Topic: Is the Name Really That Bad?

[NWR_insanolord]

The reaction to the Wii U name seems way out of proportion.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/26718

Going into E3, rumors and speculation regarding Nintendo's next console were all over the place. In addition to technical specs and controller features, one of the hottest topics was what the new system would be named. Everyone seemed to agree that the Project Café codename wouldn't stick, but lots of alternatives were offered with varying degrees of "evidence" to back them up: Nintendo Stream, Nintendo Biim, and just plain Nintendo were just a few possibilities you could find scattered around the Internet.

What we finally got at Tuesday’s Nintendo E3 press conference wasn't among those, however. Instead of moving on from the Wii brand (which, lest we forget, had quite the controversy over its name following its initial reveal), Nintendo announced that the next console would be called Wii U.

And then the Internet exploded.

At the time, I didn't realize how big a deal this was going to be. I was too busy with my staff duties, making sure the news from the event got posted as soon as it happened, to be paying attention to public opinion. I only found out later, when I had time to go back and read the massive forum threads, that this was hugely important to a lot of people.

Let me make this clear: I don't think Wii U is a good name. It's not the direction I would have taken, and I think Nintendo certainly could have done better. But is it really bad enough to warrant the theatrics it has brought? I've seen people dismiss the console based purely on the name. I know someone who actually turned the press conference off entirely upon hearing the name, not bothering to actually see what the console could do. I've seen and heard members of the gaming media, who really should be above this kind of thing, spending far too much time talking about the name of the system, at the expense of discussion about aspects that actually matter.

We need to get past this, people. It's just a name. It has no bearing on the quality of the hardware, or on the experiences it makes possible. A dumb name doesn't have any effect on a game console, which is proven by the fact that most game console names sound pretty dumb, at least the first time you hear them. Over time, though, that goes away. As I mentioned earlier, the Wii brought about even more hyperbolic outrage than the Wii U has, at least so far, and while the system certainly has its faults, I don't think any sane person could blame those on its name.

The Wii U name has been totally blown out of proportion, and we need to stop treating it like it's some kind of major offense. Yes, it seems like it was a mistake, but I'd rather they make their mistakes on something trivial like this than something that will actually affect me when I'm playing it. Hands-on impressions of it have been positive, and developers seem very happy with it. Nintendo did good where it counts, so why don't we cut them a break on something as minor as this is.

[Ceric]

Right.  Now lets all get over the terrible name and complain about what really matters.
Only 1 uMote can be used on the system.  Not to mention what is the controller actually called?

[UltimatePartyBear]

I didn't know there was an outcry.  It's just building off the Wii name, so any terribleness is merely residue from the previous name.  Plus, Nintendo would be crazy to drop the recognizable Wii brand now, so the new name is no surprise.

I have trouble reading it without imagining sirens, though.

[KeyBilly]

Thank you for this article.  It's amazing how childish the gaming press has been about this.  I actually think the name is good, if a bit clumsy.

@UnfathomableUrsineReveler

If you think of it as a university (Wii University... Wii U), I think it rolls off the tongue more fluidly.

[gbuell]

Regardless of whether you like the name or not, Nintendo is keeping it, so the sooner you can get used to it (just like you did with the Wii), the better for your mental well-being. What good could come out of whining about the name for weeks and weeks?

[Kytim89]

Super Wii or bust.

[Nick DiMola]

I think the name is pretty good. It continues the Wii branding, which I figured it would and adds a bit more. It now says that it's not just about "We" as a group, but is about "You" as well. Based on what we saw at E3 there is going to be a convergence on the system between core and casual, which the namely demonstrates tactfully.

We're all used to the Wii name anyway, is this really that much different? Better than Vita, anyhow...

[Adrock]

As I stated before, the name is silly, but I'll live. I won't lose sleep over it and it's certainly not going to affect my decision to buy the console. I liked what I saw of WiiU at Nintendo's press conference, from the controller to the 3rd party (pre) announcements to the bird/cherry blossom tech demo. All really cool stuff.

However, as I previously brought up in another topic, I do wonder if consumers, specially the non-gamer crowd who Nintendo so stunningly attracted in droves, will get confused over the name. I use my many years of working retail as evidence of this potential issue. People suck and they're stupid. I believe "Wii 2" would have been better, "NintendoStream" even better still. Both are silly but I think they say more to the average consumer than "WiiU" does, despite Nintendo's reasoning behind the name.

Honestly, I find most videogame hardware to have really dumb names. Xbox? What the **** is an Xbox? The name ultimately is not or should not be a dealbreaker but a name that doesn't confuse people not well-versed in videogames is always a plus, especially when you're trying to sell to those same people.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Now I wish I had actually started working on that pic of an ambulance racing to the scene of an accident while making the weeooh weeooh weeooh sound.

seemed like too much work for a GIMP novice like myself.

[gbuell]

Maybe Sega is working on Crazy Ambulance for the system.

[Chozo Ghost]

There are two reasons why the name of a console matters, and why this name in particular is terrible:

1) Enthusiasm. A name matters because the better the name, the more enthusiastic people are about the product. If the name is lame then people will be unenthusiastic and the entire experience of playing it suffers. It matters as much as it matters to have a good mascot or name for a sports team. Sports fans want to get behind a team that has a badass name like Vikings or Lions or whatever. Would sports fans want to get behind a team with some Pee Wee name? The name does have an impact on player morale. I'm sorry, but it does... and it does matter.

2) Brand confusion. The name is confusing because it doesn't distinguish itself very much from its predecessor. The middle-aged people who make up the Casual market are not very tech savvy and odds are they do not watch E3 or keep up to date on all the gamign headlines. They may not realize this is an entirely new console. People are going to think the Wii-U refers to the tablet thing, and think its a peripheral they can buy for their Wii.

It especially hurts matters that the actual Wii-U console is designed to look pretty much identical to the existing Wii. It even has the same color and so on. People may be confused and think its just some new revision as opposed to a new console with far greater capabilties.

[UltimatePartyBear]

New ad campaign: Two Japanese men drive up in a Wii U themed ambulance and announce, "Wii would like to play... with U!"  And then they leer creepily.

[Chozo Ghost]

Super Wii or bust.

Kytime, what you could do is consider the U in Wii-U to stand for "Uber". In German the word "Uber means "Super", so if you call it Wii Uber then that's not too far off from what you want.

[ThomasO]

Brand confusion. The name is confusing because it doesn't distinguish itself very much from its predecessor.

Didn't stop people who owned the "Nintendo Entertainment System" from buying the "Super Nintendo Entertainment System." Nor Playstation 1, 2, or 3.

[Chozo Ghost]

Brand confusion. The name is confusing because it doesn't distinguish itself very much from its predecessor.

Didn't stop people who owned the "Nintendo Entertainment System" from buying the "Super Nintendo Entertainment System."

But imagine if the successor to the NES was called NES-U and the console's appearance and color was more or less identical to its predecessor. You also have to take into account that the NES was made up of Core gamers who understood gaming and read gaming magazines to keep informed about stuff. The Wii is different because the typical owner is a middle-aged soccer mom or grandmother.

The bottom line is the Super NES console looked dramatically different than the NES and had entirely different cartridges, and also Super NES is a superior transition name from NES than Wii-U is from Wii. The Super part comes first in the title, and Super means it is superior. What does the -U suffix suggest?

[BlackNMild2k1]

New ad campaign: Two Japanese men drive up in a Wii U themed ambulance and announce, "Wii would like to play... with U!"  And then they leer creepily.

[Chocobo_Rider]

My simple thoughts...

They could have/should have had something much better.

Nintendo will have 2 problems with this name:

1. As stated above, the expanded audience may not even HEAR the difference in a conversation.  "Oh, the Wii U? I have one of those."  The expanded audience, contrary to popular belief, is not stupid, but it would just be such an honest mistake to make if you weren't thinking about it.

2. Nintendo wants to win back the """hardcore"""? The """hardcore""" are extremely image conscious.  They would have a hard time playing their favorite game of all time on something called the Wii.  The "Wii U" only compounds that problem.

~

As for my opinion?  Not only is it awkward to say ("weeoooweeoooweeooo"), but it doesn't even make sense to me!

Wii = We.
u = You.

"We you"? Who are we even talking about here!?

Ultimately, I'll get over it, and in hindsight, PlayStation would have gotten a bad rap if the internet were bigger at the time.  ("Is it for toddlers? Is it made of plastic? Don't I have one of those in my back yard?") But, at the same time I would jump for joy if Nintendo announced a new name next E3 or something.

[Chozo Ghost]

The name Nintendo chose just proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that they don't give a damn about the hardcore market anymore. They said they were trying to win back hardcore gamers, but the name proves they are still trying to AOLize gaming.

[Ceric]

Now I wish I had actually started working on that pic of an ambulance racing to the scene of an accident while making the weeooh weeooh weeooh sound. seemed like too much work for a GIMP novice like myself.

I like to put some smoking out the back tires but that's beyond me right this sec and I really should be working.  The Ambulance is from Macross.

[Chozo Ghost]

The Wii-U logo looks like a toilet seat, IMHO. It looks like something someone would sit down on and take a dump...

[UltimatePartyBear]

It looks like a shoulder bag to me, with the strap lying in front of it.  I think it looks kind of like a shop logo.

[Ian Sane]

I hated the name "Wii" so since this follows the same convention would be make sense for me to hate it as well.  I actually think it is awkward to pronounce.  "Whee-yoo" does not really roll off the tongue... unless you're Japanese which kind of reveals the likely source of the name to begin with.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Now I wish I had actually started working on that pic of an ambulance racing to the scene of an accident while making the weeooh weeooh weeooh sound.

seemed like too much work for a GIMP novice like myself.

I like to put some smoking out the back tires but that's beyond me right this sec and I really should be working.  The Ambulance is from Macross.

if you could replace the sirens with the gifs too, that would be perfect.

[Ceric]

Now I wish I had actually started working on that pic of an ambulance racing to the scene of an accident while making the weeooh weeooh weeooh sound.

seemed like too much work for a GIMP novice like myself.

I like to put some smoking out the back tires but that's beyond me right this sec and I really should be working.  The Ambulance is from Macross.

if you could replace the sirens with the gifs too, that would be perfect.

You meant the Spinning Sirens?  I don't know how to do that off the top of me head and keep the spinning.

[readyletsgo]

'Kung Pow Enter the Fist' Anyone?
wiiu wiiU wiiiiiIIIIIU WIIIIIIIIIIU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!