's name holds that much ground in their respective decisions.

How about how much weight it holds in respect for the company?

 

[Chakra-X]

Because the controller looks like a raging boner?

I thought I felt that Wii controllers and dildo jokes were old, but for some unknown reason, I found that hilarious.

Well I don't constantly think the Wii is a terrible name, I mean by all means there are thousands of better names they could have chosen, but when I see "Wii" I think "Wi-Fi" which leads me to think "high-tech". Logical thinking pattern? Dunno.

I am still expecting to be blown away when they unleash all that they have to offer. I mean, if there was a pill that cured all diseases in one dose and it was called the "Penis Pill", I'm pretty sure I could look past that for the most part.

 

[Wolf Devil]

I haven't been reading polls. Polls are about instantaneous thought, not deep, complex essays on what's wrong with it.

Soul Punisher is right: in 2 weeks, people will have something different to say in the polls. No, it's not that after 2 weeks it becomes absolutely awesome (thanks for the sarcasm), it's just that, like I said, people are gonna GTF over it.

People are still "recoiling in horror," as Dust said. Every mature gamer is willing to admit.. "Wii" is as lame as it gets for Nintendo. Yes, those Nintendo fans are gonna say "wow, that was a dumb move," and Sony and M$ fanbois are gonna say "OMGWTFROFLCOPTER NINTENDO R T3H LAME1!!!!!ELEVENTYONE" to start with. But those same fans will eventually say "ok, I'm over it, give me my damned *sigh* Wii *grumblerevolutiongrumble*" and the Sony and M$ fanbois will... Ok, they'll say the same thing.

This is where I begin agreeing with Pride and Opti: Nintendo still wins for having enough of a novelty to enjoy, while still being as lame as possible.

 

[Kasey]

I'd rather have a new name than the same old one with numbers in it. Wii is better than GameCube3 or GameCube360. Nintendo hardly ever uses the same name for a console, except for Super Nintendo but they still don't use numbers like everybody else.

 

[Engar]

*blinks*

I was sure 'Wii' meant something but, in the maelstrom of articles and blog-posts that have been popping up, it's possible that was just something that appeared out of the ether of my own mind. Cry your pardon if I spoke out of turn.

On reflection.. yeah, it's a crazy name.

I guess the reason I wanted to believe that it wasn't ridiculous was that Nintendo has done things like this before. Not to this level but near.

The DS was announced and everyone, and their brother, said that Nintendo would be finished within the week. That they'd finally gone crazy. Then they released footage of the Revolution's controller and everyone, and their brother, knew Nintendo would be finished within the week.

Exagerated, maybe, but these are exagerated times.

So forgive me for.. hoping. For holding out the faint belief that, crazy as it is, Nintendo really did have a reason for this. And not just an 'Uh-oh, the Prez is on weed again' reason. A good one. One that would stir them out of the funk they sank into over the past decade.

Is your girlfriend more likely to play with a Wii than a 360? Will your grandfather find more in common with a Wii than a PS3? That's the only explanation I can think of and while it doesn't answer all, I think it does answer some.

The idea, I think, is that Wii is a more friendly sound - a cuter sound, I guess you could say - than the other consoles have going for them. Something that will draw in the mythical 'Non-Gamer' to whom all companies now appear to be turning their attention. Of course there's no reason to suppose that this will work.

Maybe Nintendo will finally flop. Maybe the Wii will drive away gamer and non-gamer alike. Maybe, in five or ten years, we'll be standing on the sidelines of a competition between two rather than three.

Maybe.

As for me, I'd rather hope.

Edit: I feel I should point out that Nintendo's consoles have been just as badly named as any other. Nintendo Entertainment System. Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo 64. Gamecube (this time following in the long tradition of Gameboys). Let's be blunt and say that consoles either have boring names - DS, anyone? - or stupid names, as shown by Wii or the arguably more ridiculous Gizmondo.

 

[SaiyanPrideXIX]

That was actually a very epic and moving post, Engar. Heh. For me, though, it is like watching a close loved one suffer from terminal cancer. They're in the hospital, vomiting blood every day, emaciated and unable to move, their body completely and irreparably destroyed by the very chemotherapy that might have saved them. And you look at them, and you've hoped for so long that somehow, some way, they would miraculously be okay. But there inevitably comes a point where you say to yourself that the battle is over, and its elementary at a point. And in that moment you feel, instead of desperate hope, horror and sorrow. Because you know that close relationship is already over--even if the other person doesn't know it until the line finally goes flat.

 

[Fire Phoenix]

Haven't posted here in a while so some food for thought; or just my two cents.

As you have realized, this thread is quite popular. Whether it be bashing Nintendo or praising them, or neither. Fact of the matter is, is that as soon as someone found out it's name, it spread around the world faster than the speed of light. In that one day, everyone knew what the Wii was. Not that they didn't before, but you can't buy that kind of advertising. It just doesn't happen. You have a very unique name with what I hope to be a very unique gaming system.

You have the xbox which became kind of popular, they made a second and it comes out with the "Xbox360" wow not only original but it's got "Xbox" in it. Then the PS, PS2, PS3, I bet the next gen PS system will be called PS4, i'll bet money on it. The Xbox will be called Xbox720 (They skipped the 180 so i can only assume they will skip the 540) I guess the 360 sounds cooler than 180, but if you think of a 360 as a complete circle, they'd end up back where they are and the Xbox sucked. They should have called it the 540 or something. Or more importantly 180.

But Nintendo you never know what they will call it. First it's NES, then SNES, then N64, then GCN, and now Wii. Hmmm, so let's think. You have the PS- soon to be three consoles, then the Xbox, 2 consoles, Nintendo: soon to be a total of 5 consoles. They've been in the business longer than anyone, I'm pretty sure they know what they're doing. They are after a company that without money (like all other companies) wouldn't stay in business for too long. People like Pride say that Nintendo is ****, and PS is the best gaming system ever. Yeah, true story: PS isn't a monopoly, and Nintendo is still in business dishing out systems, obviously they're doing something right. Is this my Nintendo fanboyness in me talking? Probably, but you know I'm right.

Nintendo is still in the game, and you can't bash it until you've tried the system. You're saying the system will suck because the name is ****? Wow. The only thing a name does is advertisement. The Wii for a name sucks, but that doesn't mean that the console will.

I'm pretty sure you'd be the kind of person saying "Ah, the PS3 will have 8 processors omg AWSOME!" and then someone turned around and said "The Wii will have 16" You'd be the type saying "Pfft, that's overkill" Even if the Wii will be the most affordable system out there.

 

[SailorAlea]

I love how people keep bashing Microsoft and Sony for keeping the console name mostly the same, when it's the EXACT SAME THING that Nintendo does.

Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom
Nintendo 64
Gameboy
Gameboy Color
Gameboy Advance
Gameboy Advance SP

It's really only in the latest series (DS, GCN, 'Wii') that they've changed. If you think about it in terms of pure numbers, Nintendo has had more derivative names than any other company. SEGA would be the company with the most original names. Master System, Genesis/Megadrive, Sega CD/32x, Gamegear, Dreamcast.

And unlike Nintendo, people are going to instinctively know that the X-Box 360 and the PlayStation 3 are the next in the series, as opposed to yet another new, random system from Nintendo. Is it a hand-held gameboy? A console? A pop-tart warmer? Who knows!

 

[Fire Phoenix]

I love how people keep bashing Microsoft and Sony for keeping the console name mostly the same, when it's the EXACT SAME THING that Nintendo does.

Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom
Nintendo 64
Gameboy
Gameboy Color
Gameboy Advance
Gameboy Advance SP

It's really only in the latest series (DS, GCN, 'Wii') that they've changed. If you think about it in terms of pure numbers, Nintendo has had more derivative names than any other company. SEGA would be the company with the most original names. Master System, Genesis/Megadrive, Sega CD/32x, Gamegear, Dreamcast.

And unlike Nintendo, people are going to instinctively know that the X-Box 360 and the PlayStation 3 are the next in the series, as opposed to yet another new, random system from Nintendo. Is it a hand-held gameboy? A console? A pop-tart warmer? Who knows!

Notice how I left out the portable devices? Notice I didn't mention the PSP? Or the Gameboy? Has Nintendo taken that unoriginal name route? Of course, that was in the beginning. Allow me to get more technical here by taking each major console company and take their three latest console names.

Xbox: Xbox, Xbox360 (Xbox, 360)

PlayStation: PlayStation, Playstation2, PlayStation3, (PS, PS2, PS3)

Nintendo: Nintendo64, GameCube Nintendo, Wii (N64, GCN, Wii)

The Nintendo64 is like the Xbox360 in the sense that they have the name plus some numbers. At least the numbers in Nintendo actually tell you something about the system instead of sounding cool. No one really calls it "The GameCube Nintendo" GameCube is orignal in the sense that it defines exactly what it is, it's a game and the shabe of a cube. So I find that a valid name, and it's better than Project Dolphin that's for sure. Wii, rediculous yes; original; sure, different from any other console name? Don't you dare say no.

Who knows? Exactly their point i bet. You don't know, and those who don't know, seek knowledge. People are going to want to read up on it. And only a retard wouldn't know that the Revolution isn't a console.

 

[Sonic the Vampire]

I wouldn't consider nintendo to be directly competing with anyone over anything anymore. Their demographic is children and teenagers who probably aren't old enough (Scratch that, shouldn't be considered by their parents to be old enough) to play the popular titles on Xbox and Playstation, their old hardware and new interactivity seperates them from anything even remotely mainstream... it's all about nostalgia anymore. If you really like mario, link, and kirby, you've got no alternative but to pick up a nintendo console. I guess it'll also pick up the people who are strapped for cash, and the ones looking for a new experience.

The original point was it doesn't matter what they call the damn thing, there's nothing wrong with adding a number to your initial console, or tweaking the name a little so people know it's a better system. If you end up down the line with 5 or 6 nintendo consoles that all have different names you'll just confuse the average idiot and that's bad for sales.

 

[sub]

Sonic, Nintendo is without a doubt competing with Microsoft and Sony, regardless of what they say. If I walk into a game store a year down the line with the intention of buying one console, I'll have three possible choices, not one. Sure, Nintendo is trying to get non-gamers to buy their system, but that doesn't excuse the fact that Microsoft, Sony AND Nintendo all want my sale too.

 

[SaiyanPrideXIX]

The others want your support; Nintendo just wants your phat amellican loot. End of story.

It was a pathetic publicity stunt designed to generate a buzz and that's what it did. Does that make it any less a cheap and twadry trick, or any less a stupid name with no logical or demographic point to it? Of course not. It is just a stupid ****ed up word that they invented to stir the pot.

Their machines in modern times have always been the cheapest. And now they don't even want to pay for promotions; they give it a stupid name and use the fanbase as walking commercials. Microsoft and Sony don't NEED your sale. That is why I prefer them over Nintendo--I don't think they are better. I think that Nintendo sucks and is just out to trick you all into dropping another ****load of money into the same old pile of gimmicky crap. The other companies don't trick me; they make something, if I think it's cool I can buy it, if not then hey, someone else will, no big deal. Nintendo desperate hunts every last dollar in your wallet; their balls are to the wall and this is just another cheap trick they pulled out of the hat to reel you all in.

All too easy, if you ask me.

 

[Ravendust]

it's all about nostalgia anymore. If you really like mario, link, and kirby, you've got no alternative but to pick up a nintendo console. I guess it'll also pick up the people who are strapped for cash, and the ones looking for a new experience.

The problem with that is the only gamers that'll get nostalgic over those characters are too old to be considered part of Nintendo's target demographic anyway =S

As for the 'non-gamers' topic, surely the PS3 has the most appeal to non-gamers, what with having a Blu-ray player built in that's reported to be cheaper than a standalone Blu-ray player itself?

 

[Fire Phoenix]

So if they don't NEED your sale. That must mean they don't NEED anyone else's sale as well. Which means that they would stop producing anymore consoles because they wouldn't be making money. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo these things for one reason and one reason alone. And that's to make money. You act as if that's ALL Nintendo wants is money. And you're right. But that's also the ONLY thing that Sony and Microsoft want. Nintendo just doesn't make Operating systems or make computer games, or other such things, nor do they make CD players, stereo's and other hardware non-gaming related.

They. Just. Want. Your. Money. End of story.

 

[SaiyanPrideXIX]

You keep responding trying to bring the flame down on people not siding with Nintendo here. And you already put some console-warrish words in my mouth once before in this thread. I know it skirts the line, so do you. Incriminating the other ones at the end of the day does not change what Nintendo is doing--they are playing you for fools.

Nintendo is using cheap tricks and publicity stunts to secure your dollars. The other ones don't have to. At the end of the day, that's the bottom line. They advertise their products; they don't try to connive you into spreading mass publicity, they don't need any super secret special surprises to make people give a crap about their products, and most of all, none of the other companies has ever forcibly re-released the same game dozens of times while bending over and mercilessly raping your wallet. Again. And Again. And again.

You can source it to familiarity but even that is a crock; Mario, Samus and Link are great, but they are no longer alone in the world. Solid Snake, Master Chief, Sonic & Shadow, Leon Kennedy, Crash Bandicoot, Sly Cooper, DMC's Dante...I mean...the list goes on and on and on.

You cannot possibly have any way to deny to yourself that this name thing was anything more than a marketing stunt to generate a buzz. Tell yourself anything otherwise and you're just in denial.

And even ignoring all the other points made...it is still a STUPID NAME.

 

[Jesus]

I'd rather have a new name than the same old one with numbers in it. Wii is better than GameCube3 or GameCube360. Nintendo hardly ever uses the same name for a console, except for Super Nintendo but they still don't use numbers like everybody else.

i vote change from "Wii" to "Super Duper Nintendo".

bringing all new titles! like:

Super Duper Mario
Super Duper Kong
Super Duper Starfox