Nerd Mentality

Nobody will take the name seriously, ever.

Give it awhile and see how true that is. If people hear a word for long enough it becomes mundane and recognizable. That isn't the same as liking it, but it's better than nothing.

To answer your question, this is a strange move, and one that could impact sales a bit, but it's not going to ruin them or anything. My hype for the Wii is just as fervent as before.

About the kiddy image, I don't see how this makes them look immature. If anything, once the "wee" idiocy is past it seems way more mature than names like Gamecube.
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kinopio

'Pussiying up' to their so called fans by announcing Twilight Princess. The closest they've ever been to the famed 'beginning of the end'.

I usually agree with you, Kino, but that's just crazy talk. Regardless of why they did it, Twilight Princess looks like it will be brilliant- a fitting end to the Gamecube's life and a good place to start for people buying the Wii.

I just hope it's not too long to tack Nintendo onto the official name and called it the 'Nintendo Wii', as that slightly more workable.

I dunno, I like the simplicity of it. Just Wii sounds better than Nintendo Wii in my opinion.

Otherwise, I just see lots of people taking the piss while others are puzzled.

That may not be a bad thing. If someone who was clueless about MP3s saw the term iPod for the first time, they were probably intruiged about it and wanted to see what it was. Likewise, if a non-gamer sees something called a Wii they'e not going to think it's a games console. They'll approach it without the usual attitude that the machine is above their heads, or will hold no interest for them.

Hmm. The name is growing on me literally as I'm typing, now that I've come to regard the word "we" as having three seperate meanings instead of associating it with "Wee". If other people have the same reaction, Nintendo may be on to something here. At the very least, they're being original- Wii really isn't similar to any name I've heard before.
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The cartridge issue was overblown way out of proportions. It was just some third parties' attempt at justifying their backstabbing of Nintendo. The carts themselves were fine and perfectly capable.

Yet the games cost more to manufacture and guess who ended up paying for it? The consumer the ps1 had cheaper games and gained a lot of support. Also Nintendo losing a lot of 3rd party support was proably the most foolish thing during the n64 and GC era. However i doubt they pale in comparison to calling their next console piss,.

Dolphin

The worst move wasn't cartridges; N64 was a fine system without CD, the format is overrated. The worst move was Nintendo dumping the Sony developed SNES CD drive in favor of a Phillips one. That move coupled with the shoddy N64 launch lineup singlehandedly made way for the Playstation juggernaut. Nintendo hasn't recovered since.

That's a good point, although in their defence you could say that no one could have predicted how unstoppable the playstation would be.

Personally, I think Wii is Nintendo's chance to recover itself. Maybe not in sales, but definetley in the quality of their games.

Also, it's premature to suggest that Wii is a bad move. The system hasn't even hit the market, yet every fanboy on the net seems confident in their capabilities as a market analyst.

Like I've said, if people are interested in Wii they aren't going to turn it down because of the name. The fanboys are just projecting their own feelings onto Nintendo's future. They do it all the time. When Nintendo does something they disagree with, you always see the "Nintendo is doomed" comments coming out.
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DayLahs

well?

Lets take a look at some of their mistakes...........

Purple man purse AKA Gamecube-no online support,
Virtual Boy
N64-Cartridges, rediculous game prices at first, lost the Final Fantasy franchise


Funny slang aside, the problem destroying Nintendo in the west is their horrible kiddie image. Is it unfair? Yes. But's it's real. And it's killing them. Naming it Wii re-enforces every unfair stereotype about the company. It's not gonna change my enjoyment of the system one bit, but to say Nintendo of Japan didn't screw over their western counterparts is naive. Riding a wave of hype and expectation, only to come to a screeching halt with the worst name I've ever heard for a console, besides nGage we count it. Sure, it doesn't affect the games or any of us who are already going to buy it, but some of us do like to see a company we spend a lot of money on succeed and this is a horrible move. The problem is that you have to question what type of marketing people came up with this, and what they'll fail on in the future. Their 'mission statement' is a passage of colossal retardation, especially given that this seemed to be the generation where they came out fighting and trying to be taken seriously. Nobody will take the name seriously, ever. That's a big problem even if people don't want to admit it. To casuals, image means a lot, and to Nintendo, casuals will mean a lot.

It's just a name of a video game system. Calm down, everyone.
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?huh?

I dont like it....yet.. =/

Give it a while. I hated it at first but now I quite like it.



Have you been scanning other blogs and sites? The internet is going crazy over this. One person on Matt's IGN blog mentioned that the console is now practically advertising itself.

Which led me to asking, is this exactly what Nintendo wanted?

A lot of people seem to be assuming this is some sort of blunder than Nintendo stumbled into- that they've basically walked off a cliff. But think about it logically. According to Kaplin they've been kicking the name around for a year now. They must have realised in all that time that it was going to be hugely controversial if they chose it, in more ways then one.

The name looks ridiculous at first glance. It sounds like wee, we and oui. It's completely unlike anything ever seen. It takes a long time to get used to. In short, it's causing disruption. So much so that they chose not to reveal it at E3. I cannot concieve of any reason why Nintendo wouldn't know what sort of reaction this would get.

So if the name is really part of a plan and not some horrible accident, what's the end result that Nintendo is going for? Nintendo believes the name will work to their advantage. Are they right?

Almost everything they've done- the controller, the specs, opting out of HD- has had a purpose. Once the whole puzzle is revealed, perhaps the name will turn out ot be just another piece.
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In short, it's causing disruption.

And where have we heard that before

sonicwii

Cartridges on the N64.

That mistake more than anything else that Nintendo has done is the reason why things are the way they are today.

I don't feel Wii is anywhere near as bad as people say it's going to be for Nintendo's future.

I agree...though I think as a greater thing it is N's big fixation on piracy leading to the N seal of approval, heavy handed 3rd party policies, cartridges and small GC discs (partially preventing them from cashing in on the DVD game console unity that helped push PS2 units)

Though actually, I preferred cartridges for load times...had they come out with a Nintendo CD system that used a cartridge for gameplay and a CD for cutscenes/extras....best of both worlds..and they might have been able to keep Square and others on board during the N64 years.

Coconut

Not sticking with Sony lolz

Altough said stupidly, Coco's right.
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Man-O-War

Nintendo's worst system was the N64 really. I don't care if it had OoT or mario...oh wait that's pretty much all it had side for a couple gems of personal taste.

Any system you can count the number of game worth owning on one hand can't be all that great, at least when comparing to other systems.

Welcome to your opinion, asshole.