Comments on: Nintendo Revolution renamed 'Wii'

After more than a year of referring to its next-gen console as the Revolution, Nintendo finally unveils its real name.

[KsprayDad]

Just more evidence...

that Nintendo will continue to market to the younger demographic...now little Johnny can have some tech that uses the letter i (since certain music players will hurt their ears).

I guess its ok for the segment they are after and is a smart move to make the name internationally pronouncable...

[fakespam]

the word you seek

during the days of real public education the word you so seek is
"pronunciate". to pronounce something has something to do with
pronouns.

as for the kids being the target . . . when were they not?

forgetting again that 20 somethings are broke living life.

[KsprayDad]

Just more evidence...

that Nintendo will continue to market to the younger demographic...now little Johnny can have some tech that uses the letter i (since certain music players will hurt their ears).

I guess its ok for the segment they are after and is a smart move to make the name internationally pronouncable...

[fakespam]

the word you seek

during the days of real public education the word you so seek is
"pronunciate". to pronounce something has something to do with
pronouns.

as for the kids being the target . . . when were they not?

forgetting again that 20 somethings are broke living life.

[jleemc44]

Code name best.

Worst name since wachovia. I liked the code better for both revolutions and dolphin.

[jleemc44]

Code name best.

Worst name since wachovia. I liked the code better for both revolutions and dolphin.

[jleemc44]

Code name best.

Worst name since wachovia. I liked the code better for both revolutions and dolphin.

[jleemc44]

Code name best.

Worst name since wachovia. I liked the code better for both revolutions and dolphin.

[KsprayDad]

Why Revolution is not the name....

Perhaps becuase the 4th largest economy in the world (and a huge target market for the console) , China, would not look kindly at an imported Japanese product called Revolution?

[GreatWhiteDork]

Great Point

I think you may very well be on to something.

[bobj123]

Or... look at N64

Simply they wanted to stir up some talk being that most products call themselves the "revolution" of gaming and Nintendo is sticking to their guns and made it an alias for Wii. After all Nintendo has always been short and sweet in terms of names. Just look at N64, I am sure people thought that was terrible.

[KsprayDad]

Why Revolution is not the name....

Perhaps becuase the 4th largest economy in the world (and a huge target market for the console) , China, would not look kindly at an imported Japanese product called Revolution?

[GreatWhiteDork]

Great Point

I think you may very well be on to something.

[bobj123]

Or... look at N64

Simply they wanted to stir up some talk being that most products call themselves the "revolution" of gaming and Nintendo is sticking to their guns and made it an alias for Wii. After all Nintendo has always been short and sweet in terms of names. Just look at N64, I am sure people thought that was terrible.

[Adam_Laughlin]

This is the last straw.

Nintendo needs to learn that its fanbase can only take so many stupid decisions. I am not shelling out $450 for another TOY.

[Tomcat Adam]

Fan Base Irrelevent

Though the fan base was usually catered to in former years, with the exclusion of EA, Nintendo is NOT going for its fanbase this time. Nor are they going for the hardcore gamers.

They are targetting casual players, their family, and people who never generally played a game system before. Their idea is to draw in more people unfamiliar with game systems.
And I think that the name "Revolution" might scare away more than it would intrigue.
Wii, on the other hand, has more focus on being a recognizable, seperate name.

I think Wii would be a much more attractive name to new players than "Xbox 360" and "Revolution".

That said, what does the name matter if it affects absolutely nothing in, on, or of the console itself (you're buying the thing for the new gameplay, not cosmetics!)

[Adam_Laughlin]

This is the last straw.

Nintendo needs to learn that its fanbase can only take so many stupid decisions. I am not shelling out $450 for another TOY.

[Tomcat Adam]

Fan Base Irrelevent

Though the fan base was usually catered to in former years, with the exclusion of EA, Nintendo is NOT going for its fanbase this time. Nor are they going for the hardcore gamers.

They are targetting casual players, their family, and people who never generally played a game system before. Their idea is to draw in more people unfamiliar with game systems.
And I think that the name "Revolution" might scare away more than it would intrigue.
Wii, on the other hand, has more focus on being a recognizable, seperate name.

I think Wii would be a much more attractive name to new players than "Xbox 360" and "Revolution".

That said, what does the name matter if it affects absolutely nothing in, on, or of the console itself (you're buying the thing for the new gameplay, not cosmetics!)

[jcmahal]

Its just a name

For every one who's complaining the name change sucks and that they won't buy a system called "Wii", get over it. It just a name. Fine don't buy the system at first, then when more people get on the Wii band wagon, you might be driven to come around.
I personally don't care about the name of the system, as long as it delivers the unique controlling system, the virtual system, and GC backwards compatability, they can call it "foobar" and I'll still get it.
How many people were really considering buying the Revolution because it had a cool name. If you consider yourself a hardcore gamer and think this is a stupid move, you are arguing for "image" rather than the gaming experience.

The name change is "Wii-volutionary". Hahahaha come to think of it, that's a good nick name for the system. The Nintendo WiiVolution. Sweet!!

[jcmahal]

Its just a name

For every one who's complaining the name change sucks and that they won't buy a system called "Wii", get over it. It just a name. Fine don't buy the system at first, then when more people get on the Wii band wagon, you might be driven to come around.
I personally don't care about the name of the system, as long as it delivers the unique controlling system, the virtual system, and GC backwards compatability, they can call it "foobar" and I'll still get it.
How many people were really considering buying the Revolution because it had a cool name. If you consider yourself a hardcore gamer and think this is a stupid move, you are arguing for "image" rather than the gaming experience.

The name change is "Wii-volutionary". Hahahaha come to think of it, that's a good nick name for the system. The Nintendo WiiVolution. Sweet!!

[ajbright]

It's all in the translation

You know, back in the time before the internet became popular to more than a handful of BBS users, cultural mishaps like this were common place.

Brand names often had unfortunate meanings when translated into different languages.

But in today's world, where companies employ people from all over the world, you'd think that someone would have informed Nintendo that they just named their product "urinate" to the entire English-speaking world.

Maybe a number of you will think, that's ok, I don't care what it's called - but if you think kids will be happy admitting to the most hateful, politically incorrect and downright evil group of individuals on the planet - other school kids - that they're the proud owner of a Wee, you're a fool.

No parent in their right minds is going to subject their kids to playground taunting or wants to hear chants of "I'd rather have a Wii, than a PS3" all the way to grandma's house.

This will probably go down in folklore as one of the biggest PR disasters their video game world has ever produced.

[ajbright]

It's all in the translation

You know, back in the time before the internet became popular to more than a handful of BBS users, cultural mishaps like this were common place.

Brand names often had unfortunate meanings when translated into different languages.

But in today's world, where companies employ people from all over the world, you'd think that someone would have informed Nintendo that they just named their product "urinate" to the entire English-speaking world.

Maybe a number of you will think, that's ok, I don't care what it's called - but if you think kids will be happy admitting to the most hateful, politically incorrect and downright evil group of individuals on the planet - other school kids - that they're the proud owner of a Wee, you're a fool.

No parent in their right minds is going to subject their kids to playground taunting or wants to hear chants of "I'd rather have a Wii, than a PS3" all the way to grandma's house.

This will probably go down in folklore as one of the biggest PR disasters their video game world has ever produced.

[ajbright]

And ofcourse this is not the first time

that Japan has fallen victim to it's assumption of what sounds good in English.

For example when travelling to Japan, you can buy a pre-moistened hand towelette called "Pocket Wetty", a lawn fertilizer called "Green Piles", "Cow" brand shampoo, "Shot Vision" televisions, a soup mix called "Kitchy", "More Ran" tea cakes, "Creap", an artificial coffee creamer, and even "Trim ******" trousers.

"Calpis" is a popular soft drink, not bovine urine and "Nail Remover" is a way to remove nail polish rather than a form of torture.

A Japanese beverage company learnt a severe cultural lesson when it brought a delicious soft drink "Pocari Sweat" to the United States. The amusing partt of this is that connotations of sweat in Japan rather amusingly represent a healthy, hard working body, so the naming was in fact a deliberate blunder.

So if they think their current problems selling Gamecubes are bad, and already being behind the other two consoles in terms of not only performance and features, but giving both machines a year or more head start - wait till they find out they've just attempted to entice the entire English speaking world with a product called "Urinate".

You've really got to admire their balls.

[ajbright]

And ofcourse this is not the first time

that Japan has fallen victim to it's assumption of what sounds good in English.

For example when travelling to Japan, you can buy a pre-moistened hand towelette called "Pocket Wetty", a lawn fertilizer called "Green Piles", "Cow" brand shampoo, "Shot Vision" televisions, a soup mix called "Kitchy", "More Ran" tea cakes, "Creap", an artificial coffee creamer, and even "Trim ******" trousers.

"Calpis" is a popular soft drink, not bovine urine and "Nail Remover" is a way to remove nail polish rather than a form of torture.

A Japanese beverage company learnt a severe cultural lesson when it brought a delicious soft drink "Pocari Sweat" to the United States. The amusing partt of this is that connotations of sweat in Japan rather amusingly represent a healthy, hard working body, so the naming was in fact a deliberate blunder.

So if they think their current problems selling Gamecubes are bad, and already being behind the other two consoles in terms of not only performance and features, but giving both machines a year or more head start - wait till they find out they've just attempted to entice the entire English speaking world with a product called "Urinate".

You've really got to admire their balls.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

wiik

...wiik, as in "weak"...

I'm going to stubbornly continue to call it by my initial reaction, "why".

[aabcdefghij987654321]

wiik

...wiik, as in "weak"...

I'm going to stubbornly continue to call it by my initial reaction, "why".

[robbieck]

I like Wii.

Yes all you Nintendo haters are correct. Nintendo does not have the best graphics or the fastest system for video games. But, neither does Sony or Microsoft. If you want to play the best games, you need a high end PC. I hate shooters on PS2 or XBox. And you can't play games like WOW on them either.

The best part of Nintendo is the games, Zelda and Mario, you can't get on other systems. What is on XBOX? Halo? I would rather play that game with a keyboard and a mouse on a high end PC.

Sorry but power in gaming console's does not impress me. I will buy for the games. And Nintendo has always had the best games...for the console that is.

[robbieck]

I like Wii.

Yes all you Nintendo haters are correct. Nintendo does not have the best graphics or the fastest system for video games. But, neither does Sony or Microsoft. If you want to play the best games, you need a high end PC. I hate shooters on PS2 or XBox. And you can't play games like WOW on them either.

The best part of Nintendo is the games, Zelda and Mario, you can't get on other systems. What is on XBOX? Halo? I would rather play that game with a keyboard and a mouse on a high end PC.

Sorry but power in gaming console's does not impress me. I will buy for the games. And Nintendo has always had the best games...for the console that is.