Hypothetical Question: Could WiiU potentially confuse casual gamers?
When Reggie was announcing the console, my first reaction was "Oh ****, they're going to call it 'WiiU.' Don't say it. Don't say it. ****, he said it." Then, I was confused for a second because he seemed to be talking about the controller as a peripheral for the Wii. Obviously, it's not. However, the WiiU branding may confuse people who aren't well-versed in gaming, namely casual gamers.
On one hand, I think it's a good thing that all of the peripherals carry over. That's clearly the easiest way to introduce non-gamers to new hardware. It's certainly cost effective for everyone who already owns a Wii console.
On the other hand, some may ask why they would even need new hardware. Specifically, they may wonder why they can't just buy the tablet controller for the Wii they already own. Don't scoff at this. People are that fucking stupid.
Releasing new peripherals would allow Nintendo to make improvements on the remote, balance board etc. where needed. Additionally, since Nintendo wants to keep the Wii brand (with good reason, at least for the casual crowd), I kind of feel like "Wii 2" would have been a better choice. I'm not saying this because I hate "WiiU" because, let's be honest here, Wii 2 sounds stupid too. WiiU almost doesn't sound new hardware and that could potentially be a problem come launch. It sounds like something for the original Wii like Wii Sports, Wii Fit or anything labelled Wii something. Wii 2 is sequential. 2 comes after 1. As silly as it still sounds, it does get the point across more.
The value seeker in me loves the fact that I don't have to pay extra for new peripherals. As someone who has previously worked retail for many years, I'm weary of how general consumers are going to view WiiU. Is it new? Is it an add-on? Obviously, it's still early but I thought this was an interesting point of discussion.