sugardeath

Wii are not amused

Some of you may not know this, but I am a huge gamer.  Gaming is a big part of my life, so I figured I might as well comment on some recent news...

Nintendo, just today, announced the Revolution's real name.  The Wii.  When I first saw that, I asked myself what they were thinking.  The Wii?  How is that pronounced?  "Wee"?  Will I be holding a Wii-Wand then?  Am I going to be Wii'ing infront of the TV (or at my computer if rumored VGA/DVI support comes true)?  It sounds like another name for urine or penis for crying out loud!  What were they thinking??

But then I thought about it.

And saw the video.

Sure, the "philosophy" behind the name is very sensationalist, seeming almost as if it's trying to sell the name a bit too much (one person commented asking if they got a hold of Sony's marketing department), but I can see what they're trying to do.  It's kind of an odd name that grabs one's attention and won't let go.  Similar to the iPod.  What kind of name is "iPod"?  The name is also pronounced exactly like the English word "we;" as in, us, my friends and I, my family.  Coincidence?  Not at all.  The DS is a very social system.  People love to play it with other people.  At the LAN Party on Thursday, Alyssa brought her DS with Tetris.  Tetris has a multiplayer mode that only requires one game card that allows up to either eight or ten people to play.  I played quite a few three person games, and one or two five person games.  I think it's safe to say that we played for almost two hours on and off.  It was easy to set up, and most importantly, it was fun.

Nintendo's goal with the Revolution, excuse me, the Wii and the DS has been to get non-gamers interested in gaming while also providing for the traditional gamer.  I'm not quite sure on their stance regarding the hardcore gamer, but I think they're moving in the right direction with Metroid Prime: Hunters on the DS and many gamers that I've talked to that would consider themselves "hardcore" have a major interest in the Wii.  Well, they had an interest in the Revolution; hopefully a name change won't chage their minds.  Most non-gamers may not see the point in playing Final Fantasy VII.  It's long and can be quite boring at times.  Most people (emphasis on most) like to do things with other people.  Games that break the stereotypical "go here, jump on these platforms, press this button, shoot these zombies, steal this car, do this trick on your skateboard" seem to work quite well with non-gamers.  I've seen over and over people that wouldn't even play Super Mario World pick up a PS2 controller and roll around in Katamari Damacy, or dance a bit in DDR, or even wail on the ol' axe in Guitar Hero.  These games are easy to pick up, and that's what Nintendo is trying to do with the Wii.  Ask yourself, however, how many times you've seen a non-gamer jump on a DDR mat or grab a Guitar Hero controller on their own.  Very few (zero for me).  Now, how many times have you seen them try the game when one of their friends agrees to try as well.  I've seen a large amount of co-workers try Guitar Hero because their friend would be right by their side, doing just as bad as they.  Quite a few of my close friends started playing because either one of my other friends or I have convinced another Guitar Hero neophyte into playing.  The first time I tried Guitar Hero was at a work party where a few of my friends had just seen the game for the first time and wanted to try it out.  People are very social creatures, and the Wii will play right into that.  In traditional Nintendo style, the system is bound to populated with a multitude of multiplayer games.  People are also very lazy.  Did you know that one needs only to buy a single wand from his or her favorite store (or bring one from home) and they are able to play on a friend's Wii right away?  There's no need to plug anything into the Wii in order to use another wand.  Just turn on the remote in the vicinity of the Wii in question and you're in the game in no time!  How easy is that?

Now, I have to admit, I think a lot, so when I think about something I usually cover a lot of ground in very little time.  All of this seriously passed through my head within the first instant I saw the article on Eurogamer.  Within a few minutes, I warmed up to the name.  Sure, I still think Revolution has a better ring to it than Wii, but Wii has strength (or should that be have?).

If everyone would take it seriously.  This post was not meant to be about the name change or Nintendo's philosophy on gaming, but about the response to the name change.  Information of the new name has traveled quickly.  Maybe that was Nintendo's goal, maybe not.  Either way, however, I'm kind of disappointed in the overall response.  Eurogamer is a European site, obviously, with a lot of British visitors.  The British use the term "wee" to refer to one's penis or urine.  One Brit commented that the name was being taken a little better over in the States because he didn't see as many penis jokes.  I submit a one 88NoSoup4U88's comment from Slashdot:

Off record: If the Wii's can connect to eachother, would it be a 'wiiwii' ? And would I be in trouble if I told people I'm off playing with my friends and our WiiWii's ?

And JonTurner over here thinks he's hilarious:

Something tells me this is going to get ugly. Just off the top of my head:

1) Shopper: "Hi. I see these are on sale. I would like to take a Wii."
2) Son, you've been playing with your Wii all day on that tiny monitor -- give it a rest or you'll go blind.
3) Headline: Wii usage linked to possible repetitive stress injury?

BTW, Is a cluster of these called a Wii-Wii?

Sure, if you check out the Eurogamer comments and the Slashdot comments you can find a few that try to defend the name (more so on Slashdot than Eurogamers), or at least the logic behind it, but the majority of comments are making fun of the name.  Now, I have no problem with making fun of things, especially something that just begs to be made fun of, but some people are just taking it too far.  But is Nintendo asking for it with a name like this?  As I said, news of the name change has spread quickly.  The name is out there, everyone knows what it is.  Has Nintendo just shot themselves in the foot?  Or is it true that no publicity is bad publicity?

By clicking the link below, you will be treated to a few comments I found on the Eurogamer article.  They were originally gonna be tied into the post in some way, but that just didn't work out.  Instead of scrapping them, I decided to let y'all in on the mass stupidity and close-mindedness of the online gaming community.  Most of these are horrible.  These are the kinds of gamers that claim to be "hardcore" but in reality are just sheep that follow the trends.  So what if it's called the Wii?  Would you really sell ALL your Nintendo stock, Krun?  And Pho-Zoon, it's appropriate how you put quotes around the world 'loyal.'  If a simple name change like this is making you dump Nintendo, you must not have been that loyal, eh?  Yiannis here is apparently extremely skilled at predicting the market.  Nintendo's name change will really cause more Xbox360s to be sold next week?  I better grab one while I can!  And Smelly...  good ol' Smelly..  He has been trolling the comments on Eurogamers since the news broke.  Nothing positive to say.  Just general overreacting.  Like most everyone else.

wanksta10
27-Apr-06 18:46:26
trust me this is a stupid name rite? but what is it inevitably doing ay? building up more hype and more attention for the machine, surely nintendo must've knew this response was coming. This little announcement will build up enough press release than if it was named sumthin more sensible, fuck knows what. Still tho,stupid stupid name.

Pho-Zoon
27-Apr-06 18:48:44
Nintendo, my fave games company to whom I've been 'loyal' the past decade, has finally lost it.

Seriously, they're screwed.

asphaltcowboy
27-Apr-06 18:49:28
This is the best comments thread EVER! I'm crying with laughter... and wondering what the HELL Nintendo were thinking... good lord :/

the_dudefather
27-Apr-06 18:49:33
OMG wtf NINyendo are soooo fruckzing retarded!!! WTF wii! more like piss am i right?

BuckoA51
27-Apr-06 18:49:37
It's terrible, I love Nintendo, the DS is fantastic, the Gamecube I was happy with personally (yes ok so I did have PS2 and Xbox as well :)

But FFS Nintendo this is the worst name since the Commodore PET was launched in france (pet means fart in french)

O-Fox
27-Apr-06 18:50:15
I can't wait to use the aiming device in conjunction with my wii.

floW
27-Apr-06 18:51:06
It's not so bad where I live, in my native language where I'm from it means piss.

Krun
27-Apr-06 19:41:20
Nintendo stock price has already fallen by 1% on the Euro market.
If I had shares I'd sell them them ALL now.

Feanor
27-Apr-06 20:08:48
"I think people have to look back and let it settle in," Kaplan said. "I'm sure people felt the same way when Google was named - or the iPod. Napster. Yahoo. There's a whole host of unusual names that have become a part of everyday conversation and I think they're viewed now as unique."

But NONE of those other names mean "urine"!

TheBlackLodge
27-Apr-06 20:30:46
"OMG DID YOU HEAR THAT? I SAID WE!! THAT MEANS URINE! THE STUFF THAT COMES OUT OF YOUR PENIS WHEN IT'S NOT STIFF! ISN'T THAT AMUSING?! LOL!' "

Well...........Yes :-D

tonynibbles
27-Apr-06 21:53:47
Does it have streaming content?

Feanor
27-Apr-06 21:54:59
LOL!

smelly
27-Apr-06 22:35:17
I had high hopes for the rev.. they've all gone out of the window now, as I'll be embarrased to admit enjoying playing with my "wii".

Guess I'll have to get exctied about the ps3 instead.

sir_tripod
27-Apr-06 22:36:37
I've thought of the first advert.

[tune=the lion sleeps tonight]
It's a console, a tiny console
with wi-fi and re-mote

Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii,
Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii...
[/tune]

Now, where did I leave my coat?

yiannis
27-Apr-06 23:19:29
If they had a chance to win back customers from sony and ms they might as well forget about it right this instant.

this name is a disaster. it sounds very weak...

no matter what they think to say to explain their choice they just disconnected thousands of people from the hype they had created all that time :/

ngage gizmodo or even tiger telematics sounds a lot better than wii ...
my grandfather might think it's funny.

So dear Nintendo if my grandfather is your main target group i don't really want anything to do with thii...

see how 360 sales will rise the next weeks and wiip.

.

I tried to grab a few (truely) funny ones as well, but the majority of them were just bad...  There were a few comments, can't find them now, about people who had warmed up to the name.  One of them said something to the effect of "I now associate the name 'Wii' more with Nintendo after just a few hours than I do 'Gamecube' after four years." Another said that the name will be unforgettable.  And it will be.  It's no Playstation 3 or Xbox360.  It's the Wii.  It's not just a sequal to a previous console (as the other two seem to be), it's brand new.  People will know what you mean when you talk about the Wii.

E3 is only a few weeks away.  Nintendo has yet to reveal the "most secret" aspect about the Wii.  If the controller, virtual console system, and name change were received as such, I'm both excited and worried to see how people will react to this last secret.

Off-topic: When I first saw the name, another thought ran through my head: It's missing an 'f'.."

It's perfect, really: With the Wii you may not connect to NintendoWifi, but rather Wiifi.

Or maybe it's just me.