129 responses so far ↓

• 1 cvh // Apr 28, 2006 at 6:43 am

  That would be nice, but you must not be very familiar with Nintendo.

  We all knew it was only a matter of time before they announced something that made their console unmarketable.

• 2 cvh // Apr 28, 2006 at 6:45 am

  I forgot to add …
  Doesn’t their name explanation page sound remarkably like an entry from Landor’s portfolio?

• 3 Alex // Apr 28, 2006 at 9:48 am

  You are in denial.

• 4 Jakub // Apr 28, 2006 at 10:16 am

  Or maybe it is not a scam and they are just hopping on the bandwagon of Intel Viiv and similar crap. Altough, I hope you ARE right :-)

• 5 robotplague // Apr 28, 2006 at 10:19 am

  I don’t agree with you, but one thing that would point in that direction is that they BARELY registered NintendoWii.com YESTERDAY. It must have been right before they announced it. It is registered to Nintendo but I cannot believe they would wait until that long. We’ll see what happens.

• 6 Joel // Apr 28, 2006 at 11:12 am

  But it says TM next to the logo on http://revolution.nintendo.com.

• 7 chosenone // Apr 28, 2006 at 12:28 pm

  putting tm next to a name means junk. Look I am going to put it next to fart…fart(tm), so do I own all legal right to the word fart now?

• 8 Pseudo // Apr 28, 2006 at 12:32 pm

  “TM” means only that you are using something as a trademark — anyone can do it with anything. “R” means it has been registered.

• 9 Pseudo // Apr 28, 2006 at 12:33 pm

  Oh — and nintendowii.co.uk has been bought by some random bloke. You’d have thought Nintendo would have got hold of it. When I looked, nintendowii.com wasn’t even secured (I nearly bought it!).

• 10 Xagest // Apr 28, 2006 at 1:36 pm

  Anyone notice that http://revolution.nintendo.com is a functional subdomain, but http://wii.nintendo.com is nowhere to be found?

• 11 Bob // Apr 28, 2006 at 2:22 pm

  It does seem that they left the clues laying out there, doesn’t it.

  That makes it even better though. We can’t imagine them naming it Wii. The clues say no. Then again, Nintendo makes it official. Like everything else Revolution…

  …we won’t REALLY know ’till E3. And we’ll be talking about it ’till then.

• 12 Baron Fel // Apr 28, 2006 at 2:36 pm

  however http://www.playwithyourwii.com is registered a very odd domain for Nintendo to own if they are the ones to own it.

• 13 williecdog // Apr 28, 2006 at 2:42 pm

  Quick! Somebody get a trademark on this before Nintendo does, then they’ll have to change the name.

• 14 Tony // Apr 28, 2006 at 2:53 pm

  Are there actually any examples of this ever successfully happening? What is the basis for this?

  Really, any relief changing the name during E3 would lead to would eventually be overwritten by annoyance from the fans that Nintendo “tricked”. What realistic purpose could this serve when you’re trying to sell a product?

  I mean, comparing this to tricking stupid celebrities that you happen to be semi-friends with is not comparable to “Ha, you idiots bought into our fake name, but now you know to never trust our press releases again!!” Seems like a good idea.

  In addition, most people I know would be kind of insulted by being associated with a show as stupid as Punk’d.

• 15 Tony // Apr 28, 2006 at 2:57 pm

  Also, I thought trademarks could be established in this country through use. That doesn’t hold up everywhere, but it holds up in a lot of other countries as well. Wouldn’t using “Wii” and branding it with a TM in such a manner pretty much give Nintendo the biggest control over this term until it was completely registered with the governmental office?

  I’m interested in knowing for sure, since I’m no expert in those things.

• 16 igor // Apr 28, 2006 at 3:10 pm

  Tony, to you’re first comment, they are playing a game with gamers. No, nobody has done this before.

  As to trademark rights, yes they now have usage rights as they have demonstrated first use in commerce, as of yesterday. The reason they would not rely on this, however, is that if the name were Wii, the packaging, adverts, etc would all have to have been produced and ready months ago. If, by chance, someone else registered the name prior to their use, but after they began creating materials around it, they would be screwed to the tune of at least 100 million. Same case if someone merely demonstrated use before them w/o registering it. Nintendo would not and never has dumped money into logos, packaging, commercials, etc, before they get sign off from Nintendo legal. Which they never got. Meaning the packaging etc, bears a different name.

• 17 Al // Apr 28, 2006 at 3:24 pm

  It’s more likely that the absence of trademark and domain name registrations is the result of poor coordination and/or last-minute decisions at Nintendo. My (usually very sensitive) hoax detector just isn’t going off for this Wii announcement. Face it, it’s real.

• 18 SJB // Apr 28, 2006 at 3:25 pm

  If you go to revolution.nintendo.com and watch the video, it clearly shows Wii with a tm next to it.

• 19 igor // Apr 28, 2006 at 3:28 pm

  Anybody can write tm next to anything. A real trademark is registered with the govenrment, in databases anyone can search. Wii aint in there:
  http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=i3pldc.1.1 or http://www.uspto.gov

• 20 Patrick // Apr 28, 2006 at 3:33 pm

  Viral is right — Wii already featured in an animated “who’s on first” spoof. =)

• 21 Patrick // Apr 28, 2006 at 3:34 pm

  Meant to include link
  http://digg.com/gaming/nintendo_wii_lampooned_in_animated_short_already_-_that_s_fast_

• 22 Patrick // Apr 28, 2006 at 3:36 pm

  Actual video here:

  http://trashtalk.illclan.com/trashTalkAlert01.php

• 23 Space // Apr 28, 2006 at 3:47 pm

  The name is original, small, and playful … just like the product it refers to.
  The people who hate it are the same who think it’s “not powerful enough”.
  So what? they’re not the target audience.

• 24 Kyle5140 // Apr 28, 2006 at 4:25 pm

  I don’t hate the name, it won’t keep me from buying it, it’ll just be kinda embarrasing to go up to a video game store counter and say “I’d like to prorder a Nintendo Wii.”

• 25 Sub // Apr 28, 2006 at 4:26 pm

  @Space: Not their target audience? Are you kidding me? Check out these polls:

  Gamespot – 29,295 “It sucks” vs. 1,970 “I like it!”
  GameFAQS – 36,440 “It sucks,” vs. 14,833 “It’s okay, or I like it” Note that GameFAQs is notoriously pro-Nintendo, and this is still a landslide loss for Nintendo–only 4689/51273 said they favored the name.)

  I’ll use a personal example – I am buying the console and I absolutly hate the name. I don’t care about graphics, I’m still playing my SNES for gods sake.

• 26 Agent Cooper // Apr 28, 2006 at 4:29 pm

  Debunked.

  http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/E72DA377-DB57-42E6-99C2-151230B561A6.htm

• 27 igor // Apr 28, 2006 at 4:34 pm

  Paleesse! It takes maybe five days to show up, max. I’ve been doing this for eight years. Look at all their other TM registrations,all filed a minimum of six months in advance. This means either they filed today, or will keep claiming “lag time” until E3.

• 28 Souldier // Apr 28, 2006 at 6:23 pm

  Screw it, I’m still gonna call it the Revolution.

• 29 Joel // Apr 28, 2006 at 6:47 pm

  I checked the patent records, and their last console (the Gamecube) had its trademark registered at about the same time the name was revealed.

• 30 wbwither // Apr 28, 2006 at 6:51 pm

  Phew! Thank you. I’m VERY glad for this. I just hope that you’re right….

• 31 igor // Apr 28, 2006 at 7:03 pm

  Patent and trademark are unrelated

• 32 wbwither // Apr 28, 2006 at 7:27 pm

  Hmm, Joel has a point…. USPTO search turns up August 22, 2000 as the earliest file date for GameCube, while the official announcement was two days later, August 24. Please give some evidence for the “6 months” claim you made earlier…

• 33 igor // Apr 28, 2006 at 7:41 pm

  Exactly, August 2000- was more than a year before GameCube was launched! Are you Nintendo disinformation hacks?:
  The Nintendo GameCube (Japanese: ???????; originally code-named Dolphin during development; abbreviated as GCN) is Nintendo’s fourth home video game console, belonging to the Sixth generation era—the same generation as Sega’s Dreamcast, Sony’s PlayStation 2, and Microsoft’s Xbox. The GameCube itself is the most compact and least expensive of the sixth generation era consoles. The GameCube was released on September 14, 2001 in Japan; November 18, 2001 in North America; May 3, 2002 in Europe; and May 17, 2002 in Australia.

  The GameCube was first introduced in volume #145 of Nintendo Power magazine. Luigi’s Mansion was the first cover game (volume #150).

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamecube

• 34 wbwither // Apr 28, 2006 at 7:48 pm

  Are you being purposely dense? Can you read?

  As I linked above, the official announcement of the GameCube’s name was August 24, 2000. Just two days after the USPTO filing for the trademark.

  As you have noted, this was well before the actual release of GameCube hardware, but we are still about 6 months away from the actual release of Revolution/Wii/whatever hardware.

• 35 igor // Apr 28, 2006 at 7:49 pm

  ahh, and the tm for Wii is where?

• 36 ace // Apr 28, 2006 at 7:51 pm

  does google, sound stupid i bet it does

• 37 tanuki // Apr 28, 2006 at 7:56 pm

  The name of the Xbox 360 was unveiled on the MTV special on May 12, 2005. This also happens to be the filing date for the Xbox 360 trademark.

• 38 wbwither // Apr 28, 2006 at 8:00 pm

  Wii was officially announced on April 27th. Using your own “5 days” estimate, if it was filed 2 days before the announcement (April 25), as was the case with the GameCube, then we might not see it until the 30th, or more likely the 1st (since the 30th is a Sunday). If it was filed the same day, we might not see it until Tuesday the 2nd, or Thursday the 4th if it’s 5 working days and not 5 calendar days.

  Look, I’m REALLY hoping that you’re right here. I just need further proof. You claimed that previous Nintendo trademarks had been filed “a minimum of six months in advance.” Back it up, please.

• 39 WW450 // Apr 28, 2006 at 8:29 pm

  The GameCube’s name was going to be the Dolphin. So I’m guessing (and hoping) that the Wii is indeed the “viral” name.

• 40 vicious_killer_squirrel // Apr 28, 2006 at 8:37 pm

  Just did a quick search of the US Patent and Trademark Office database. It seems the very latest filing date for which there are matches today (29th of April) is the 20th of April. This means about a six working day wait between filing and when an entry appears on the database.

  That means that if Nintendo filed the day of the announcement, we may have to wait until Friday the 5th or even Monday the 8th until we see anything there.

• 41 ultrarobotninja // Apr 29, 2006 at 12:24 am

  hmmm “That means that if Nintendo filed the day of the announcement, we may have to wait until Friday the 5th or even Monday the 8th until we see anything there.”
  those days are suspiciously close to the E3 dates, there is still hope that this really bad name could be a really cool publicity stunt!!

• 42 xpunks // Apr 29, 2006 at 1:03 am

  It is now revealed the real name, Nintendo Yuppi

• 43 Allarion // Apr 29, 2006 at 4:09 am

  The name wii is awfull but i cnt c nintendo taking everyone for a massive ride unless wii was just part of the name, What if the real name is the Nintendo “WiiND” as in wind changing the direction of gaming, its got similar conatations as the revolution an snds much better than Wii

• 44 jack bauer // Apr 29, 2006 at 7:27 am

  Is this reminds of I love bees for halo 2… remember that? But then again… that isonly if it is true

• 45 supertoad // Apr 29, 2006 at 8:17 am

  Why would they register the trademark long before announcing it? People search the databases all the time looking for clues and would figure it out before they were supposed to know.

• 46 igor // Apr 29, 2006 at 8:37 am

  So they don’t have to change it once they have decided on a name. Gap registered “Forth & Towne” under a dummy corp to hide it pre-announcement

• 47 Henry // Apr 29, 2006 at 9:01 am

  this is not a hoax. you people are in denial. youre all so shook up about the name of a game system. who cares what the fucken name is. playstation and xbox arent exactly sweet names either you know. ones blatently homosexual and the others got too much baditude.

• 48 Jay // Apr 29, 2006 at 9:25 am

  Ninty wants all eyes on them, wether its good or bad, its bloody well working.

• 49 Marc // Apr 29, 2006 at 9:33 am

  Check out my blog and and learn were Wii came from…

• 50 dopedpg // Apr 29, 2006 at 1:36 pm

  http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/punkd/did-nintendo-punk-us-with-wii-170381.php its like the same article

• 51 igor // Apr 29, 2006 at 3:07 pm

  That’s because Kotaku didn’t make the connection between Igor and Snark Hunting. I’m Steve Manning, CEO of Igor,the person Kotaku is talking about. Snark Hunting is one of Igor’s blogs (see Cheshire Cat badge on left column of Snark Hunting), which I write

• 52 Shiro Sirius // Apr 29, 2006 at 5:23 pm

  Wasn’t it funny when people said this about cel-shaded Wind Waker and it turned out to be real?

• 53 Josh // Apr 29, 2006 at 6:38 pm

  How can you think this is fake? You had to expect this to happen. The revolution made too much sense. They had to change it to alienate people. Its the same stupid move they made when they decided PURPLE was the way to go with the gamecube.

• 54 Justin // Apr 29, 2006 at 7:57 pm

  About the patent thing, how possible is it just hasn’t been posted yet? Do these things usually update immediately?

• 55 Adam // Apr 29, 2006 at 8:03 pm

  I checked the trademark stie it has been updated since the announcement and the trademark is not listed. PS3 is listed and has been for some time.

• 56 Adrenalin // Apr 29, 2006 at 9:01 pm

  “Given that their video game audience is the same demographic as Punk’d, this whole campaign is perversely elegant.” i’m pretty sure that nintendo has stated numerous times that it wishes revolution to appeal to a wide audience, not just one particular demographic.

  still, you’ve done some good research and i like your opinion (in a hopeful fan kinda way, even though i think its somewhat of an unlikely thing to do) but either way, i think that the light will shine on the matter very soon.

  if “wii” is the real name, we’ll have to get used to it.
  if it isn’t, we’ll be in for a nice surprise.

• 57 Nate // Apr 29, 2006 at 11:12 pm

  I can’t believe Nintendo would try to fake us out (although it would be a pleasant surprise to see Reggie come E3 say “heard any good jokes lately?” to start the conference). That said, if there is any shred of hope…

  this whole trademark thing. Even if it does register, it could all be part of the “hoax”, you know. Just because they trademarked it doesn’t mean it’s cemented, at least not in 100% of cases.

  Ah well. It’s a pipe dream, anyway.

• 58 IB // Apr 30, 2006 at 1:56 am

  FYI, the name Wii was developed by a hot, young creative team in Tokyo.

  Wii did it. You love it. And wii will do it again.

  Stay tuned.

  IB

  P.S. It’s trademarked globally. Wii helped with that too.

• 59 Elli // Apr 30, 2006 at 4:19 am

  Personally, although it’s definitely wierd, Wii is a great name.

  What else could have caused so much stir over the past few days and propelled Wii way ahead of the competition for E3?

  What else could defy naming convention (ease of pronunciation, free of negative associations, etc…), get your attention and get you talking?

  What else could actually BE a revolution, as opposed to just saying it with a gay name like “Revolution.”

  Give Nintendo some credit. They have a killer product, and they’ve slapped a revolutionary name (afterwall, we’re all talking about it) right on the side of it. They work well together.

  I think we as naming and branding professionals should step back and challenge the way we look at our work. Nintendo and whoever created this name certainly did.

  Long gone are they days of names like Urge, Landslide (sorry Igor, this kind of naming is not groundbreaking–we’ve been there, done that, seen it). Nor is it global.

  And the days of Yahoo! and Google, although once revolutionary, have passed.

  And here comes Wii opening up a whole new paradigm in naming. Wii mixes it up. Wii has fun. Wii challenges us. Wii IS the revolution.

  Elli

• 60 Jay // Apr 30, 2006 at 11:29 am

  Elli has a valid point, if only “Wii” WERE a revolutionary name. Unfortunately, with names like WiBro and Viiv out there, among many others, Wii is sadly not very distinctive. And since you can’t figure out how to actually pronounce it — “we”, “why”, “y”, “wee”, “wee wee”, “w-i-i” — it’s hard to defend as anything other than a nearly-random group of letters.

  Sometimes great things generate an immediate backlash, because they’re so radical and ahead of their time — great art, the Eiffel Tower, etc. Sometimes, however, the backlash is just because something smells funny. It’s important to recognize the difference.

  Most gaming enthuasts will probably embrace this product anyway in spite of its name, not because of it. But that doesn’t make it a good name.

• 61 DocBreaker // Apr 30, 2006 at 8:58 pm

  I’ve heard somewhere when advertising a product, the more irrelevent the commericials, in this case the name, the better. People will retain the information for much longer; not including the publicity. And since Nintendo is a Japanese company, I’m guessing it’s spelled in Japanese. Thats being the case, phonetically, it’s pronounced as ‘We-e’. Because of the double syllables you extent the sound of the ‘e’. There’s my two cents.

  Wasn’t really interested in the 360; other than trying to make a profit off of it. However, I’m very intrigued by the PS3 and the Wii; I look forward to both of them this year.

• 62 Chris // May 1, 2006 at 3:01 pm

  I didn’t read all of the above comments so I’m sorry if I restate anything.

  Nintendo will not change the name. Plain and simple. I hate to just sound like I trust them too much, but I can’t remember Nintendo ever lying or playing a joke on the people. As for the patent thing, there are no patents under PS3, but Sony obviously won’t be changing the name.

  First, I will come right out and say that the name isn’t that bad (actually, the more that I think about it, the better it gets) and that I would be very, very dissapointed in any Nintendo fan who would consider not buying a Wii just because of the name. Secondly, has anyone noticed how the only people complaining about the game are the ones who speak English? And English is spoken by less than half of all Nintendo players. I’m sure that people who speak different languages are glad to have something that means something to them for once. Something other than a number. It is a creative spelling meaning “Us” (We), “Small” (Wee) or to the less mature of you “Urine” (Wee) in English. In French, the sound means “Yes” (Oui). In German, the sound means “Why” (Wie). And in Korean, it means “Top”. The “ii” sound means “Happy” in Japanese. “Revolution” didn’t mean anything to these people. “Playstation” and “Xbox” mean just as much to them. Certain people around the world even use the system names interchangably. Nintendo just distanced themselved from the other companies, just like they said they would. The publicity generated by the contreversial name change is substantial. Nintendo is probably glad that some of you hate it or they wouldn’t have their name on every second or third blog on the internet. “Wii” is all over the place because of you (insert childish joke here). As for it being the “worst name possible”, you could think of a few thousand worse and you know it.

  I’m glad that I got that over with. You can go back to your argument now.

• 63 Torm // May 1, 2006 at 3:35 pm

  Wooh, I like Chris’ idea!

  even tough i’m not sure if germans(austrians, etc.) would like calling it “Wie” (which means “HOW” and is definetly a stupid name for a console.

• 64 Adam // May 1, 2006 at 3:59 pm

  Yes therre are, I saw the trademark for PS3 on the us trademark website. Search for PS3 not Playstation 3 and you will see that sony had the trademark since 2004.

• 65 Chris // May 1, 2006 at 6:24 pm

  Anyone in advertising knows that being memorable is key. Even if they don’t remmeber you for what you specifically want, that’ll come later, as long as you remember it.

  What’s the first car insurance company you think of? Was it Geico? Now, think for a moment, do the commercials make Geico sound like a trustworthy, dependable insurance company? Probably not, but when you start looking for car insurance, Geico’s probably the first one you’ll think of.

  Nintendo wants us thinking about Wii, and they’ve done a good job of doing so.

• 66 Dozer // May 1, 2006 at 7:47 pm

  Has anyone noticed that Nintendo hasnt changed the name of the Revolution to WII. I would think that would be the first thing they did. But I could just be reaching.

• 67 catherine // May 1, 2006 at 9:07 pm

  I absolutely hated it at first, WHY WHY WHY (or should I say WII WII WII) ? ? ? I asked because Revolution was so natural but I got over that loss and now think it’s really cute. The whole pee association is even becoming endearing.

  The ad is really cute and well, it’s a bit like “wheeeeee!” the noise you make when you go down a slippery slide.

• 68 Elli // May 1, 2006 at 9:46 pm

  See, I told you guys this name was great (scroll up to read previous post).

  Why? Because it’s grabbed our attention for the last 6 days, it’s fun, approachable, wacky, amorphous, experimental and unique. Plus you’re all starting to like it.

  People who say Wii is not unique as it’s just like Viiv or iPod haven’t a clue about naming. If it were the same as the others, it surely wouldn’t have caused so much discussion, right?

  Sure Wii, Viiv and iPod all use an “i” or two (remember there are only 5 vowels to choose from).

  But come on, Viiv is harsh, boring and lifeless. It only expresses something (what I’m not sure) about the product. It’s only redeming quality is that it’s a palindrome (which is not unique).

  iPod is just a shorter, over-glorified version of “X-box” > Product-centric, lame-brain, compound naming). It’s only redeming quality is it’s in the Apple brand portfolio (and “pod” was a cool new introduction to everyday vocabulary… but I digress).

  With Wii, there are so many dimensions working simultaneously. Meaning, sound, design, dimension, scale, extension, interpretation and more. Let’s face it, the name is insane, and whoever created it has broken new ground.

  As the title of this thread says, Wii is brlliant. Wii is the revolution. And Wii should all be taking notes…

  Elli

• 69 Jay // May 1, 2006 at 10:46 pm

  I’m guessing Interbrand. There are some clues here: http://www.4colorrebellion.com/archives/2005/05/20/playing-nintendo-branding-the-revolution/. Written by a guy at Interbrand in Seoul, Korea, who argues in this article posted nearly a year ago that Nintendo should ditch the Revolution code name in favor of a “safer” name that is subservient to the Nintendo brand.

  The generally fawning tone of the piece has the appearance of inside PR, as do all the comments on these Nintendo posts by Elli, Cal, and IB, all from the same IP address in Japan and using the same email address. Would anybody out there care to crack the mystery of the “Tokyo Tower Tales”?

• 70 bumbo jones // May 1, 2006 at 10:49 pm

  Whatever!, who gives a fu@k what its name is anyway.
  I am only interested in the gameplay and when its coming out, WII SHMEE i wouldnt give a shit if its name was Osama bintendo.
  Look at brands of clothing like B.U.M and stuff like that, that was a trendy ass brand of clothing for a while u know……so toast ya glasses 2 Nintendo B.U.M wipertron 2006.

• 71 Cthulhu // May 2, 2006 at 3:27 am

  Not even nintendo would be so retarded as to name their frontline product after piss.

• 72 Adrenalin // May 2, 2006 at 5:15 am

  just wanna say, i freakin hate the ad, its shitty, could have come up with something more original, looks like some ghey companys ad

  (ps: i know alot of people will object to this, but well, its my opinion)

  also, now i believe that the idea of this being a lie is very very unlikely, i’m in the getting used to the name phase now.

• 73 John // May 2, 2006 at 6:50 am

  One time, I had sex with this Gorilla. And her name was Wii. It was special.

• 74 Teddy // May 2, 2006 at 7:44 am

  Personally i thought that Wii is one of the stupidest names i’ve heard in a while when i first saw the ad.
  The fact that the ad was posted on revolution.nintendo.com gave me hope, and no tm etc.

  But after a week or so it kinda makes sense and as much as i probably won’t use it in conversation very often it definitely is a name that everyone is going to remember so in terms of advertising has done it’s job more than adequately.

  Also even though they didnt register wii.nintendo.com, nintendowii.com is registered to the same place as nintendo.com so there’s some things out there – looks like it probably is real, but still no registration on wii as a trademark it seems and its been 5 days so who knows…

• 75 Spike // May 2, 2006 at 8:05 am

  This just in (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6148462.html):

  Nintendo has revealed the massive hoax related to the radical name change of its next gen console. The console, originally codenamed Revolution, had recently been renamed to Wii, stirring up unrest and disapproval from Nintendo fans worldwide. Some suspected, however, that the new name was just a viral marketing ploy, used by Nintendo to obtain massive (albeit negative) attention from the press and media for virtually no cost.
  Turns out, the disbelievers were right after all. On May 1st 2006, at Nintendo’s pre-E3 2006 conference in Los Angeles, Nintendo revealed that the new name of its next gen console was in fact a hoax. The official name of the console was revealed moments later (this time for real, folks). Nintendo Revolution’s new name is Pii. As in “Pee”. As in “I want to Pii”. Nintendo officials have stated that they chose the new name based on its ease of pronunciation and universal recognition. Everybody needs to Pii. And now they can, with Nintendo Pii!

• 76 BT // May 2, 2006 at 8:19 am

  So… is it a bad name because to you (english-speaking people) sounds like ‘pee’?

• 77 KiTA // May 2, 2006 at 10:10 am

  Another “Wii is a hoax” evidence:

  While Nintendo might be right about the trademarks, And there might be a delay in them updating… I know for a fact that subdomains take almost no time to update since the main doman’s name server is contacted to resolve them.

  http://revolution.nintendo.com/ exists.
  http://wii.nintendo.com/ does not.

  Wii is a hoax. I fully expect Reggie, who’s unwitting trademark is “kicking asses and taking names” to make a rather huge deal about rejecting the Wii name and announcing the console’s official name is the Revolution at E3.

• 78 Dano // May 2, 2006 at 10:58 am

  Well, look what Nintendo registered:

  Domain Name: NINTENDO-WII.COM
  Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
  Whois Server: whois.opensrs.net
  Referral URL: http://domainhelp.tucows.com
  Name Server: NOA3DNS-E.NINTENDO.COM
  Name Server: NOA3DNS-W.NINTENDO.COM
  Status: REGISTRAR-LOCK
  EPP Status: clientDeleteProhibited
  EPP Status: clientTransferProhibited
  EPP Status: clientUpdateProhibited
  Updated Date: 27-Apr-2006
  Creation Date: 27-Apr-2006
  Expiration Date: 27-Apr-2008

  Still think it’s a hoax?

• 79 Liz // May 2, 2006 at 1:02 pm

  The sad thing is that I think the name really is Wii. I have no doubt that this name appeals strongly to what in advertising is known as “the lowest common denominator”. This seems like something that would appeal to a non-gamer market, clearly the market nintendo wants.

• 80 Matt // May 2, 2006 at 1:19 pm

  Has anyone else noticed that Wii is remarkably close to WWII? Would a Japanese company really want their product associated with that particular moment in history? Coming soon from Volkswagon: the “Hit Leer”

  Please be a joke…please

• 81 Tony // May 2, 2006 at 1:53 pm

  I just want to comment on those who think that this name change is NOT a big deal, you are wrong! Me and my friends know a lot of people that used to hate nintendo, but after they heard about the cool features of the “Revolution” they got excited and actually wanted to buy it. But now that they heard the name changed to “Wii” they said they think its gay and are NOT going to buy it. Whatever new way Nintendo is trying to market this new system it is having a negative affect. So you people are wrong! Yeah we Nintendo fans will still buy it but non-Nintendo fans won’t. Plus think about it (Since Nintendo wants to attract the non-gamer market) if they go to the store and have a choice of X-Box 360, Playstation 3, or Wii… They would say, “What the heck is Wii??? That sounds gay! (Aka the people I know who WERE going to buy it)” This name is for the worse and that is why I hope its a hoax, yet I really doubt it.

• 82 Hafk // May 2, 2006 at 2:43 pm

  I could have picked better names. (The Nintendo 4th Dimension, for example.(Adding a new Twist on how you play a game, almost like a 4th Dimension in gaming.))
  But still, Wii has stuck, and it is actually quite nice. But then again, I am not the general public.

  The point is, this thing will still sell crazy in Japan, but not in America, because the General American Public is stupid and thinks polygon breasts make a game better. (Ex: Any Tomb Raider game) Real gamers are smarter than that. (However, some Americans like me are smarter than the Average American Person.)

  My only problem with this console is that I can’t play a game like Gradius, R-Type, Einhander, ThunderForce, or Ikaruga on that controller. (However, they could make a “Revolutionary” Shmup for the console…..)

• 83 Bighouse // May 2, 2006 at 4:44 pm

  Wow Hafk, you fail. Let’s just run over your points here real quick.

  The Nintendo 4th Dimension is about the closest we can get to an objectively horrible name. It’s just vomit-inducing.

  The General American Public is stupid and likes polygonal breats? “Real” gamers are smarter? Where are you even going with this, man?

  Finally, I find it somewhat laughable that your main grievance with Wii is that you allegedly can’t play Sh’mups. I can’t imagine why not; nothing is lacking in the system or the controller for that to be the case. Hell, some of the old ones such as R-Type will likely be on the Virtual Console, even. Sorry for the antagonistic post, but please- just stop. You’re making my head reel.

• 84 Mallic // May 2, 2006 at 10:03 pm

  One thing is obvious about the name of Wii: it has gotten everyone’s attention. Whether people find it amusing, horrible, blatantly homosexual (without having a natural gender, somehow…so wouldn’t it be asexual?), or “revolutionary” as per its codename, everyone is talking about it. That seems to be Nintendo’s goal.

  If it is real, then I guess I’ll be asking people if they played with their Wiis later this year; if not, it’ll have a different name. The point is to get all eyes on them, as has been stated many, many, many times; with all this attention, Nintendo can bend us all to their collective wills next week at E3 by showing just how revolutionary this system WILL be.

• 85 hmm // May 2, 2006 at 10:39 pm

  The name’s grown on me a bit since I first heard it. Its not a hoax either. We might as well get used to playing with our Wii’s.

• 86 Kylsie // May 2, 2006 at 11:06 pm

  ‘Playing our Wii’s?’ That phrase alone physically hurts me. It does. I wonder if we’ll be allowed to say it on television.

  Oh, to comment on a much much earlier point, in German, ‘Wie’ is pronounced, ‘vie.’ “We” means nothing in German. “Meaningful in every language” my ass.

  Whether it generated tons of talk or not, the name has so far has made Nintendo lose most of what remained of their ‘cool’ street cred. Inventing Super Mario Brothers can only take you so far. Even as a girl gamer I realize that the main group of people interested in putting that much money into consoles is guys of a certain age. No matter what your demographic, alienating them by naming your console something so ridiculous is an even worse move than the purple Gamecube.

• 87 Kylsie // May 2, 2006 at 11:09 pm

  Even worse? I mistyped that last post. He didn’t say “playing our Wii’s”, he said “playing WITH our Wii’s.” I cannot say that to my mother.

• 88 foobario // May 3, 2006 at 2:10 am

  I think the name is actually pronounced “Whyyyyyy??!?!”

• 89 hmm // May 3, 2006 at 5:58 am

  The purple gamecube was bad, but they did release black and silver versions to sort of “fix” that mistake. I don’t like the name Wii any more than most people, but thats what it’s going to be. I’m just going to have to hope that whatever secrets are in store for E3 overshadow any doubts about just how big Nintendo’s Wii really is… :)

• 90 Phoenix // May 3, 2006 at 6:17 am

  All terrible jokes and bad publicity aside, my prediction is that Mr. Iwata will say to the world at E3: “Wii… as in wii TRICKED YOU.”

  God help us if I’m wrong.

• 91 izzy // May 3, 2006 at 6:19 am

  It costs 10 bucks to register a domain name. So stop using the “Nintendo has the domain so it must be true” defence. Secondly, The trademark still hasnt been registerred, though noone was expecting it til Friday or Monday. Thirdly, a sub-domain takes AT MOST 1 day to have come up. Even then, adding a directory happens instantly, http://www.nintendo.com/wii/ does not exist. Fourth, http://www.nintendo.com/img/text/topnav_rev25_off.png is the top navigation bar that says Revolution. This still appears on Nintendo’s front page. http://www.nintendo.com/img/text/topnav_wii25_off.png does not even exist. Fifth, back to the registered domain thing, how had would it be to just put an index on the damn page. Not hard at all.

• 92 bigboy, gaming guru // May 3, 2006 at 1:11 pm

  slight problems with ur theory. first of all, the name wii is meant to symbolize everyone, because nintendos entire approach with this system has been to expand their consumer base. saying that they are appealing to the same age group as punk’d would be abandoning this idea. ur alternately giving nintendo too much and too little credit. too much, becuause u think they would pull off a brilliant prank, and too little, because u think they are going to give up their expanded consumer base. its one or the other. and with all theyve invested into the new hardware to get more people gaming, i doubt they would throw all that away to appease the rather narrow age group that watches punk’d. highly doubt that the name will be changing back. also, check again. the patents could a.) have been issued privately, or b.) issued or posted late.

• 93 Ben // May 3, 2006 at 4:18 pm

  Who cares what the name is. Get some lives and quit worrying about the name of a system.

• 94 DocBreaker // May 3, 2006 at 5:08 pm

  For those who invest money based on the name, thats just silly; I’m speechless. You would think the name would be the lease of your worries. I’m sure we’re all guilty of walking into a supermarket, and pickup generic: health and beauty or misc. food products; for those who have or use them, did the name of the product matter?

  If bad names are in question, what I thought was lame was the name Xbox. Right off the bat it sounds tacky; unless you didn’t know any better and immediately associated it with pornography… Now Microsoft tacks on 360, so if you took it literally, their console went in a circle and back to square one again… What is Microsoft trying to say, they made no improvements to the system? as far as gaming is concerned they’re lost? As much as I hated the name, I bought the Xbox for other reasons; PC, Halo, and Halo 2.

  I get the feeling that it is gonna be called the Wii, and it’s final. What interest me is Nintendo’s claim to start a Revolution…

  Factoid, the color purple is a sign of royalty in many countries.

• 95 Kris // May 4, 2006 at 9:56 am

  Here is what everyone seems to be missing, and I can’t imagine how, cause Nintendo has been screeming it from moutain tops:

  They are not marketing this machine towards the current video game audience.

  The “venting” time, was for current gamers, Nintendo understands fully the demographic that currently is drawn to video games, and they know how that particular demographic would respond to this name. I will asume we all understand the social intricacies associated with today’s gamers and so I won’t get into it.

  The demographic Nintendo wants to invite into the world of video games will appreciate this name for the exact reason that current gamers seem to loath it… because it does not suggest anything high tech, it makes no attempt to be kewl, and it is innocently sophisticated. That simple sophistication won’t deter morons from mocking it, but can you really expect Nintendo to cater to boorish morons? It’s no joke fella’s, although that copyright thing is perplexing… If it is a joke, all I can hope is that they opt for somthing equally inert as the final name as a “revolution” in video games, is not something my sister, mother or grandpa would be interested in. It’s as simple as that.

• 96 rainemaster // May 4, 2006 at 2:49 pm

  is brilliant….and for those whod ont like it, grow up and get real..

  “Wii” need tos tart a REVOLUTION…

  thats my personal motto in support for Wii…wii must support the new console for what it IS, not for its name….we must start the revolution of video gaming..and wii needs fans and supports to back itself up!

  “Wii” need to start a REVOLUTION!

• 97 Vance Mudgeman // May 5, 2006 at 7:55 pm

  The title is awesome, but whether or not the title sounds cool, the console itself is going to beat the crap out of the Sony PS3 or Xbox 360.

• 98 Calamari // May 6, 2006 at 4:21 pm

  well i think the name kicks ass and i cant wait
  its simple, easy and revolutionary and only chavs and idiots will idslike it because of the name

  as for the tm and patenting and trademark, i think you all need to stop caring so much and do an impression of a cat. there now dont you feel better?

• 99 igor // May 6, 2006 at 4:27 pm

  O.K., as long as doing a cat impression wont get me locked up for seeming too Dutch.

• 100 Rob // May 8, 2006 at 4:50 am

  Trademarks have been posted… Wii looks to be here to stay…meh, i kinda like it.

• 101 Patrick // May 10, 2006 at 12:36 am

  Sounds like a good idea; but it’s registered.

  http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=7tbs59.2.5

• 102 Space // May 11, 2006 at 8:26 am

  E3 just proved that your conspiracy theory was all wrong. You’re an expert, eh?
  And in case you haven’t noticed, the name didn’t stop Nintendo from giving a very good impression.

• 103 Wii Forum Member // May 11, 2006 at 10:05 pm

  I’m sure the name will catch on in time…it has strong family appeal.

  Think how stupid the ipod sounded when you first heard about it…

• 104 Robear // May 16, 2006 at 10:27 am

  HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I NEED A WII!

• 105 Nintendo Wii // May 18, 2006 at 5:24 am

  I love the nintendo Wii remote! I can’t wait. It reminds me of the Duck Hunt gun in the first nintendo – Why havent they revisited this idea? LOL.

  I can’t Wait!

• 106 John Guilfoil // Jun 6, 2006 at 7:36 pm

  I have my own reservations.

• 107 John Guilfoil // Jun 6, 2006 at 7:36 pm

  http://www.prrag.com/2006/06/wiire-gonna-fail.html

• 108 jack // Jun 24, 2006 at 1:18 am

  I think that wii is an absolutley brilliant name, ps3?? it’s just copying ps2?? xbox 360 again staying on the same name, but nintendo has gone for something different, grasped next generation gaming by the balls, and hung on!! well done nintendo bril name can’t wait to play it!!!!!!!

• 109 Paul // Jun 27, 2006 at 5:25 pm

  the nintendo wii is great name but the nintendo revolution was also was a great name,
  but it does not make any diffrence its still going to be the best console out!!!!!!!!!!!

• 110 jose // Sep 13, 2006 at 8:41 pm

  I think that the wii is going to better than the ps3.

• 111 Bob // Sep 19, 2006 at 4:23 pm

  Wii is going to be better than all. You just hate Nintendo because they happened to come out with lots of hits.

• 112 Krishi // Oct 5, 2006 at 2:04 pm

  Wii is going to be released on November 19th. It’s so close now!

  The name is really starting to grow on people. And with many great new features, how can anyone NOT want to own a wii?

• 113 Vince // Oct 15, 2006 at 4:18 am

  Just digging through and it’s interesting to see that this post is the most commented on on all of snarkhunting. In the beginning, everyone bashes wii. but now as wii ramps up for launch, we’ve got a number of folks who really dig the name. Could wii have a naming revolution on our hands?

• 114 IHatePS3 // Nov 15, 2006 at 8:38 am

  But ‘Wii.com’ does exist. For a while, now.

• 115 Pit // Nov 29, 2006 at 4:53 am

  I heard Nintendo stops release of game boxes.

• 116 Marina // Nov 30, 2006 at 3:40 am

  now passed already yr from the release of this brilliant idea, and I think necessary to express itself in regard to this precisely now, after a lapse of the time

• 117 Wii // Feb 5, 2007 at 12:16 am

  nice post

  http://www.wiierrorcodes.com

• 118 lina // Feb 27, 2007 at 11:30 pm

  I suspect that’s thereason general public want to read blog….Internet visitors generally create blogs to declare themselves or their secret views. Blog grant them same matter on the monitor screen what they specifically needed,so as the above stuffs declared it.

• 119 Alisya // Mar 5, 2007 at 10:36 pm

  I suspect that’s thereason general public want to read blog….Internet visitors generally create blogs to declare themselves or their secret views. Blog grant them same matter on the monitor screen what they specifically needed,so as the above stuffs declared it.

• 120 Nintendo Wii // Apr 12, 2007 at 3:32 pm

  This eas a great post about Nintendo Wii

• 121 Bobulus // Aug 24, 2007 at 6:19 am

  wow… you sure were wrong about the name, huh?

• 122 Wii Gamer // Oct 18, 2007 at 2:38 pm

  I guess wii is easy to say in all languages, so that was one of the deciding factors in the name. It also plays off it sounding like “we” in that it suggests that “we all like to play it”.

• 123 Jay // Jan 7, 2008 at 2:17 pm

  Just read these posts while searching for the origin of the Wii name.

  Looks like Nintendo got the name right after all.

  Two days ago, while cruising the local Best Buy I saw boatloads of PS3 and xBox 360 consoles and accessories while the Wii shelves were practically bare – limited software, no Guitar Heros, limited accessories, and yet there were piles of things for the other consoles.

• 124 Chintendo // Jan 25, 2008 at 1:36 pm

  We have finally performed a new Nintendo! We call it Chintendo. Chintendo is a gaming device making company that will make it to the fact that people like the FUNNY! We sort of make fun of games like Halo. We named it Talo. It is a story about a young girl that discovers a fairy land. Thanks for your ears.-Chintendo staff.

  P.S. We have our names written here…Roman Mohr, Seth, Andrew Marshall.-Sincerely, Chintendo writing staff.

• 125 Chintendo // Jan 25, 2008 at 1:42 pm

  Guys, also we have come out with new games! Lardio, Talo 2, and more! email me at Treehouse10@q.com! and yes that is a q. We would love some comments! thanks for your ears.

• 126 Chintendo // Jan 25, 2008 at 1:43 pm

  Anyways, also we would love for an email explaining an offer to trademark our idea. You may then publish our idea for us, you will get 60% of the profits.-Thanks, Chintendo staff

• 127 Chintendo // Jan 25, 2008 at 1:45 pm

  I also play world of warcraft! Talk to me on world of warcraft! My username is Iwillrockuu Thanks for your ears-Chintendo staff

• 128 Chintendo // Jan 25, 2008 at 1:49 pm

  Thanks for your ears! give us a woot woot! I have completed checking my email! but i dont got no emails! Remember! Email me!

• 129 Kanal Açma Araçlar? // Mar 6, 2008 at 2:19 am

  Quick! Somebody get a trademark on this before Nintendo does, then they’ll have to change the name.

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