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April 28, 2006

The Only Thing Worse than Being Talked About is Not Being Talked About

Gamers are pissed and Nintendo is brilliant.

Wii. A lot of people hate it. I'd say the quick growth of posts over the last day has proved that a lot of gamers think the name is silly, ranging on childish. Not a few have declared it's the worst console name ever. Some have asked what Nintendo was thinking. The major news outlets have picked up the story.

Which is why I think Nintendo is so smart in using "Wii" as a name.

Because, first of all, let's be honest with ourselves. If you were already interested in the Revolution, chances are you're not going to hold onto your money because Nintendo went with a silly name. Few hardcore gamers ride the fence when it comes to consoles, and I'd be willing to bet, demands for boycotts on bulletin boards aside, that most informed gamers will be waiting for E3 to make a real decision.

But what about other people? Well, that's why "Wii" is so smart. Nintendo created an Internet meme. In a couple interviews, Nintendo representatives have said that weird names worked for Google and Yahoo and the iPod, and they're quite right. Already forums have jokes about peeing and penises and women having to "sit down to play with their Wii." Clever headlines aren't far away. Nor are photoshopped logos for the Wii.

The important thing is that people are talking about the system. It's the type of name that sticks out like a sore thumb. Even the most casual non-gamer will probably take a second look when they see the name in passing. Perhaps this alone won't turn them into hardcore gamers, but it gets the name stuck in their head.

Even if everyone's making fun of Wii right now, Nintendo is getting a ton of free, easy advertising. I can imagine Reggie Fils-Aime sitting in his chair with a cup of coffee and just enjoying all the free publicity the public outrage is generating.

Furthermore, the name simply distances Wii from the other consoles. Although Sony has a greater vested interest in home entertainment systems - hence the whole Blue-Ray push - Nintendo is doing a better job of making its new system seem like an addition to an entertainment system rather than one of them fangled video games. "Wii" isn't a cool name. It's not as hip to skateboarder as "Xbox 360." It's not as brand-loyal as "PlayStation 3."

In fact, "Wii" as a name distances the console from both Nintendo itself and the competition. As Chris Kohler points out, if you ever listen to non-gamers refer to game systems, they often use brand names in reference to all systems. My Mom, for example, still calls all game systems "Nintendo." I've heard non-gamers enter stores and ask to buy games for the "PlayStation, the Microsoft one." This isn't particularly ignorance, but just brand-identification. However, with such an outrageous and stupid-sounding name like "Wii," I don't imagine that being a huge problem for Nintendo.

The name is memorable. The fact that people hate it is great for Nintendo. It's also a bit of a curve ball, a slight of hand if you will. Nintendo has grabbed the attention of gamers with a quick renaming of the console. No big game announcements. No weird hardware problems. They just said, "Hey, look at us, we've got a crazy name for our console," and gamers everywhere paid attention immediately. If the responses show anything, very few commenters are saying "Eh, I don't care." People care, and they're passionate.

Maybe I'm over estimating the power of viral advertising. Of course, it comes down to the games. E3 will hopefully show us a bevy of games that actually use the controller to its full potential. And if the games fail to impress, someone will quickly realize that abbreviating "Nintendo Wii" down to "N. Wii" sounds remarkably close to a synonym for boredom.

Posted by Mike at April 28, 2006 12:56 AM | TrackBack

Comments

I refuse to call it the Wii.

I'm just gonna call it the Revolution anyway.

Posted by: DannoHung

on April 28, 2006 05:09 AM

Bah, it's just a name. What has me more curious than anything is the launch game list. Am I the only one who sees more mature game content being developed for the Wii. I saw some horror based and a few more mature adventure themes. With the lower price point, the lack of firepower delivered by the 360 and the blantant lies out of the Sony camp; Wii is looking better every day. Only time will tell. This is coming from a guy who hasn't owned a Nintendo system ever. The Wii looks like it might be the answer for a jaded gamer like myself. Before I can make that final choice I'll have to see it in action.

I must say that some of the demo's I saw from Sony look awesome. It's the price I'm not to happy with.

Posted by: undercoverrabbit

on April 28, 2006 10:51 AM

One more thing.

Imagine just for a minute real time damage being done on people instead of cars. Think Full Auto and Burnout but done with humanoids. Referring to bruises, cuts, scrapes, decapitations, fingers, eyeballs, clothes, ect.

That would be very messy. I could see it now-banned in four countries and 29 states. The game 'they' don't want you to play.

Posted by: undercoverrabbit

on April 28, 2006 10:54 AM

I don't like the name but suspect I'll get used to it, kind of like I've gotten used to confusing statements from the current White House with headlines from The Onion. I don't think I'll ever like it though.

However, beyond the name itself: the explanation Nintendo gave is flawed, and shows the bias of the agency they hired. they confused a good logo with a good brand name.

"Wii has a distinctive 'ii' spelling that symbolises both the unique controllers and the image of people gathering to play."

the explanation that the 'ii' looks like people, like 2 controllers, that's a logo-centric perspective, rather than a brand-name perspective.

Posted by: mikanboy

on April 29, 2006 10:49 AM

People say it's impossible to ride the fence on this name, which I can't understand because of the cedar picket up my ass.

Would I have named the system Wii? No. That doesn't mean it's a bad name. It may just mean that I had better stick to engineering rather than marketing. I would have never though to make a flash animation to get a metric netload of free publicity.

I have heard many gamers say that Nintendo could not have thought of a worse name for this system. I contend that these people are simply unimaginitive. They could have called it Pootie Tang, which would have been worse.

I do have to say on a personal level that Wii does bring funny imagery to mind. The things that have been running through my head nonstop are:

1. Gonads and strife.
2. John Stewart saying, "Have you ever looked at the back of a $20 bill? Have you ever looked at the back of a $20 bill ... on Wii?"
3. Samuel Jackson saying, "Wii, mothaf*cka, do you *PLAY* it?"

Go Nintendo~!

Posted by: T. Holbrook Walker

on April 29, 2006 12:40 PM

The name looks a lot cooler than it is to say.

Posted by: Leopold

on May 9, 2006 12:21 PM

The name is unfortunate because there are likely better ones, but it won't kill the machine. The theory is there is no "bad" publicity, but I can tell you that is really not something a professional would say. There is bad advertising and Nintendo has gone down that road. First of all the biggest sin is that the word "we" in English is not a noun. It is the possessive form of a modifier before a noun. So used in UK, Aussie, or American English as a noun you end up with not only broken English you end up with confusing sentences. Next there is the connotation of reproductive organs, as in "wee-wee" or shortness as in "a wee lad". Combined together these firmly established meanings cause the name Nintendo choose to makes for confusing English. The whole idea behind using a made up word is to actually make it 'seem' like a NOUN, having totllay not done that Nintendo shows their lack of understanding of what exactly the benefit of a “non-word” name is used for is supposed to do.

Like I said this is not devastating, it is merely unfortunate, and I think the other issues around the system are only amplified by the poor "branding" choice. At a time when Nintendo needs a solid name, they instead choose on that merely causes more negative issues.

Posted by: Monkey-King

on May 22, 2006 01:26 PM

Posted by: Monkey-King

on May 22, 2006 01:27 PM

Posted by: Pablo

on February 20, 2007 02:41 PM