enditall727 on 14 June 2013
Nintendo announced the official name for their upcoming console, code-named "Revolution," Thursday.
The name they chose? "Wii."
A clarifying sentence in a blurb about the new name on Nintendo's official site says, "Wii sounds like 'we,' which emphasizes this console is for everyone."
It says the redundant I's are meant to symbolize the console's unique controller as well as group play.
The site, at http://revolution.nintendo.com, shows a video introduction explaining the name before revealing a written explanation.
The video starts off with Nintendo's now famous remote-shaped controller for the system, which spins and transforms into a lowercase letter I.
The letter then shoots dots at the camera, is joined by more letter I's for a game of tennis and finally spells out the console's new name.
"I kind of like the Revolution more," said Seth Martin, a senior wildlife management major from Columbus, Ohio, who founded the Nintendo Fan Club facebook group. "I don't think the name is everything you know."
Martin said he believes Revolution was a more fitting title, but says the name Wii might work well in Japan.
Being a more natural pronunciation for the Japanese, Wii could be carried by Japanese sales, which would give rise to more Japanese games for the system and increased worldwide popularity, Martin said, much like the success of the Nintendo DS, the company's dual-screened handheld, which has been fueled by record-breaking sales in Japan.
The real deciding factor for the system's success lies not in the name, Martin said, but in the system's library of games.
If Nintendo can garner significant third-party developer support for their system and create compelling first-party titles, something the company is known for, it should be able to get a firm foothold in the market, he said.
To challenge the argument that a console needs a cool-sounding name to be successful, Martin said many of the consoles in the past with futuristic-sounding names often failed, like NEC's TurboGrafx-16, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer or the Sega Saturn.
"It seems like systems that didn't do well had better names sometimes," he said.
Regardless of names, Martin said he believes Nintendo's revolutionary new console will appeal to many people and could be what the company needs to regain their position as king in the video game world.
"Nintendo might come back," he said. "They're definitely coming back in Japan."
Being a Nintendo fan, Martin may have an optimistic outlook not shared by others in the video game world.
Brent Hix said his first thought was, "What is Nintendo thinking?"
A sophomore public relations major from Canyon, Hix said he has jumped back and forth between different console manufacturers during his video game career, most recently favoring the Sony side.
Hix said he is disappointed with the name-change, to say the least.
"If you strapped a pair of those prosthetic truck balls onto this machine, you could not make it masculine," he said. "Over here it's just a very childish name."
Hix said he has been anticipating the PlayStation 3's launch, although he had considered purchasing a Revolution somewhere down the line.
The change to Wii made Hix rethink his options.
"I just can't picture myself walking into Best Buy and saying, 'Can you point me to the Nintendo Wii section?'" he said.
Hix agrees games are a very important part in determining whether a console sinks or floats, but believes people who are put off by the name never will have the chance to see if the games are good or not.
Nintendo might have something if they continue their push to market toward non-gamers, Hix said, as their goal with the Wii's simple controller was to have normal, everyday citizens want to pick it up and play with it, instead of being intimidated by the large amount of buttons on standard controllers.
"Wii will break down the wall that separates video game players from everybody else," a sentence on the console's official site says.
While also initially nonplussed by the name-change, Cory Sutton, one of Martin's cohorts in the Nintendo Fan Club group, said he sees bright things in Nintendo's future.
"I like the direction they're going in. I think maybe they should increase their marketing a little," said Sutton, a junior mechanical engineering major from Brownwood.
Ultimately, consumers will decide on the success of the console, focusing on whatever aspect they choose.
Nintendo seems to agree, as the explanation of the name Wii on its site finishes by saying, "So that's Wii. But now Nintendo needs you." (first conception of Wii U name?)
