Topic: EDITORIALS: Wii Will Get Over It, Won’t Wii?

[wandering]

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Oh snap! Is Wawa an .....airline?

Convience store. You'd think college students wouldn't want to be caught dead in a place called Wawa, but you'd be mistaken.

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They will simply call it a "Game Boy", much in the same sense that iPod Nano users will never call the system by its full name, unless asked what model that is. So, it's a non-issue in the case of the Micro.

What, and the name 'Game boy' isn't silly?

[Kairon]

I just realized the the great thing about a DS is that, unlike Game Boy, it's unisex! Well...maybe thatactually doesn't confer any benefit...hmmmm...

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com  

[Arbok]

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Originally posted by: wandering
What, and the name 'Game boy' isn't silly?

Never said it wasn't, but then it had the luxury of being pretty much the first serious handheld system, and  without any direct competitors, while then reaching a level of success where it is now been ingrained into our culture.

[Kairon]

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Originally posted by: Arbok

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Originally posted by: wandering
What, and the name 'Game boy' isn't silly?

Never said it wasn't, but then it had the luxury of being pretty much the first serious handheld system, and  without any direct competitors, while then reaching a level of success where it is now been ingrained into our culture.

Let's not get into this please.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Arbok]

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Originally posted by: Kairon
Let's not get into this please.

That came out the same year as the Gameboy? Well I will be damned... I thought I started seeing commercails for that way after, seems I was wrong.

[ruby_onix]

Great article Rick. I figured you'd be stepping into a hornet's nest by saying anything, but you came across really solid. My only complaint would be that it wasn't "all encompassing" enough, but that'd be quite hard to do, and something is definitely better than nothing.


BTW, as for my own opinions on "Wii", they haven't softened at all. But I'm avoiding talking about it because I don't want to upset anyone and I've already said my piece.

Some vague things I do want to adress though...

The argument that non-gamers don't have a problem with the name. That's because Nintendo is completely irrelevant to them. It's not a plus.

The argument that it will be accepted if they put out a billion ads/sell a billion units. That's true of anything.

The argument that N-fans are immature and flip out over nothing. Not something that we should really be pointing out, and not a factor anyways, seeing how "Wii" became the joke of the entire industry, not just Nintendo fansites.

The fact that the Rev will still has games in the pipeline that won't be canned by the name change, and those games (and future ones) may in fact be revolutionary. True. But Nintendo may well be building themselves an image problem here that'll be even bigger than the one that plagued the GameCube. Tell me that won't affect future development decisions. The stylish Revolution was doing a very good job of deflecting criticism (assuming Nintendo were to unveil a price that compensated for it's apparent hardware weakness, and the Revmote delivered).

[Kairon]

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Originally posted by: ruby_onixThe argument that non-gamers don't have a problem with the name. That's because Nintendo is completely irrelevant to them. It's not a plus.

If Nintendo's completely irrelevant to non-gamers, then a name like "Revolution" or "GameCube" won't have any effect on them to begin with. I don't think that non-gamers will be able to "glaze over" a name like Wii as easily though. I think it's a tentative plus at this point.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: Mario

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Originally posted by: The Omen

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Overall it sounds like a horrible editorial from a fanboy with his head stuck in his Nintendo sandbox, and one I wouldn't expect from my favourite website. Get some perspective

Yeah, and he's a fanboy....

Look how mad you are.  It's as if you personally are being attacked, and you become defensive and return attack in kind.  Problem is, nobody is attacking you, which means you're pretty much acting like a loud, raucous, fanboy baby.

Yep, I went over the edge. I'm decided i'm not going to make one more post regarding the name, i'm sick of all the valid points being ignored. Over and over. I've been rash and accepting towards others views on it, but when the forum bitching translated to an editorial on the main site, it's gone too far. Have fun whining!

I agree with you Mario, I have given up as well on defending it. Since I feel the supporters will be justified in the end, there is no need to hammer anymore points. Like I told Omen before, the reason why some of us get "defensive" is because we feel this discussion has potential to harm the Wii and has really no constructive value. It is like some bully picking on a kid for being different, and you stick up for that kid, you aren't defending yourself but defending him/her. And since I feel Nintendo is being unfairly "picked" on by knee jerk reaction fans, I feel the need to defend them since Nintendo is not given the benefit of the doubt. With all that said, the editorial was well done, though I do feel it was flawed (which others have pointed out). Even at that it was better than 90% of the other complaints against the name.

[18 Days]

Oh yeah it's gotten to the point where haters should be killed

[Kairon]

No, Nintendo would lose potential customers that way.

Seriously, this is idiotic. Both sides have appealing arguments, but with something this unprecedented, they're all just speculation until 20/20 hindisght comes into the equation. Until then, all you can do is either believe in Nintendo, or you can think they're a very odd company, or you can think they're positively loony.

And as a Nintendo fan, it's perfectly fine to think any of the three.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[wandering]

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The argument that it will be accepted if they put out a billion ads/sell a billion units. That's true of anything.

Including iPod, as it turns out.

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The argument that N-fans are immature and flip out over nothing. Not something that we should really be pointing out, and not a factor anyways, seeing how "Wii" became the joke of the entire industry, not just Nintendo fansites.

But how prevalent do you think wee-wee jokes will really be in 6 months? I'm going to guess not very.

[Bloodworth]

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Rick what you have to understand is that crap senses of humour and toilet humour beyond age 10 is exclusive to gamers. New gamers could not give a damn.

That's exactly the problem though, people hear it and think it sounds childish.  

Most of my friends are in their 20s and 30s and don't play video games, and they take about two minutes to start making Wii jokes.  -And again it's not so much that they're trying to make jokes.  They're simply putting the word into the context of a sentence, realize what it sounds like, and laugh at the implications.

[Kairon]

I'm of the opinion that that's a good thing. *shrug* Maybe they'll be more inclined to recall the system's name, try out the games, and get hooked. They certainly wouldn't be talking or enjoying "Gamecube 2" or "Revolution" like they are right now would they?

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Arbok]

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Originally posted by: VGrevolution
...the reason why some of us get "defensive" is because we feel this discussion has potential to harm the Wii and has really no constructive value. It is like some bully picking on a kid for being different, and you stick up for that kid, you aren't defending yourself but defending him/her. And since I feel Nintendo is being unfairly "picked" on by knee jerk reaction fans, I feel the need to defend them since Nintendo is not given the benefit of the doubt.

You are preaching to the choir then. Everyone here is going to buy the system, regardless of how they might feel about the name. We might argue a lot about this aspect, but it's not changing the fact that we will all get it, it's simply us speaking in regards to how we feel this could effect them as a whole and really nothing much more.

If you're mission was truly set at trying to swat away "potential harm" to the system, then you would probably be better off going to a non-Nintendo based board and trying to respond to the cristscm being leveled at the name there, where it could actually chase away the overly self conscious who might be reading it.

[Kairon]

The only way to swat away harm is with a wiimote in hand. Just like the only way to viral Brain Training was through getting all these people at GDC to play the game and have their family members play it too.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: Arbok

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Originally posted by: VGrevolution
...the reason why some of us get "defensive" is because we feel this discussion has potential to harm the Wii and has really no constructive value. It is like some bully picking on a kid for being different, and you stick up for that kid, you aren't defending yourself but defending him/her. And since I feel Nintendo is being unfairly "picked" on by knee jerk reaction fans, I feel the need to defend them since Nintendo is not given the benefit of the doubt.

You are preaching to the choir then. Everyone here is going to buy the system, regardless of how they might feel about the name. We might argue a lot about this aspect, but it's not changing the fact that we will all get it, it's simply us speaking in regards to how we feel this could effect them as a whole and really nothing much more.

If you're mission was truly set at trying to swat away "potential harm" to the system, then you would probably be better off going to a non-Nintendo based board and trying to respond to the cristscm being leveled at the name there, where it could actually chase away the overly self conscious who might be reading it.

Ah but those closest to the system are the Nintendo fans, and they will be a key factor is spreading the word. If Nintendo fans are mocking, and whining about the name, that will help the animosity towards the system spread more so than those that already are anti-Nintendo or indifferent. That is why I believe the "fans" whining is going to possibly do more harm than good, more so than even the non-Nintendo people could ever dream of doing.

[Talon]

Nintendo's marketing stratedgy is market disruption.  By having such a controversial name as WII it gets people talking about it.  I personally dont like it (i was more for the SUPER DUPER MIGHTY MORPHING EXTREME DELUXE PANTY DROPPER SPECIAL CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM THE FIFTH ) as do many other people but ever since they announced the name I havent really paid much attention to the SONY and MICROSOFT camps.  Its quite ingenious really irrespective of whether people are intending to buy the product or not everyone is talking about the WII.  The more people talk about it, the more they are likely to buy it or even encourage others to buy it.

The day after Nintendo released the official name of the Revolution there was an article in the Herald Sun (National Australian News Paper) about it, which is a really big thing here considering it wasnt in the technology lift-out they have on wednesdays.

Nintendo is going into E3 at full speed and is going to piss all over SONY and MICROSOFT.  Besides FFXII there is no other game on any Sony or Microsoft platform im actually looking forward to.  Dare I say it but the WII is starting to overshadow Zelda.

[KDR_11k]

For most people, it’s not spelled how it sounds, and it doesn’t sound how it’s spelled.

In any language with rules for writing phonetics (that means "anything but English") Wii is indeed spoken as it is written. Don't blame Nintendo for your broken language.

For all of the wonderful things that the name is supposed to evoke, you lose all of them as soon as you have to explain them. The mere fact that Nintendo needed to explain the name to its most ardent fans is a sign that the decision needed more refinement.

Explain? Why? It's a meaningless word, just like TiVo or iPod (neither of which evokes anything and neither of which had a meaning before tons of ads hammered it into people's minds). Google is an exception, it's a misspelling of googol (10^100) but few people probably know about googol, either. When I heard of the name I didn't think of any conotations except that it doesn't sound like electronics.

Wii sounds small. Wii sounds undefined but enough ads will define it. Wii sounds no more idiotic than XBox 360 or Revolution. Revolution is understood almost everywhere except people will look at you like you're nuts if you try to sell them something called Revolution. What does Revolution evoke? Communist revolution. Anarchy. Violence. War. Dictatorship. Wii sounds cute, Revolution sounds brutal. While brutal may work for advertising to the insecure teens what kind of adult would think of that as a good idea? The Wii may have a shining exterior but there's still Nintendo inside and Nintendo delivers only cute.

The casual gamers you talk about are at best those who play GTA, not the demographic Nintendo is aiming for (which is PopCap Games's demographic). The GTA and Madden casuals are content with gaming as it is, they don't need any revolutions. The people Nintendo wants are the ones who don't like gamin in its corrent form.

Something else to keep in mind is that those "real" casuals are more easily confused. My father can't tell the Xbox, Playstation and Gamecube apart. Wii is a short name and easily memorized. Noone will try to buy a game for the Wii and be confused "was my console called a Box, a Station or a Wii?".

They should just give it a different name in the US like Sega did with the Mega Drive (the Famicom and SFC were renamed for Europe as well, the Mega Drive wasn't).

[Wesisapie]

i wondered what was going on when i first saw the name. i had no idea what it was. i thought it was some poor third party company trynig to make a unique and sparkling innovationy name. then i read the article. i realised the truth, that NINTENDO had created that stupid name. of course i went through the stages. denial. etcetera.... but finally acceptance. they have given it a stupid name. but after being strung out on some crazy japanese natural ecstasy for a few days, it started to seem ok. it was like "hey, this name makes sense. its cute, cool, and all that." then i came back to earth and i realised that its still stupid and not everybody who sees it is going to be in my situation to understand it. im in japan and it ive asked a few people here... it does somewhat fit in with their culture but it is still inexcusable to call it that for the western audience. it simply will not slide in america most of all, secondly australia.

i dont know whats going to happen. personally, i think its ok. but i now that the west wont like it. like rick said, they have done everything right for it, and now, it seems like they are committing suicide with the name. why? is there a traitor amidst nintendos upper ranks? thats all i can imagine... i guess the best we can hope for is a new name for everywhere except japan. that way, nintendo can save face by keeping the name somewhere, not admitting that it was terrible, and giving it a decent name everywhere else. "face" is very important in japan.. they wont drop the name completely, because that would be admitting the name sucked.  and that would be shameful.


edit: a few points... people keep using ipod as an argument for wii. when i saw ipod, i thougt it sounded regular, perhaps even somewhat cool. ipod is not wii. i dont have an ipod and i think its a stupid craze, but the name was NO WAY as stupid as wii. i never thought that ever, even years ago. personally i have no problem with wii. but everybody else will and im wondering why nintendo is doing this... why... whyyy..... but then again, the japanese have always been very insular.

[Rhoq]

Once again, I just have to say...If anyone has a problem asking for the system by name, then they have  a lot of growing-up to do. While "Wii" is a very odd choice for a name, it's nothing to get embarrassed about when saying out loud.

[Caliban]

Wow, people are still talking about it.

[BigJim]

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Originally posted by: Kairon
I don't find their non-gamer strategy strange. They've, really, technically ALWAYS been about the non-gamer, with "fun" as their goal, not "cool." Miyamoto's made games about gardening, for chrissakes! He uses examples from his non-gaming childhood as inspirations for Mario and Zelda! His emphasis is on how something feels in your hand, not how it looks on the screen! And he's been trained as an artist first and foremost, not as anything remotely gamer-like!

I don't really subscribe to this. I don't deny that fun is their basic goal, but if they were always about the non-gamer then the "blue ocean" they're sailing is just a pond because it's been drying up for 15 years.

They're after something bigger than what they have. But those are going to be some rough waters; they're trying to turn it to wine.

[RickPowers]

The problem with Nintendo's strategy of marketplace disruption is that they haven't a clue how the hell to accomplish it.  DS was disruptive because of the gameplay that the dual screens offered.  Great, that works.  Revolution was going to be disruptive because of the gameplay that the "remote" offered.  Great, shows Nintendo is sticking to it's core "games first" philosophy.

Then Nintendo names the console "Wii", again citing market disruption.  Problem is, the only thing the name is disrupting is my ability to drink milk without aspirating it through my nostrils, or the ability for the mainstream to be willing to risk picking up the controller for the first time.  It's become clear that Nintendo really doesn't know what a "disruptive technology" is about, if they think that the name is part of it.  I have to agree wholeheartedly that while the name isn't the end of the world, it's a handicap.  I just don't see how becoming an object of ridicule is supposed to be disruptive to anyone but themselves.

All of a sudden, the brilliant moves Nintendo has made over the past year or so seem to be falling apart.  First the name issue, then that ridiculous picture of the kid playing Rayman that they let Ubisoft release.  Revolution went from being the console that everyone had the highest hopes for, to being the one where everyone is talking about the name and not the games.  For Nintendo, that's such a drastic change in strategy, I'm not sure what it's supposed to accomplish.

[Kairon]

Again, that shift in attention from the games to the names is completely within the gamer's circle and with nothing really better to talk about. We haven't really seen any key screens, we haven't seen any gameplay videos... do we even have a list of 10 confirmed games? It's a wonder that we talk about the system AT ALL with the information we have. I wouldn't be surprised that now that we have something nice and concrete, we've completely jumped on it and it's taken over the "what will secret be" and "won't this game be cool" and "I can't wait" threads.

I agree that I'm actually still off-balance about the name. Obviously Nintendo wanted something that could catch attention. Well Nintendo, "Mission accomplished."

... aaaaand the ball's back in your court Nintendo, where do you want to go with this? We're all waiting with bated breath.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

Edit: What's wrong with the french Ubisoft kids? We had tons of french Ubisoft adults already, so it's not like they're the first people we've seen with the controller...

[Infernal Monkey]

Hey guys I heard a rumour that Nintendo will call the Revolution 'Wii'. This might spawn eight hundred topics on PGC! Discuss.