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We will all grow to like Wii

by Steven Williamson on 13 June 2006, 09:57

Tags: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo (TYO:7974), Wii

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When Nintendo announced the name of their next-gen console as Wii (pronounced 'Wee') we all tittered and cracked a few jokes, many of us thought they'd made a huge mistake naming a console after a bodily fluid.

It’s was initially difficult to find many positive comments across the hundreds of gaming forums. CNN Money spoke to the Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Affairs for Nintendo of America, Perrin Kaplan during E3 to ask her why they chose the name, she said, "The other systems have an extension of their current names; ours is a new leap to something different. A lot of thought went into the name."

Even so, may fans weren’t happy with the new name, with one fan even starting a petition to change the name back.

The negativity surrounding the new name seems to have blown over and Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has stepped forward once again to defend the bizzare title. "I have never thought the name was a mistake. Some people seem to have a problem with it now, but I think they'll grow to like it," he said.

Iwata referred to the ridicule surrounding the Game Boy name, which many thought was sexist. The Game Boy became the best-selling portable console ever.

We've certainly grown to like Wii, the name has a certain charm to it.


HEXUS Forums :: 10 Comments

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Surely we should be commending Nintendo for thinking outside of the box - sure we could have had the n65 or the gamecube2 but would we actually want to. Same goes for the ps9 - i think you get the idea.

And plus howmany of you are actually afraid to say “I got a Wii”? :P
like it…. I've seen the video and LOVE IT.

I cannot wait to play red steel all the time :D
I love a good wii, ‘specially when i’m desperate :embarrassed:
I think the Wii has turned out to be a great name, look at how much publicity they have received by changing the name, like the saying goes any publicity is good publicity or something like that :P
Indeed - changing the name from “revolution” to “wii” was a stroke of marketing genius.

They got global news coverage and millions of internet pages thrown up about wii and the wiimote, which is something a huge marketing balance cannot buy :)