A change would be nice. As it has been said before, it is quite easy to confuse it for an accessory for the current Wii.

After having to explain to my sister that the 3DS was basically a "Super DS", a new name is probably a good idea...

Just call it the Wii Stream. The idiotic 8th grade mentality GameFAQs users need their pee jokes.  ;)

SUPER Wii


or


NEWii

I really don't see Nintendo If they do with a new name, it'll probably just be just a new spelling-- "Wiiyu". I'm willing to bet.

You can't believe how much of a relief it is for me to hear this rumor that Nintendo is considering changing the name of the Wii U. I know its just a rumor, but often times these rumors end up having a grain of truth to them so it is giving me some hope the next console might have an awesome name.

Don't get your hopes up. Remember, if they're really considering this it's only to make it clearer to the public that it's its own system and not a Wii add-on. Since Nintendo seems to be otherwise satisfied with the basic premise for the original name they picked, it's pretty safe to assume they won't be straying far from it for any new one. If they do choose to go with a new name, expect it to be along the lines of "WiiYu" or "Yuu". Mark my words.

Wii 2.

Keep the Wii Branding.  Adding the number system clearly indicates that it is not just an add-on.  Sounds similar to Wii U when trying to speak it, but flows much better.

That's not Nintendo's style. If they do anything along that line, it'll be "Wii Tu".

Nintendo Revolution!
Nintendo Revolution!
NINTENDO FREAKN' REVOLUTION

May not be Nintendo's style, but if they want to ride the successful Wii brand without people assuming it's an add-on to the original, then either Wii 2 or re-naming it something else entirely sans-Wii would be the best option (in my opinion).

Wii-Tooie

The Nintendo "TS", (like as in "Touch Screen" for the new controller), or maybe just the "Nintendo Touch".

Dear god, let this not only be a rumour, but let it be true! Bring back the Revolution name!

http://www.accesshollywood.com/content/images/70/230x306/70877_u2-lead-singer-and-activist-bono-at-a-news-conference-in-paris-for-aid-for-africa.jpg

Wii U2.

Nintendo is the brand that they should be pushing. Start there.

My top 5
1. Nintendo Stream
2. Nintendo 6
3. Nintendo HD
4. Nintendo i (like DSi)
5. Nintendo Origin - I thought of this when there was talk of Nintendo employing EA Origin as part of their online strategy. Won't happen but I thought it sounded cool.

Here is what I am hoping the name will be: Super Wii.  :D ;D

"More Wii".

Hmmm... Nintendo StarCube anyone?

Don't you know? The Revolution has already been televised. In blurry SD resolution and waggle in front of you.

Call it Wii 2.

Or Yuu.

In the old days (circa < 1991) all the console companies used to give their consoles different names for different regions.  ie.  Super Famicom = Super NES, Sega Megadrive = Sega Genesis, PC Engine = TurboGrafx 16.  It's really only been since the Sony Playstation1 that it started to become common for the console companies to use common names throughout the world.

Also, the console designs, especially from Nintendo, differed quite a lot too.  The casing of the SNES (designed by Lance Barr at NOA) looked quite different than the casing of the Super Famicom.  Ditto for the original NES and Famicom.  The PC Engine looked quite different than the TurboGrafx-16 (it was white and smaller).  However the Genesis and MegaDrive looked the same with just some minor cosmetic differences.  The point that I haven't seen anyone raise is that is it's completely possible that NOA could unveil a radically different name and case than what Nintendo of Japan has.  It's not without precedent.


I'm thinking that even if Nintendo of Japan wanted to keep the WiiU name for some odd reason, it doesn't mean Nintendo of America has to.  NOA could do something old school and give the console a different name in North America if nothing else.

Having different names for different regions seems backwards in an ever-globalizing world. Then again, cars still do it and that's because some cars have weird names in different regions.

Just to add to what I said.  I found a good interview with Lance Barr (the designer of the North American NES and SNES casing), and this is what he said:

ND: The Super NES design is quite square compared to the Super Famicom. What was your motivation for going in that design direction?
  LB: The Super Famicom was maybe okay for the market in Japan. For the US, I felt that it was too soft and had no edge. We were always looking at future modular components (even the NES had a connector on the bottom), so you had to design with the idea of stacking on top of other components. I though the Super Famicom didn't look good when stacked and even by itself, had a kind of "bag of bread" look.
 
  ND: Why is it that all the case designs have been handled by NCL from 1995 on?  Do you have any input into those designs at this point, in order to ensure American appeal?
  LB: Individually designing a product for a given market would definitely appeal to more consumers, and would be seen as having a more current, in style look. Because of the low cost of packaging, companies almost always individually design for each market--regardless of the language requirements since they know that for the cost, you can better reach your intended audience. But with products, the realities of manufacturing and time to market make it necessary to design in a single, world-wide style. Nintendo started to do this beginning with Nintendo 64. Of course the down side of this is that a given design never quite fits the needs of a particular market as well as it could had it been specifically designed for that market. Within these bounds, Nintendo localizes the hardware for each market, mainly thorough variations in color

http://www.nintendojo.com/archives/interviews/view_item.php?1130801472

i hope it has a powerful name that invoke thoughts of panthers and lions running through the forest eating unicorns and then using the rainbow powers they've absorbed from eating the unicorns to grow wings and then pack hunt dragons.

Something along the lines of the Atari Jaguar would be great. No one would ever dare make fun of a console which is named after a carnivorous apex predator.

I have no idea what would be a good name.  This is the difficult thing about making up names.... they are always ridiculous until people get used to them ("XBox? What is that? Softcore porn games?!")

BUT... I know what Wii U is not a good name.  And so I sincerely hope they change it and it is something that, as my wife says, "doesn't suck."

I don't think the name Wii helped or hurt that system, but Wii U actually sounds bad enough that it could cause issues, let alone the confusion it's already caused (to people who follow gaming, no less). The name doesn't even make sense, unless they are abolishing multiplayer games. Keeping Wii in the name will be difficult, but there's gotta be something better than Wii U.

Atari Jaguar was fun, it had a number pad shoved in the middle of the controller which i actually think is sorely missed
I only had a couple games Alien vs Predator, Raiden, Cybermorph, and NBA Hangtime. Alien vs Predator was awesome, not based on the Alien vs Predator movie.

It's like Wii (we) from before plus U (you), holding the tablet. Notice the U is even inside of a tablet shape.

I know that, but that's assuming they allow just one tablet per system, which would be a really bad idea. Perhaps I should have rephrased it as not making sense if they enable multiple tablets, as it made sense in their presentation focusing on one tablet. Who's going to want to use a Wiimote when there's a big, new, shiny controller with a screen and everything? If that happened, I'd see it being perceived more as a single player system, and the games would probably reflect that, at least from third-parties. They don't seem to like the Wiimote.

Well, it was pretty clear that they were only considering single-tablet play at the time. We'll have to see if that's changed.

Wouldn't single tablet play cancel out the Wii (we) part, though?

Nintendo has made millions off of their game console accessories market (Wiimote, CC Pro,etc), so I would assume that Nintendo would want to sell these Umotes individually to cut production costs and then make a ton of money in the process. This is why I think we could get another revision of the Wiimote plus and nunchuck along with a wireless Classic Controller Pro with built in motion plus and gyroscope.

No because you've still got 4 Wii remotes and a TV screen.

That assumes that they aren't so expensive that people would buy them individually and that the system is able to handle them. If Nintendo can clear both of those hurdles, then that becomes an option.

The most expensive part of the controller must be the LCD screen and how much does one of those cost?Isn't the Umote similar to that Udraw tablet from THQ? If so, just use the price for it as a reference and then add the cost of the LCD screen. I seee the Umote being sold for $49.99 each when the Wii U is launched later in the year.

It may be the most expensive component, but its far from the only component to consider. Look at how much a wiimote + chuck costs. Even though those don't have a screen their combined cost is about $50, so if you add the screen on top of that I don't see how it could go for $49.99. Maybe $69.99.

I would be surprised if Nintendo stuck with the single tablet as they announced it. Even if they aren't listening to everyone saying how it should support at least two, hopefully they see the multiplayer possibilities with it. I mean, if multiplayer games can't use the Wii U controller's features, then it really limits the potential of those types of games.

This is, of course, assuming it's possible. I of course don't know what kind of processing power the system needs to support four screen controllers, or even one. I guess this is why they suggested using the 3DS as an additional controller, as it could do some of the processing. I s'pose that's better than nothing, but not ideal. It'll be disappointing if it ends up with one, but if that's the system's only shortcoming, it'll still be a lot better than the Wii.

Nintendo should rename the Wii U to be “Super Wii.” It brings back fond memories of perhaps Nintendo’s best home console ever and the word “Super” gives a sense of empowerment, which the Super Wii would bring to the Wii brand of consoles. It would still have the “Wii” name so that Nintendo can still make money off of the Wii’s popularity and at the same time Nintendo can get more word of mouth because the “Super Wii” is so much easier for the consumer to pronounce and remember.

I would rather they bring back the "NES" brand. The NES and SNES were bar none the best Nintendo systems, and it was only with the N64 that the company went down hill. It is obvious they never should have ditched the brand name. That would be like Sony dropping the Playstation brand in favor of some silly kiddy name like woozle wozzle.

"PlayStation" IS kiddy sounding though.

A wiimote+chuck might cost $50 in the store, but it's only a few bucks for Nintendo to make.

The uMote is not that similar to the uDraw tablet and just adding the cost of a screen is not even gonna put you in the ballpark. We don't know what the wireless streaming is be nor how much it will cost and we also don't know how much the NFC or any other such features we don't know about yet may cost.


oh. and Kytim, Stop It.

This is my point, Chozo. When Nintendo loyalists hear the word "Super" in relation to a Nintendo console then they will be immediatly reminded of the SNES (and possibly the NES) era and think that the quality of Nintendo has returned. Secondly, the causuals will hear the word "Wii" and assume that it is a new Wii console for them to buy non-hard core titles for. It is a win-win situation and it neatraulizes the whole confusing naming scheme of the Wii U.

But to counter that, the core will still see/read the word "Wii", and immediately be turned off by it. So therefore, Kytim...

FAIL.

Also, stop it.

Not that I like the Super Wii name (I like Wii U), but the so-called "core" games would most likely look at what the system can actually do and see how good it is.

True, TJ. And with that mindset, you'd think they would have seen how awesome several Wii games truly are/were (I have 30+ to prove this point), but nope. All they saw was casual waggle and a goofy console name geared towards grandpas and moms.

Do away with the Wii name. It's that simple.

What made the Super NES so "super" was that was an NES on steroids. That's what the name "Super NES" implied. But Super Wii doesn't work, because the Wii is a weak piece of casual bullshit. There is nothing at all "super" about the Wii, so if you call it a "super wii" you are implying its a wii on steroids but a wii on steroid is still a wii. You can't make the Wii "super" any more than you can polish a turd. Its just not possible.

That explanation doesn't make sense. At this point, you're pretty much just trolling a Nintendo message board.

If anyone is trolling here it is Kytim because he keeps repeating the "super wii" thing over and over again. I was explaining to him why it doesn't work. How am I trolling? I stand by what I said and it does make sense.

Nintendo Ultra. :D

How about Nintendo Play Station!  ;)

You're on a Nintendo message board and all you do is trash Nintendo games and consoles. What ARE you even doing here? That's like going to a restaurant and moaning and groaning the whole time, "This is shit!" but continually going there everyday to register your displeasure. See, there's a difference between disliking something and trolling and you sir, are walking the line of trolling.

You keep pushing this "Wii = casual" rhetoric yet most of us on this message board have a much higher ratio of core games on it. Personally, I've only purchased 2 casual titles on the Wii: Wii Fit (which I eventually traded towards a PSP due to limited use) and Wii Play. The only game in the latter that I enjoyed was Tanks which, if you've ever played it, is anything but casual due to its slow build to "Oh, Jesus Christ, this is impossible." It's simplicity is deceiving.

Your explanation doesn't make sense because you're saying, "There is nothing at all 'super' about the Wii." Well, the Wii doesn't have to be super in this case. Wii U does if it were to be renamed to "Super Wii." It doesn't matter how weak Wii is because anything "on steroids" would conceivably be stronger hence "Super Wii." Your analogy doesn't work and you're just taking every opportunity to trash the Wii. You have an ax to grind. Understood. Can we move on?

No. No. It really doesn't.

Anyone is out of their mind to think that Nintendo is going to do away with th Wii name. It has made them way too much money to abandon. Therefore Nintendo will opt to create some better version of the Wii name and hence "Super Wii." Also, the fact that the Wii is looked upon as a purely casual game console is false. Some of the best games I ahve ever played were on the Wii and the Super Wii is only going to add to that awesomeness when I will be able to play all the third party games on it later this year.

U-NES

Unes get in here, the potatoes are boiling over!

though that could be made fun of as the un entertaining system

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI

I've been here since the Gamecube era. I only started complaining about the Wii because the fact is it sucks, and as a Nintendo fan I should complain because only by complaining will Nintendo ever possibly change back to the way it used to be. Yeah, I said the Wii is a weak piece of casual bullshit, but you know what? I meant it too. If I was trolling I would say stuff I didn't mean just to piss people off and laugh as they respond in anger. But I'm not saying this to piss people off. I'm saying it because its what I mean and its a fact.

BTW, someone with a pedo bear avatar has no right to hurl accusations of trolling against anyone, imho.

Yeah, that doesn't make sense either. Keep smiting me if it makes you feel better but clearly, I'm not the only person who feels this way about your posts.

Nintendo isn't going the change back. They have found a business model that works and they've been making more core games than ever have whereas the business model you so dearly cling to (pre-Wii) was losing them market share every year. If they didn't do what they did, eventually there would be no Nintendo.

Also, you're complaining on a message board that Nintendo doesn't own or operate. You're not accomplishing anything.

A lot of people disagree with me and that's perfectly fine, but you're the only one who takes it a step further and accuse me of trolling just because you don't like what I have to say.

Maybe they will when the discover the casual market has moved on to Kinect or iOS or whatever and all they have left are the loyal diehard hardcore fans. Maybe then they will change their tune and realize which market really matters and which market they shouldn't have been neglecting.

They had a lot of financial success with the Wii. Fine. But guess what? The Wii's 15 minutes of fame are over. Now the free ride is over and now Nintendo has to put some effort into it. If they don't the WiiU will bomb.

There is no "change" or "change back." Nintendo is the same Nintendo they've always been, for better or worse.

And then Nintendo will ask:

"Why oh why did we not listen to Chozo Ghost?! His incoherent ramblings, finger murmurs and even parts of his brains puke were splattered all over our eyeballs and reason centers. Why oh why did we ask for a handi-wipe?!"

NWR: We Bitch here.

Well, I'm not the only one complaining. Even on this site I'm not the only one complaining, so who knows how many more are out there in the general population? Surely Reggie and Iwata receive lots of letters and other feedback from fans, so they have to know there is some dissatisfaction.

Go here.  When you beat the game, come back and fix your previous post.  kthxbie

I would say they're more sensitive to investor demands these days, but other than that you're right.

I think that's more due to increased scrutiny and higher expectations from the shareholders brought on by the massive success of the DS and Wii than because of any real change in the company.

When it comes to renaming the Wii U, my big question would be just what audience is Nintendo trying to get?  If last year's E3 and their push for core-oriented 3rd party games is any indication, you'd think they were aiming for the core audience with the Wii U.  But to the core audience, the Wii is not generally considered a favorable brand.  If Nintendo's aiming for the casuals again, the Wii branding probably doesn't hurt the console (hey, if they didn't find the name "Wii" stupid, chances are good that "Wii U" doesn't bother them that much) and Nintendo probably has to stay with the branding.

It's all a question of what Nintendo wants to get from this console.  Right now, they seem to want it both ways, and I don't think that split focus will serve either audience well if the Wii's lifespan is any indication.

I don't think the name matters at all for core gamers. They'll play it regardless if it's called *Racist* *Sexist* *Homophobic* * Expletive deleted* BOX (actually they'd prolly play it more). All that matters is if third parties care.

Now that was uncalled for.  Just because people like playing a variety of games (including more complex ones) for longer than an hour or two a day, that does not necessarily make them the crass FPS stereotype.

If they get the third party support they seem to be working hard to get it might work this time. Nintendo just can't do everything by themselves; they need real support from other developers, which, as much as I like the dozens of third party Wii games I own, they did not have last time around.

heh...now it kinda was.

Someone saying the Wii brand name is lame is an opinion, but it is the opinion of a lot of people. Does that make it a fact? No. But what is a fact is that the WiiU (or whatever it finally ends up being called) has less chances of winning over hardcore gamers by keeping the Wii brand name. There are some people who like the Wii name and a lot of people who are just indifferent to it, but there are also a lot of people who hate it. That's a fact.

I doubt the Wii name is going to mean much in the grand scheme. If anything I think it's the name Nintendo that every gaming site/magazine/hard core loser rags on. At worst Wii U will confuse people who are not like us sitting in forums half their lives.

The fact is the loser core know Wii = Nintendo, so it doesn't mean squat in the end. If the Wii U has great 3rd party games starting off people will notice and the name will mean nothing. The PlayStation name was gold in writing, who would have thought Sony would have taken such a hit after the PS2? Even now with the Vita the PS name is not helping one bit, and you know what else, the name isn't hurting it either. No one wanted a mutha fletchin $600 console. Sony offered something and people didn't want it for a long while.

If the Wii U starts of with strong support and a reasonable price people will buy. And the name will have absolutely zero affect on the core losers out there, me and you included.

The claws is OUT!!!

But seriously.

A name change will help us(core gamers) feel better about the purchase we ALREADY know we're going to make, additionally it helps us In conversation when Praiseing our beloved Nintendo exclusives.

Keeping Wii "something" in the name would also keep its broad appeal. A goof number of people that got the Wii by chance barley correlates Wii with Nintendo itself, like Stogi said, the core gamer will already know that the timeless Nintendo franchises will b on the system no matter what it's called.

I'm a complainer, cause I'm disappointed in what some of the choices that Nintendo made for the Wii BUT I understand. Their sales numbers are the opposite of SUCKS. like it for what it Nintendoes, hate it for what it Nintendon't. But know that you can't come to NWR, and BASH Nintendo.

If you know you're going to buy it, why do you need to feel better about it? Seems unnecessary. Does one really need to be coddled when making an electronics purchase?

How about just "U"?  Drop the "Wii" part.  That suggests a continuation of the Wii naming convention while not being so associated with the Wii to turn off the core.

You can't trademark a letter.  Maybe "Nintendo U", but that doesn't come off well.

You can't trademark "U", that is why. I guess they could go with "Nintendo U", but I don't see that happening. I don't think including "Wii" in the name will be negative. The core base will buy the system based on the games, not the name. The only people who might have a problem are the mindless jocks who mainly play sports games and FPSs and tend to play while drunk/high.

BTW, I started typing this before broodwars published his post.

Nintendo can't trademark an individual letter, but they could call the system "Yuu" and trademark that.

But I don't like that name much better than "Wii" to be honest. "Yuu" is just as stupid, although at least that isn't slang for penis or pee so I guess its not as bad.

Neither is Wii. Don't say it is, the people who made that joke are the same people who laugh when someone says Uranus.

Didn't think about the trademark thing.  You're right, that wouldn't work.

Was making the Gamecube look like a purple purse a good idea?  Sure you could say "well only idiots would be so superficial" but those idiots made a difference.  Nintendo has been fighting an uphill battle to get anyone other than children and casuals to take them seriously for over ten years.  Those little things count.  Don't give anyone an excuse to ignore a Nintendo system.  If there is a possibility of superficial people blowing the system off because its first impression suggests a casual system then it will happen.  It must be avoided.

And it isn't like Nintendo will just win everyone over with the games.  The Gamecube had some of the absolute best games on its generation and no one gave a ****.  They didn't care about Metroid Prime or Pikmin 2 or Wind Waker.  They just assumed it was same KIDTENDO system as the N64 and ignored it.  Marketing is what gets people to pay attention to your system.  Yes, smart people will know what the system offers and make an informed decision but most of the world are idiots.  Those idiots can sink a product with a specific audience over the dumbest superficial nonsense.

Yuu

Ian, I agree that they made a mistake with having purple as the primary color (it was also launched in black, but most of the advertisements used the purple one), and giving it a handle added to the lunchbag jokes. I just don't think most people care about the name.

I agree 100%. While I may not like the name (whatever it ends up being) I will most likely buy the system regardless. But I am not everyone. There were a lot of people who didn't buy the Gamecube just because it looked like a purple lunchbox like you said, and I myself deliberately went out of my way to get the cooler looking Platinum model which is the one which should have been default anyway. There is nothing wrong with the color purple or liking it, but its not a neutral color which can appeal to everyone. It also doesn't match anyone's living room setup, unless that someone is Pee Wee Herman or something. Purple is fine as an optional color, but the only colors any console should ever have as its default are black, grey, white, or silver/platinum. Anything else is going to stand out and clash.

So if the WiiU's name doesn't bother you and you are going to buy it anyway why should you care? I'll tell you why. It matters to you because if a lot of people avoid the system because of it, even though its a superficial reason, that could be all that developers like Rockstar need not to give us GTA V and similar games. The superficial image consumers who would reject the WiiU based on its name are the exact same gamers who would be buying those M rated hardcore games.

That's why the name matters even though its superficial and even though all of us here can look past that. Many other consumers out there can't look past that, and without them on board there won't be enough people buying Rockstar games so we can kiss that goodbye.

Well over ten years.  Since 1993.

How about Nintendo rename the console "Wiitney Houston" in honor of the late singer?


I'm only kidding btw

gamecube isn't even purple, its indigo. Ya'll are color blind.